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How to Begin the Process of Searching for Your First Home

by Maurice Carroll

If you're fed up of sinking all of your money into household rent each month, then you may have decided to get your own slice of Australia and buy your first home. Congratulations — this is a momentous decision and will take a lot of planning if it is to go as smoothly as possible. Come up with a plan and make sure that you go through it, step-by-step, to stand the best chance of success. What type of plan should you think about?

The Market

To begin with, you need to set your parameters. There are literally thousands of properties on the market at any one time but not all of them will be suitable by any means.

Starting out

Figure out how many bedrooms you want according to your household size, as well as whether you want something that is single-storey or multi-, if you need the home to be sitting independently in its own land, if you need a two-car garage and so on.

Deciding

Once you've done that, you will need to decide how much money you will have available to spend and should schedule a meeting with your bank manager or mortgage lender to come up with this figure. Once you know this and are confident you will be able to get the money together, you can zero in on the type, size and cost of the homes in your section of the marketplace.

Navigating

You will need a professional on your side to help you navigate your way through the maze and should engage the services of a conveyancer at this point. They will be able to bring a lot of experience to bear here and can advise you about some of the next steps on your plan.

Negotiating

As you begin to look for the home of your dreams, ask your conveyancer about average prices in each location. Next, figure out what terms you may want to apply when you start the negotiation and how much you are willing to pay.

Inspecting

You will want to ensure that the property is appraised from a financial point of view, but you will also want to schedule a termite inspection and a building inspection at the appropriate time. Your lender may insist on this anyway, but it's crucial to help safeguard your potential investment.

Searching

Your conveyancer will help you to do the relevant document search to ensure that the building is free of any liens or that you are aware of any encumbrances if they exist. This will help you as you negotiate with each seller and move toward an agreeable price.

Getting Underway

There is a lot involved in this process, and it can be daunting for the first-time homebuyer. This is why it's so important for you to get a conveyancer on your side at the outset.

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