Getting Started!

If you’re thinking about buying a house and getting into the property market for the first time, most people don’t really know how to go about it. You’ll get some advice from family and friends, work colleagues and so on. But what should you do first – how do you get started???

Most people will start looking at prices and probably compare established and new builds and try and work out which of these 2 options suits them best – and that’s the prefect way to do it. Don’t get put off by the big scary numbers – easier said than done, I know! And a lot of younger buyers when they do start looking at the numbers, their first thought is - “No way”!

This is where we need to do a bit more research and think about it in a more everyday sense. It’s a fact of life, that we need shelter and a house certainly provides that. And most people reading this will either be living in a house their paying off, renting or maybe still at home with parents (who are paying off their home). So, the home has a cost of some sort, whichever way you look at it – same as food, drink and nearly everything else in life.

If you looked at buying any major item, the total price can be a little daunting – if you wanted something like a house in Baldivis for instance, you would pay perhaps $400-450K and for a lot of people that could be 7 or 8 times your annual salary – and then there’s the interest!!! And when you speak to someone on finance they tell you the repayments are going to be something like $2,300 a month over the next 30 years, it gets a little bit depressing!

How do we make it work better and still get a home?

With a bit of smart work on the finance side of things, you could get the repayment down to $435 a week, without any compromise on the house! How does that compare to renting??? Sounds a whole lot better than $2,300 a month for 30 long years.

OK – so we now know we can afford a home loan and it’s not much more than renting a house and getting into the property market makes sense! What’s the next step? And let’s look at this from the angle that you’re going to build a new home!

There are 3 components to the process and they’re pretty obvious – house, land, finance! Which one comes first?

Most “buyers” head of to the display village and start looking at the new homes, because they want to look at the end product – is that the best place to start? It certainly can be, if you get the right person helping you.

A good sales rep will sort it all out for you – finance, land, house! Most builders can assist you with arranging the finance and they will make sure you get the best deal possible, through their in-house finance people. They’ll then help you choose a “good” block of land to build on (your sales rep knows what makes a good building block and they usually also know what’s coming to the market in the near future – which means you get the pick of the bunch and not the scraps). And finally, they’ll work with you on the design, to make sure you get those features in your new home, that are important to you!

Choosing the right sales rep? Don’t get info overload by speaking to 46 different building companies or sales reps! Do you research and speak to other people who have built previously and see who has had a good experience (don’t get put off by horror stories – people always love to talk about their “drama”, so take those with a pinch of salt). Pick out between 3 to 5 that you’re interested in and have a look at those display homes and see which one feels right for you!

One last thought – when working with a sales rep, remember a cheesie smile, some flash clothes and a trendy hair-cut, doesn’t usually mean a good deal. Make sure the person you’re talking to, knows what they’re talking about and is willing to “listen” to what you want!