So you’ve found a house that ticks the boxes, and you plan to make an offer. It’s an exciting time, but can also be quite daunting when you’ve never done anything like this before!
Where to start
You’ve found your dream home, now what? It’s easy to fall in love with a property and want to buy it immediately, but there are a few key steps you need to take first.
Find a solicitor
Before you sign a sale and purchase agreement, you’ll want to find a solicitor that can help you understand the legal jargon. They’ll also help pull the offer together, alongside the real estate agent selling the property. Your solicitor will also provide guidance on what conditions you need to include and what information we need from the purchase to finalise the financing.
Unconditional offer
You’ll need to meet all the conditions of the letter of offer we provide before the date you have agreed on the sale and purchase agreement.
Once the finance conditions have been met, you’ll receive an unconditional letter of offer from us. You can then pass this onto your solicitor who will then confirm with the seller’s solicitor that you’ve met the finance conditions. Once all conditions of the agreement are met – you’re confirmed to have an unconditional offer. This means you’re one step closer to officially being a home owner!
Sorting your home loan
If you're planning on making an offer, share the property details with your lending specialist to confirm exactly how much you can offer. They'll also talk you through how you can structure your home loan correctly, which can help you save thousands in interest and allow you to pay it off sooner. Most home loans are set up to be repaid over a 30-year term as this allows the loan to be spread over many years.
You’ll need to decide what type of loan you want, and how you want to pay this back. We'll discuss your loan and repayment options with you, and help find the best option for you.
Paying off your home loan sooner will give you the best result in the long run, so you may want to consider if you can afford more than the minimum repayment amount.
Your repayments
You can use our home loan calculator to work out what your repayments could be, and whether you can afford to pay more – or talk to one of the team today, we’re here to help.
Your deposit
Every bit you've saved means the less you'll need to borrow. You may be in a position to have enough deposit saved that you don't need any extra help. In most cases, your deposit needs to be 20% of value of the property you're looking to buy.
Pre-approval
When you’ve got your deposit sorted, you can get a pre-approval so you know exactly what price range you can start looking at.
House hunting
Once you’ve determined how you’ll get your deposit together, and spoken to us to sort a pre-approval, you’re ready for the fun part of house hunting!