As a mortgage adviser I get to see a lot of people in varying situations that want to get their first home, and with that I have created a list of tips for first home buyers that I’m happy to share.
These are my 5 top tips for first home buyers.
Let’s have a look at these and see if they can help you.
- Get The Maximum Deposit
- Look For Any Help
- Boost Your Income
- Engage An Adviser (me)
- Get Pre-Approved
These might seem obvious to some people, but they are all things that you shoud look at with a bit more detail.
Let’s step through these in a bit more detail.
1: Get The Maximum Deposit
Of course it would be great to have the maximum deposit, but any first home buyers are lacking in this regard.
When you have more deposit you have more options and often cheaper options too.
Obviously you can only save what you can save, but there are options like the First Home Grant that can help (if eligible) there might be family able to help and there may be other options that you have not considered.
If you qualify for First Home Partner then that is treated like having a larger deposit, and many people might be able to get a loan to consolidate any debts and at the same time top-up their deposit.
2: Look For Any Help
The great thing in New Zealand is there are a number of programmes for first home buyers and you need to make sure that you know about these and see what might help you.
There are the specific options for first home buyers provided by Kainga Ora that include the First Home Grant, First Home Loans, First Home Partner and others. There are also options provided by some banks that offer first home buyers special deals and then there are some other options that are not as well known.
The key is to make sure that you look at all options if you want to buy your first home.
3: Boost Your Income
Oh, this is one that people struggle with … people often believe that it’s impossible to boost the income, or have been told that it makes no difference.
First, there are very few people that cannot earn more if they set their mind to it. You may already know that I have done rideshare myself, and also help a lot of people that do rideshare (Uber, Ola etc) to help boost their incomes and it does make a difference.
When you are applying to a bank for a home loan there are some forms of income that the bank do not accept, or need a couple of years ‘proof’ of income but regardless of that any extra income can make a difference. If your application is borderline then knowing that there is more income can make this an approval rather than a decline.
4: Engage An Adviser (me)
Of course I would have to say this, but seriously I also believe that it’s best to engage an adviser like me that can help you with the process and get you approved.
As a mortgage adviser I am always going to suggest that you engage an adviser, but I’ve also seen people that have tried going direct to a bank and the stress and issues that they have had, but which I know could be avoided.
5: Get Pre-Approved
Again, this might seem obvious but many people get drawn into the whole concept of buying their first home and have not been pre-approved.
It’s always a good idea to get pre-approved as soon as you can, and even if you feel you are not yet ready by getting pre-approved you are in a stronger position to buy. If you are not able to get pre-approved for the amount that you want then you can always apply for a higher amount later.
With a mortgage pre-approval, you know up front how much you can afford when buying your first home and this avoids wasting time looking for properties that are out of your budget.
A home loan pre-approval also allows you to move quickly and make an offer when you find a home you like, and puts you in a better position to negotiate with the vendor.
In Summary …
Those are just a few tips that I put together to help first home buyers.
They may seem quite obvious to some people, but I also know that when you are doing this for the first time things can be quite overwhelming and because of that I know many people love these simple tips.
