How to Be a Financially Prepared First Home Buyer

Many of us grow up with the aim of owning a home one day, and with interest rates at their lowest in 50 years, it may be a good time for financially-fit first home buyers to take the plunge. By doing your research and following a few guidelines, it will be much easier to achieve the home owner dream.

Have a set budget
It’s important to establish how much you can afford to pay, and what sort of property and location will fit within your price range before entering the property market. Visiting open homes, talking to real estate agents and viewing past sales results for the areas you are interested in are great ways to get a handle on the market. It is also important to keep in mind that your property is an investment too – access to transport, schools or shopping centres will ensure that if you decide to sell your property it will be appealing to future buyers.

Review your spending habits
List your income and all expenses, including bills, groceries and entertainment on a budgeting spreadsheet before approaching a lender. Make sure you consider other upfront and ongoing costs involved in buying a property, such as stamp duty, conveyancing and legal fees, strata fees if purchasing a unit, and council rates.

Build up your savings account
Many lenders require a record of savings history as part of the criteria for applying for a home loan. Figure out what you can live without while you are saving for your first home. Opening a high interest savings account or term deposit will help you grow your deposit faster.

Pay down debt and tidy your credit history
Try to pay off your personal debts as much as you can before buying a property. Minimising your debts and closing all unnecessary accounts you have will not only allow you to borrow a little more, but also give you a bit of financial breathing space in your budget.

A helping hand
Find out if you are eligible for a Government First Home Owners Grant. You can visit www.firsthome.gov.au to find out what you qualify for.

February Auction Results

Last week we had our first in-room auction event for 2014, held at the Rydges Hotel in Campbelltown.

The auction event gained outstanding results and enormous community interest, with an impressive 156 people in attendance. Our team performed admirably, achieving our best clearance rate to date, selling 8 of the 10 properties advertised for auction...that’s an outstanding 80% clearance rate!

LEUMEAH, 28 Corunna Avenue - SOLD!
BLAIR ATHOL, 4 Keighran Mill Drive - SOLD!
AMBARVALE, 49 Clerkenwell Street - SOLD!
CAMPBELLTOWN, 12 Lawson Street - SOLD!
LEUMEAH, 11 Bathurst Street – SOLD!
AMBARVALE, 94 Crispsparkle Drive - SOLD!
RUSE, 5 Greenway Street - SOLD!
CAMPBELLTOWN, 72B Broughton Street - SOLD!
BRADBURY, 1 Jacaranda Avenue – NOT YET SOLD!
CAMPELLTOWN, 5/31-35 Chamberlain Street – WITHDRAWN PRIOR TO AUCTION
CAMPBELLTOWN, 67B Chamberlain Street – WITHDRAWN

FEBRUARY AUCTION EVENT STATISTICS:

• 75% of the properties SOLD achieved above our vendors’ reserve prices.
• Of the properties SOLD, our team achieved on average an impressive $28,417.00 above our vendors’ reserve selling prices.
• Of the properties SOLD, each property had on average 5 registered bidders.
• Of the properties SOLD, our team achieved an average of 39 buyer inspections per property during the intensive 21-day marketing campaign.

The auction event was another brilliant effort by our team. The event exemplified our office’s core values of:  People First; Doing the Right Thing; Being Courageous; and Fun and Laughter.

Congratulations also to our successful vendors and purchasers!

Thanks again to our Auctioneer, Paul Casarotto, and the wonderful support from Domain, The Macarthur Advertiser and Harcourts NSW.

NEXT IN-ROOM AUCTION EVENT WILL BE HELD ON THE 4th OF MARCH, AT THE RYDGES HOTEL, CAMPBELLTOWN.

Campbelltown Wins at Real Estate Awards

Our team recently attended the Harcourts New South Wales Quarterly Awards at Doltone House, Sylvania Waters, to celebrate individual and office real estate achievements for the October – December 2013 quarter.

We competed against 66 other real estate offices, 150 sales consultants, and over 60 property management professionals across NSW to gain these highly sought-after awards.

Individual Awards Won:

Property Management Business Development Listing Award
Runner-up, Sarena Rowley

Bronze Sales Achievement Award
Tom Spiljar
Tod Campbell

Silver Sales Achievement Award
Garth Makowski

Gold Sales Achievement Award
Cathy Furness & Shaun Moss
Troy Holmes

Gold Pin
Cathy Furness/ Shaun Moss

Amethyst Pin
Gary Ghassibe

Emerald Pin
Tom Spiljar

Diamond Pin
Garth Makowski

Top Auction Lister
Garth Makowski

Top Sales Consultant – No of Settled Sales        
2nd place, Cathy Furness & Shaun Moss

Top 10 Sales Consultants - Income to Office
3rd place, Cathy Furness & Shaun Moss
7th place, Troy Holmes

Office Awards Won:

Property Management Office Excellence Award - Runner-up

Property Management Office Revenue Award - 1st place

Property Management Business Development Office Award - 3rd place

N.S.W. Top Office (highest gross revenue) - 1st place

Another great result for our team at Dougmal Harcourts – The Property People for receiving these awards. I can’t go past our high achieving property management team, who work so hard every day and truly deserve these awards and the recognition. Another special mention must go to Cathy Furness and Shaun Moss for an outstanding sales quarter. 

Knowledge is Power

When it comes to selling your property, knowledge of the current market will certainly help you plan for the future and put you on the road to selling success!

Before you decide to sell your property, you should first do some research to find out what other comparable homes are selling for in your immediate area, and how long they are taking to sell. This will greatly aid you in many future decisions, such as finance and planning. Having this knowledge should also reduce your anxiety throughout the whole selling process.

So how to you acquire this knowledge? The easiest and most efficient way is through gaining a formal Market Appraisal Report from a reputable and local real estate agency. A Market Appraisal Report should not have any strings attached – it should be “obligation free” with the information extracted from a reputable property database company that gains the information from government records. Ask questions if you are not completely sure of any information. Be wary of taking verbal property pricing opinions and comparables as fact!

Pricing information can also be gained by keeping a close eye on the market, attending auctions, and speaking to others who have recently bought and sold in the area.

Once you are comfortable with price, it’s important that you choose an agent that will market your property in front of the highest amount of relevant buyers. Ask the agent to explain in detail what they will do for you when marketing your property – again ask questions to fully understand how these marketing activities will bring the maximum amount of ready buyers to your door.

When choosing an agent, you’ll find that the agent with the cheapest commission is probably not the best – that’s why they discount their fee! Focus on the agents’ communication skills, negotiation skills, and their track record - as it is these attributes that will determine your final sale price. Choosing a proven agent that has superior negotiation skills and effectively works with all buyers will gain you a higher final sale price that will positively impact your bottom line!