Buying Your First Home

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Your First Home

Moving home can be an exciting time, filled with the thrill of new beginnings. Moving can also be an incredibly stressful time, filled with confusing financial documents and mountains of legal paperwork. With your life in boxes, even when you’re bathing in the glow of the new life you’ll make in your home, it’s hard to shake the feeling that you’re constantly forgetting something.

There are plenty of comprehensive checklists to check out which will help you keep on top of things, however, for the little things along the way we’re here to help you.

Here is a guide for first-time buyers to help you turn your house.

Figure Out Your Finances

It’s no secret that housing is expensive so you’ll need to get your finances in order. You’re not going to be able to have the entire house price saved but a good savings goal is to have enough to pay for the deposit. How do you know how much you’ll need to save? A good rule of thumb is that deposit prices sit somewhere around 20% of the purchase price. Do some research into what similar houses in the area have sold for and base your savings goal on that.
Figure Out Your Finances
You’ll also need to look into home loans. There are many different types of home loans on the market so do some research to find out which one is right for you and your needs.

Draw Up Your Dream Home

It’s hard to get away from the idea of your ‘dream home’. It’s more than likely that you’ve been conjuring up the idea of your dream home in your mind since you were young, however, when it’s time to purchase a home it’s best to push preconceived notions from your mind.

The most important thing to consider is why you’re moving. Do you want to move closer to a good school district? Do you need more space for your growing family? Are you a foodie that wants to be nearer to the hottest restaurants? A nature lover who wants to be near the best natural beauty your local area has to offer? Are you a commuter who needs to be on a public transport line? The answers to these questions will help you determine where you want to live.

Now you’ve narrowed down your location you should start making lists of all your must-haves and deal-breakers, the things you can’t live with and the things you can’t live without. Separating the absolutes from the things that would just be nice to have will help you to know the right house when you find it.

Even though this is all about your dream house, it’s important to be practical. If you’re looking to have kids in the near future you should make sure you’ve got space. If you’re parents of teens who will move out soon make sure your house won’t feel too big once they’re gone.

Settle

Settle
Once you’ve negotiated a price, made an offer and signed the contract your dream house is yours and you officially move into the settlement period which, unfortunately, entails a lot more paperwork and cash. The settlement period begins on the date the property is transferred into your name and continues for 30 days. During the settlement period you’re expected to pay stamp duty and organise your insurance. If you’re looking for more information on the settlement process, you can check out this government resource.

Purge As You Pack

As Marie Kondo has taught us, tidying up is incredibly liberating! When you’re getting ready to pack up and move out of your home you’ll find yourself overwhelmed with how much stuff you’ve been able to acquire. So use packing as a motivating force to declutter your home.

Keep the things that bring your joy and donate or discard of the rest. If you’re looking for places to donate then you can check out this list of charities accepting donations of home goods and will even pick up your stuff!

Have A Plan For Day One

Have A Plan For Day One
When you’re moving in day one can be overwhelming so you should make a plan for the first day in your new home. First and foremost, you should make sure your utilities will be turned on from the very first day. Have friends over to help you unpack and then have them stay for dinner. It will likely be a take-away on the floor situation but the best way to make a house feel like home is to fill it with people who love you!

Now enjoy your new home and enjoy the excitement and anticipation of the life you could make for yourself there!

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