Buying your first home can be one of the most exciting experiences, and also the most daunting. To assist you on your first steps in your real estate journey, we have put together a guide on what to look out for, and what concessions and assistance is currently on offer for first home buyers.
What to watch out for:
- Emotion – This is a hard one because the excitement of buying your first home can often cloud rational thinking. Your first home will probably not be your forever home so try and think of it more as an investment, and make the decision based on fact rather than the feels.
- Background check – Building and pest inspections are a must, and in the case of unit and apartments do a thorough search and check on the strata report. This can avoid any nasty surprises later.
- Cost plus plus– The cost of the home is not the only sum you need to be aware of. Stamp duty, conveyancing costs, legal fees, body corporate costs, maintenance, moving costs, insurances, rates, mortgage fees all need to factored in.
- Finance pre- approval. Have this done well ahead of time so that you know how much you can afford to spend on the property and will minimise any risk of over extending yourself.
- Contract – Take the time to look at and get professional advice on the sale contract.
What’s on offer
Currently there is a $10,000 First Home Owner Grant available to eligible applicants buying or building a new home valued at up to $750,000 in metropolitan Melbourne. A $20,000 First Home Owner Grant is available to applicants buying or building a new home in regional Victoria valued up to $750,000.
Are duty concessions available?
First home buyers purchasing a new or established home valued below $600,000 will be exempt from stamp duty, while buyers purchasing a new or established home valued between $601,000 and $750,000 will be eligible for a stamp duty concession, applied on a sliding scale.
The Victorian Government is extending the $20,000 First Home Owner Grant for people buying or building a new home in regional Victoria for an extra 12 months, in another measure to support Victorians through the coronavirus pandemic.
Treasurer Tim Pallas today announced that the regional grant – which had been due to end in June – will be extended until the middle of 2021.
The change will be included in legislation that the Government is seeking to pass in the emergency sitting of Parliament this week.
It gives more Victorians the opportunity to live locally and enter the market for the first time, while also providing certainty to the regional construction industry as we deal with the impacts of coronavirus.
In 2017, the Labor Government doubled the regional First Home Owner Grant from $10,000 to $20,000 to tackle housing affordability and help Victorians realise their real estate dreams.
Since then, more than 8,800 regional First Home Owner Grants have been provided, saving Victorian families $176 million.
To be eligible for the grant, the purchaser or purchasers must be first home buyers buying or building a property valued at $750,000 or less and it must be used as the principal place of residence for 12 continuous months following settlement.
The grant is available for first home purchases across 48 councils, with Greater Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Wodonga and Shepparton among the most popular.
The regional grant is part of the Labor Government’s Homes for Victorians package, which also offers a $10,000 First Home Owner Grant for eligible purchases in metropolitan Melbourne and offers stamp duty exemptions and discounts for new homes up to $750,000.
To find out how to apply and all the details click here .
To help you find the property that best suits your needs and make your dream of home ownership become a reality, talk to your local Stone agent.
The door’s open.
