Buying Tips

BUYING TIPS

First Home Owners
You’ve worked hard and made sacrifices to save for the deposit on a home of your own. So what happens next? Firstly congratulations. Saving a deposit is a milestone in itself and a goal well achieved. And so now the fun part begins…. you finally get to scan over newspapers, real estate internet sites and shop windows to find your dream home. Or do you?

Going into a real estate transaction without doing your homework first can cause unnecessary stress. The item you are about to purchase will be one of the most expensive purchases in your life. So you will want to get it right. Read over our buying tips below to swot up on a few things that you may already know and some that perhaps you don’t.

Experienced home owners
You’ve lived through that heady excitement of your first home purchase, developed an intimate relationship with your bank and painted, papered and gardened your annual leave and weekends away. And now it’s time to do it all over again.

Something bigger, a better location, more land or low maintenance. Whatever the call is – you’re lining up to go through the process again. So… how have things changed? Is there anything you should be aware of? And heaven forbid…. Do you really have to bid at an auction? To brush up and fine hone your real estate purchasing skills have a read over our buying tips. And if you can add a few tips that really ought to be there – email your suggestions in. We are always pleased to share real estate advice.

Buying Tips

1. Speak with your financier to establish how much you are able to borrow and to find the best loan for you.

2. Calculate extra charges such as lending fees, stamp duty, taxes, legal fees, property inspections and the like.

3. Consider your home loan repayments. Will you still be able to live comfortably?

4. Prepare a list of preferred areas or identified features in a home that suit your lifestyle. Detail location, size and features that you require in a home. Consider added costs of living further away from your workplace or lower costs if you live closer. Think carefully about wants versus needs. Perhaps some identified requirements may have to be foregone in favour of more important considerations.

5. Research sales in your preferred areas using the Fisk & Nagle recent sales listings. Look at a wide range of property in your selected areas so that you gain a feel for the price. Attend open homes and auctions.

6. Develop a relationship with a Fisk & Nagle Agent specialising in your preferred area. Give them the “wish list” you created and the price you can afford.The agent will be able to offer additional advice and also alert you to new listings before they reach the media.

7. Locate a solicitor to handle your purchase and ask for a list of their charges and any other costs involved in the settlement of the property. Don’t forget to consider Stamp Duty and an amount to cover your percentage of council and water rates.

8. Set aside an amount for moving. If you intend to do it yourself, consider trailer hire, petrol, food to feed the army of helping friends etc If using removalists contact several local firms and obtain some quotes.

9. When you find a property that suits your requirements, ask your agent to send a copy of the sale contract to your solicitor or conveyancer.

10. We recommend that you arrange a building and pest inspection to make you aware of any major defects and pest concerns eg: white ant, termites.

11. Following your solicitors or conveyancers advice on the sale contract and taking into consideration the building and pest reports, you are now able to make an informed decision to proceed with an offer on the property through the agent.

12. If you are bidding at an auction, we recommend you read the Office of Fair Trading’s “Bidder’s Guide” before you attend the auction. You can find a copy of the Bidder’s Guide on the Fair Trading website.

13. Once negotiations have been finalised, you will be required to sign the sale contract and pay a 10% deposit. The vendor will sign their sale contract and the solicitor/conveyancer or agent will exchange the contracts.

14. When you have signed a contract on a property you will need to arrange an insurance cover note to insure the property up to the settlement date, and once settlement has taken place you will need to insure both the building and contents .

15. On settlement day, your solicitor or conveyancer may request that you have a pre-settlement inspection before settlement takes place. This is to ensure that the property is in the same condition as when you last inspected it and that all the inclusions are as per the contract you signed.

16 . If you have pets consider placing them in a kennel or asking a friend to take care of them the night before and the day of your move. Not only is it one less family member to worry about but it will prevent the animals from becoming stressed and getting in the way of the removalists carrying heavy objects

17. While you are house hunting, and before you move, make a list of all incoming correspondence and then send a note to everyone who has written to you, giving them your new address and contact details.

Fisk & Nagle supply this information in good faith as a helpful guide to prospective buyers. Each buyers circumstances vary and Fisk & Nagle recommend that individual buyers make their own investigations and not rely solely or partly on the information provided.