Buying property is probably one of the biggest financial decisions youâll make in your lifetime. As such, it requires a large amount of consideration. It doesnât matter if youâre buying a six bedroom house on Wolseley Road â or a studio apartment in Tuggeranong, buying property is a very big deal.
Where to start? As a first step, itâs a good idea to work out what your budget is â based on your deposit and how much you can borrow. Luckily, uno has a borrowing power calculator that helps you work out how much youâre working with. We also have a section which details everything you need to know about your
so be sure to check that out too.
Securing pre-approval for your expected maximum loan amount will then help you negotiate the best purchase price when it comes time to buy. Once you know your budget, you can begin that exciting home search.
There is no magic number when it comes to a deposit, however in Australia the majority of lenders require you to have saved 10% of the propertyâs value (a couple of lenders may only require 5%).
This means if youâre looking to buy a residential property with a value of $800,000, youâll need a deposit somewhere between $40,000 (5% of $800,000) and $80,000 (10%).
If you only have a 5% deposit, be aware that this needs to comprise âgenuineâ savings â i.e. itâs not dependent on your brother selling his car, or a loan from a friend. These are the things that make lenders nervous. Your deposit will affect how much you are able to borrow from your lender. Please keep in mind that money from a parent or third party is known as a gift and not considered genuine savings.
A rule of thumb is, the smaller your deposit, the more rigid the regulations are on it. If youâve only got a 5% deposit it has to be genuine savings. if youâve got 10% or more, a gift (from a parent, for example) can be part of it.
If youâre buying an investment property, lenders tend to be more rigid, with most requiring a deposit of at least 10% of the propertyâs value.
Whether you are buying your first home or your sixth property â and using equity from your previous homes to do so â the rules are still the same. Youâll need at least 5% (and 10% for investors) of the value of the home to put down as a deposit. The same rules apply if you bought a home back in â82 and sold it in â95, and want to buy a new property in 2018. Just because youâve done it once, doesnât mean you get a special deposit discount the second time round.
If you havenât saved a deposit but want to buy property, and donât have a sugar mummy, all is not lost. Youâll need to qualify for whatâs known as a guarantor loan. A guarantor is usually a family member who is legally responsible for paying back the entire loan if you cannot â or will not (I will not, I say!) â make the loan repayments.
The guarantor will also have to pay any fees, charges and interest. If you have a direct family member who can act as guarantor and use their property as guarantee, you may be eligible for a guarantor loan. Read more about guarantor loans and how to get a loan with no deposit
These days, itâs recommended home buyers save as much as 20% of the homeâs value to put towards a deposit. But raising a 20% home loan deposit makes it challenging for first-time buyers to enter the property market â particularly given the high prices in our capital cities. The good news though, is that under some circumstances you may be able to secure a mortgage with as little as a 5% deposit. Youâll need to meet eligibility criteria and youâll have to look âsafeâ on paper to offset the increased risk your high loan-to-value ratio (LVR) presents.
Typically youâll need:
The costs involved in buying a home differ from state to state, not only because of the variance in house prices but due to things like stamp duty and legal costs â which tend to be higher in metropolitan cities.
, we can see that the stamp duty on a $32 million house in Wolseley Road, NSW is $2,180,768; whereas on a $322,000 studio apartment in Tuggeranong, ACT it is $6,548.
As well as the stamp duty fee itself, youâll have to pay a transfer fee and a mortgage registration fee. The transfer fee is usually around $200-$300 and the mortgage registration fee around $100-$150.
Before you exchange contracts with the seller, youâll want to hire a conveyancer. The legal work involved in preparing the contract of sale for a property (if youâre selling), reading it thoroughly and making any changes (if youâre buying), home loan documents and other related docs, is called conveyancing. Costs will differ depending on who you use, but you can expect to pay anywhere from $600 to $1500.
Read: Costs involved in buying and selling property
Really? Sorry bud, youâre going to need some money to invest. Unless youâre Kyle MacDonald. When it comes to buying an investment property, most lenders will want to see a deposit that equates to 10% of the propertyâs value. In rare cases you might be able to get a guarantor loan, but these are usually reserved for owner/occupiers so donât get your hopes up.
Australian property prices are talked about in Australia more than the weather is in the UK â and thatâs saying something. Asking how much an Australian house costs is a bit like asking the cost of a flat white: it really depends on where you are. In Sydney, a flat white is usually around $3.50 although if you go somewhere like Thirroul on the South Coast itâs not uncommon to pay $4. And donât get me started on Darwin, where a (pretty average, if weâre being honest) latte can set you back $5! Unbelievable! Especially when you can get all-day parking for twice that! Hang on, weâre talking about property arenât we?
The median property prices in each state change month-to-month, but hereâs where they stand, according to February 2018 CoreLogic data: