Lisa Dudson provides her top 5 tips for first home buyers to help them get into their first home and out of the first home buyers market.
- Look at buying a property within your means. Find a good online mortgage calculator to work out how much your mortgage repayments and other property related expenses are going to be. Assess if you can actually afford them.
Your calculations should also include worst case scenarios of interest rates rising. If you find that the price bracket that you are buying in will cause you unnecessary stress in meeting the repayments, look at a lower price bracket so that you buy the property with ease and can ride through the tough times. - Revisit your money habits. Update your budget to ensure you have a good handle of what is coming in and what is going out. Maybe you need to look at cutting down some expenses so you can save more or pay off any consumer debt you may have.
- There isn’t a good time or a bad time to buy property; it all depends on your long-term strategy, this will determine when you buy. Think about your strategy and develop a plan which is in line with you achieving your goals.
- Get a pre-approved loan. (they are valid for 6 months) It is pointless putting in all the effort of looking for a property to buy if you cannot get finance. By getting a pre-approved loan you will be able to see how much money you can spend on a property. Secondly, when you do find the property that you would like to buy, you will be able to put in the offer straight away and not have to wait for a pre-approval.
- In every situation, there is an opportunity. Look for the opportunities in this period by being aware of property prices, so that when you come across a bargain, you can take immediate advantage of it.
