Our step-by-step guide to applying for and buying your first home
You might have heard that preparation is the key to buying your first home. But what does that involve? We’ve pulled together below a step-by-step guide to help you with the property market.
1. Do a price check
The first thing you’re going to want to do is do a bit of research into what kind of property you need. This could be an inner-city one bedder or something in the suburbs. Getting a feel for current market prices of your ideal property will help you figure out what kind of overall budget you’re looking at.
2. Know your numbers
Next, get stuck into the nitty-gritty of the numbers. Check out our borrowing power calculator to see how much you could borrow and your repayments might look like. At ubank, we ask for a minimum 15% deposit. If you can contribute more than a 15% deposit, that’s even better – the bigger your deposit, the less you need to borrow, making your loan amount and repayments smaller. You might also be eligible for the first home buyers grant.
3. Get your accounts in order
Trying to balance a savings plan with expenses isn’t easy. We’ve made it simple to see if you’re saving more than you’re spending with our Bill Planner. Have greater visibility of your committed expenses and set aside funds into your Bills account to help you strike a good balance between spending and saving.
You can also set up savings targets for each of your ubank Save accounts. Simply add the amount you need to save and by when, and we’ll create a plan to help you reach your goal.
4. Time to go loan shopping
Once you have your deposit sorted, it’s time to think about your lender so you can start applying for a loan and putting in an offer on your potential first home.
Always shop around to make sure you’re getting the best deal possible. With competitive interest rates and a simple digital application, we’re confident our ubank home loans will catch your eye.
5. Apply for your home loan online
Ubank has a 100% digital application form, so you could get a home loan without stepping foot in a bank. With our simple online form, enter your personal details and then along with your financial institution details, and liabilities or responsibilities, our technology will scrape your recent financial information to get a picture of your situation.
Once we’ve reviewed your loan application, you may receive conditional approval, which can then give you the confidence to start hunting for your dream home or investment property.
6. Unconditional approval
When you’ve found the property you want to purchase, it’s time to get the final ok from your bank, known as the unconditional approval for your home loan. To apply for this with ubank you would continue the online application with details of the home and the purchase amount to get the final ok to borrow the loan amount.
7. It’s time to sign on the dotted line and celebrate!
The next step is to sign the contract and send it back to us so you can progress to the settlement phase. The settlement part of the process can take an average of 6 weeks, but we handle the lending part of this for you. (Your conveyancer or solicitor will handle the purchase part). By this stage of the process, you can start planning for DIY projects or the ultimate housewarming party.
We’re here to help make the process of buying your first home as simple to understand as possible, so you can focus on finding your dream home.