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Buying a House - Tips?

electreauxbella

electreauxbella

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 1, 2004
Messages
2,149
Location
The Hood, Sydney
Hey Kids,

We are currently in the process of buying our first house (well unit!) and I wanted to get some advice from people who have been in the same situation… things like good Mortgage brokers, what to check for, hidden extras to look out for etc.

We have found a property that we are extremely interested in and the vendor wants to move fairly quickly but I would hate to look back in a few months and realise that we have bought the wrong property so any advice would be greatly appreciated :-)

Thanks!
 
*well definately look into the first home buyers grant- money for nothing!
*and check out all the banks and credit unions first before you sign with someone, often if you say that such and such a bank has offered you a better deal they will come down as much as 1% on interest.
*make sure you look at the suburbs ongoing worth, if it has been in decline for a while, you probably wont get as much back when you come to sell it
*look for potential renovation possibilities, things you could do to the house to make it more "prettier" for when you come to sell it.
*never offer what the vendor is asking. always offer less than you are willing to pay, if a vendor sees that you can negotiate they almost always will as well, especially if its a short term settlement.
*make sure that you check out the section32, that the previous owner isnt going to take things like the dishwasher, and make sure you get certain things you want kept like blinds, added to the contract otherwise the owner will take everything that isnt in the contract.

good luck with it all, and remember if the vendor is looking to move out asap, he will probably take any reasonable offer.
 
^^ thanks for the tips! We weren't sure who we were going to do the finance through and I didn't know that you could play lenders off like that (telling them that someone else has offered you 1% less or whatever!) :)

The place we are looking to buy is only 8 months old, and it's in an area that is growing rapidly (south sydney, bordering the eastern suburbs). We wanted something that we didn't have to do any work to, and it's currently tenanted until mid september by people who keep the place immaculate!

We have already put in an offer that was less than what the vendor wanted, and it's been accepted (they are keen to sell because they want to buy a bigger house and need the equity from this place) which is a good thing. Now it's just up to getting the finance.

I've checked all of the inclusions, everything seems to be in the contract.

I feel scared...
 
dont be scared, owning a house is the best thing you will ever do, eventually one day it will be yours, and you arent paying off someone else morgage, you are paying off your own :)
 
^^ this is the main reason why we are buying our own place. We pay over $300 a week where we are now, for a 1 bedroom unit. It works out to be another $100 a week to buy our own place, so we'd be stupid not to do it now that the interest rates have gone up...
 
dont buy off a group of three little pigs or anyone named jack. =D
 
eek

Tips regarding the actual Loan are:

* Look for a loan that decreases $ daily or weekly not monthly
* Be sure you can make extra payments off your loan, with no fees
* Always ask about hidden charges and extras.

I read this really informative book called How to pay off your mortgage in 5 years, by someone who did it in 3 By Anita Bell. It is seriously one of the best books (and probably geekiest ) I have ever read.
It's only a small book but explains alot about mortgages and owning your first home. Highly recommend reading it!!

Goodluck <3
 
i work in a credit union

come get your loan off me

i cant rort the system in anywayz, but if you say i refered you i might get money :\
 
God what a headfuck, I'm trying to decide at the moment whether I want this place or not and the agent is doing my head in.

Check out mortgagechoice.com.au, they look like they know their mortgages, make sure you understand the difference between the different types of loans; fixed rate, standard variable, etc.
 
If you don't believe in ghosts, then maybe you could consider a 'murder house' ... you can probably get a $900 000 property for around $300 000, which is certainly not a proposition to be snuffed at considering most properties have housed a dead body at one time or another.
 
hahaha, oh you poor thing.

Best advice i can give you, go through a mortage broker to get the best home loan thats suited for u guys. Combine your accounts if it means reducing the interest rate

When getting the loan, pay off and cancell all credit cards.. the banks like this and it will bring your credit rating up. (hence why i don't have a credit card of any sort anymore)

Pay in weekly payments. It reduces your home loan greatly, because you're putting in more money per year

Apply for the first home buyers grant. What ever money you get from the bank, put it straight into the house. Don't spend the grant or loan money on new furniture or crap like that, put it into the house repayments. The first year you have the least interest to pay on it so it's the best time to pay as much off as you can. I was paying off $700 a week on my own just to get as much money paid off as i could. Its fucking damn hard. Forget about luxuries if you're serious about getting a house

When inspecting the place, turn on all the taps... light switches if need be. Unlike me, i found out AFTER i bought the place 2 taps didn't work and i have no idea what one light switch is for. No idea where the light is for it. Also have a look at the ceilings for any water marks. If theres any dints in the wall, or cabinets not on their hinges properly, ask them if they will repair it for you. Usually they say yes

If theres anything else you don't like about the place or want something to get fixed, go through the lawyer if your at that stage and come to some agreement with the land owner.. ie fix the broken tiles on the floor/clean the carpet or deduct $500 of the settlement price.

Ofcourse there will be a general pest inspecyion etc that you legaly have to get done through the lawyers anyway so your covered there, they'll tell you if theres anything wrong with the place stucturally

Go through a lawyer. Let them sort out all the legal shit, and it doesn't cost that much. Read EVERYTHING before you sign. Even if you're sitting there for 5m inutes. Read the shit. They organise all your first home buyers grants and contracts and it's a big load off

P.S. If u wanna cut a huge chunk of the price their asking, go private home sale.. It will knock about $20,000 off tha asking price cops you're not paying real estate agent fees and commision and shit.

Ummm what else. Yea, when you buy the place make sure you connect your electricity on water/gas on in time. And watch out for your first bill. Sometimes the water company/gas estimates how much you will use according to the previous home owners at that address and will bill you on that. Even if you used 1/4 of what they actually charged.. get onto their arses and make them bill you for what you used. I learnt the hard way

ok, i think thats about it for now. I'm too fucked to write anymore

Good luck and welcome to the scary world of mortgages
 
Fatz - he's not dead, just not interested in this site anymore really... we've both been ultra busy working & studying and stuff!!

Raverchik, Hoptis & Jojo- Thank you Thank you Thank you for your advice, that's exactly what we needed (well, pretty much). RC, where did you get that book from??

I've got a solicitor, about to email him the contracts now... this is very scary! We've looked into it and our mortgage is going to be over $2000 a month for the amount we are borrowing, but it's well worth it... at least we have money coming in from other sources & not just work otherwise we'd be screwed!
 
I bought my place a little over a year ago, Give Aussie Home loans a try, they source from other lenders, and they certainly did right by me.
 
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