Generation Y is increasingly having to call on the help of their parents to help them get a stake in the Australian property market.
Other young people are choosing to rent in the areas they want to live and buying property in more affordable areas as a way just to get in.
Here’s six quick tips that can help you buy property and avoid a costly mistake like getting taken for a ride by the sales agent and overpaying for that new property purchase.
- What’s your why?
Before anything else you need to sit down and work out why buying a property is so important to you. Are you buying a home or investment? What will be this property allow you to do? How will it make you feel by buying that first home?
- Research the market
The best place to start is to take some time to learn a little bit of what’s involved in the buying process. Reading a good property book, attending a workshop or seminar is always highly recommended. Asking questions and speaking to professionals in the industry is another good way as well.
3. Get your finances in order
Buying a property requires borrowing money from a bank, so it’s important to have your finances in order. You need a minimum of 5% deposit (plus purchase costs) to purchase a property so work towards that as a starting point.
If you have any existing debts such as credit cards look to reduce them as quickly as possible.
- Start small
I always find first home buyers are too often looking borrow the maximum they can from the bank to buy their first property. But starting smaller allows you to get into the market quicker as there is less outlay required.
It’s so important for first home buyers to start off with a manageable debt, the last thing you want is to buy your first property and end up with sleepless night stressing on how to repay the mortgage. Also starting with a smaller first purchase any first timer mistakes becomes less risky and expensive.
- Be good to your parents
With property prices always seeming to be sky rocketing and it getting harder and harder to save for the deposit I am seeing more and more first time buyer’s using their parents or close relatives to help them get into the market.
There are a few different ways they can help out but the most common way is using a family pledge loan.
This is simply using some of the equity in your parent’s home to help fund the deposit for your first property purchase. About 1 in 3 of my first home buyers are utilising this resource that is available to them.
By using a family pledge loan, you are able to potentially get into the market today rather than needing to save a deposit, avoid the costly Lenders Mortgage Insurance premium and allow you to borrow more.
- Get professional help
With so many things to consider, getting professional help is highly recommended. There are many experts in the industry and it is in your best interest to use them for tasks such as property checks, pest checks and any other legal queries.
