Purchasing
Contents
- What Can I Afford?
- Choosing The Right Agent
- What Kind Of Home Do You Want?
- Wish List – My Dream Property
- You’ve Found Your Dream Home – What Do You Do Now?
- Making An Offer
- Congratulations On Purchasing Your New Home
Life is full of decisions: relationships, children, career and lifestyle.
Buying a home is about the biggest financial commitment and decision you’ll make. It’s also going to be an exciting turning point, one that will almost certainly make the most impact on your lifestyle.
For many, it will be something you have never done before. Selecting the right home, in the right area, organising finance, and negotiating the sale – it all sounds a little daunting.
Yet it isn’t as complicated as you may think and there are many ways Murray can help.
WHAT CAN I AFFORD?
Before you actively begin to look for a home, there’s one more very important thing you need to determine – what can you comfortably afford to pay for your new home?
Most lending institutions have websites that enable you to make a rough calculation of the amount you are able to borrow using their individual criteria.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT AGENT
To Purchase With Murray Means You Will:
- Enjoy the committed services of a salesperson who will work hard to achieve the desired result for you and who has the backing of an effective team and a leading real estate company.
- Who will at all times act with integrity, honesty and professionalism in the pursuit of your dream home.
WHAT KIND OF HOME DO YOU WANT?
Begin with a realistic family requirements ‘must list.’ Include every member of the family in the discussion, especially the children. Anticipate potential change in your family’s lifestyle and size, children, grandparents moving in, job changes and these days, the growing trend towards working from home.
- Establish the price range you can afford
- What location will be convenient for all the family members?
- If there is more than one wage earner, think about the convenience and cost of both commuting to work.
- Do you need to make special considerations for books, collections, clothes, sports, games, hobbies and valuables?
- How long do you expect to live in the home? If it’s only for a short time, resale value may be of paramount importance.
- Anticipate the inevitable, short-term changing needs of your family. Keep in mind that the space needs of children change dramatically as children mature. Privacy and their own space become a priority especially during secondary school years.
- Are your leisure activities based away from or around the home?
- Why would you consider a house that requires time, money, and effort to maintain if most of your free time is spent away from the home?
WISH LIST – MY DREAM PROPERTY
- Location
- Style of Home
- Single Storey/Double Storey
- Number of Bedrooms
- Number of Bathrooms
- Family Living Area
- Garaging/Shedding
- Area of Land
YOU’VE FOUND YOUR DREAM HOME – WHAT DO YOU DO NOW?
You should seek the following information from your vendor:
- Search of the title documents (which details the names of the owners and the other aspects of the property, such as encumbrances and caveats);
- Full list of the annual outgoings, such as water and council rates
- Zoning of the property
- Details of any builder’s guarantees applying to the property
- Council permits for any renovations, additions or alterations to the property. The Land Information Memorandum will include this information
MAKING AN OFFER
Offers to purchase may be made in two ways, conditional or unconditional.
A conditional offer means that you will buy the property only if certain conditions are met. These must be added to the sale and purchase agreement and limited by time. For example, your offer may be conditional on arranging finance. If finance cannot be arranged within a certain period of time, the offer is void.
An unconditional offer means you are committed to buying the house as listed at the price agreed without any other conditions.
Once your offer has been accepted you will be expected to pay the deposit as specified in the sale and purchase agreement.
The vendor will then sign the offer document. At this point a ‘contract’ exists which legally binds you and the vendor.
CONGRATULATIONS ON PURCHASING YOUR NEW HOME
Settlement Day
Settlement takes place on a prearranged date that is agreed by both parties.
This is typical of what happens:
- The lender authorises payment of the loan money and payment is made to the vendor.
- You or your solicitor authorise the real estate agent to transfer the money held in trust to the vendors solicitors account.
- You pay adjustments or receive reimbursements such as council and water rates that were prepaid by the vendor.
- You receive a signed transfer of the title deed and your solicitor will arrange to register the transfer and the home loan. The title deeds and mortgage will be held by the lender until the term of the home loan is completed.
- You will then receive notice to collect the keys.
YOU CAN NOW MOVE INTO YOUR NEW HOME!
