Buying a house

Are you buying a house?

Do you need some help to understand the issues involved or to get all of the documents done? There are a lot of things to deal with such as identifying your needs in your next house or investment, understanding which areas are the best for you and what types of properties you need to be looking at. Then there is looking for the right property, going to an auction, negotiating a purchase price, getting a conveyancer or solicitor to look at the contract. There are all sorts of issues which can arise in the purchase of a house such as the timing with a settlement for the property you are selling, getting the first home buyers grant and the type of home loan that you want. mistakes in conveyancing can lead to serious problems which have Mimpact on your life such mortgage stress or even bank foreclose if you unable to obtain finance on suitable terms or if you unexpectedly loose your job or become ill. It is important to get good advice and fully understand the commitments you are taking on when getting a mortgage. There are a number of steps involved in the conveyancing process in under New South Wales law. When you are purchasing, you need to go through a set of steps which is shown below:

Step 1 – Before Exchanging Contracts:

There are a number of things you need to do to prepare to buy a home. You need to obtain pre-apporval on the finance. It is absolutely essential that you do not enter into a contract to purchase a new home unless you have the necessary funds available to do this. You can obtain finance pre-approval quickly and simply from most of the major banks in Australia as long as you have the income to support the repayments for the proposed borrowing amount.

You have heard it before ‘location, location, location’. Pick an area where you want to live and then find the appropriate property in this area. There are a number of excellent online services in Australia which allow you to search for the perfect property online. Your solicitor should be able to help you but advising you on the contract for the sale including any problems it may have and order any necessary building, pest survey or strata reports. The solicitor should also make contact with your bank so that they can communicate going forward about the appropriate information.

Step 2 – Exchange of Contracts:

Once you have decided on the property and outbid everyone else, you can exchange contracts by signing. At this time in nearly everycase you will need to pay the 10% deposit towards the property. Normally, this is invested in an interest bearing bank account until settlement. This is the time at which you must sign the contract.

Step 3 – Transition Period

This is the time when the mortgage documents need to be arranged with the bank. This means you should file you sign your loan agreements with the bank if you haven’t already and ensure that they will have the funds available for settlement. If you are eligible for the First Home Owners grant, most finance companies and banks apply for this on your behalf but your should check that you are going to get it if you are eligible. At this time you should start packing up your old place. Right towards the end of the settlement period, you will need to draw up the bank cheques for payment of the outgoing mortgagee, stampduty, council rates, water rates and any other expenses which are adjusted for as part of the contract. You also have the right of a final inspection of the property before settlement.

STEP 4 – Settlement

Your solicitor should attend on settlement and ensure that it takes place in an appropiate fashion. This is now the time when you can move into your new house. You get what is called ‘vacant posession’ of the property on the date of settlemet assuming that there are no tenants in the property. You can now ensure that all your services are transfered to your new address like electricity, gas and water and phone or internet. The documents are then lodged and you are sent the Title Deed to your new home, or if you have a mortgage it is sent to the bank.

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