Made the decision to buy your first home? Congratulations! You are about to enter an exciting and memorable time in your life. However, it can also be overwhelming and stressful without the right plan set in place. Here are some top tips for first home buyers.

Know Your Limits
The prospect of buying your own home can be an exciting venture and one that makes it all too easy to get emotionally invested in. While you can fall in love with that dream home with the perfect layout, gorgeous fittings and massive backyard, it’s not the dream home for you if you are spending above your means.

When it comes to your first home, your priority should be affordability.

Get that big deposit together
This probably goes without saying, but saving the biggest deposit you can will save you immensely in the long run. Not only will it show banks you have the discipline to be smart with your finances, it will also help to ensure you pay less interest overall.

Getting that large deposit will take a lot of budgeting and planning. A good place to start is to also look at your savings account to ensure you are getting the best interest rates available.

Get rid of debt
It’s very hard to save when you are busy paying off all of the other debts you have, whether they be car payments or a personal loan. Make sure you take care of these first and get rid of credit cards you know you will be tempted to use too often.

Seek advice when you need it
Buying your first home will be a foreign process to you, so it is perfectly acceptable – and encouraged! – to get help from others. The type of help you get really depends on your level of confidence in the process itself. For some people, simply talking to family members and friends who have gone through it themselves may be enough, for others, getting further help from professionals who work in the real estate, financial or investment industries might be the way to go.

Do your research
Buying a home isn’t simply finding a place with a great layout for the right price. Quite often the first home you buy won’t be your forever home, as you may choose to sell or rent it out in future. It pays, then, to do thorough research on the suburbs and be prepared to compromise in order to get the best long-term results.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The information contained in this article is intended to be of a general nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this information, Fairhaven Homes recommends that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances and that you seek independent legal, financial, and taxation advice before acting on any information in this article.