Planning to buy your first home

Having a clear picture of your current situation and your goals for the future will help you decide where to buy and how much you can afford to borrow.

Your goals may include:

• Starting a family
• A career change
• Renovating the home

How much can you afford to borrow?

Buying your first home is exciting but don’t let that excitement turn into stress - only borrow what you can afford to repay now and into the future.

Use our simple calculators to help you work out whether you can afford a loan:

• Can I afford a loan?
• How much can I borrow?
• What will my loan repayments be?

Helpful tip: Practice putting aside your repayment amount and living off the remainder to give you an idea of what it will be like with a mortgage

What other costs are there?

The purchase price isn’t the only cost when buying your first home. It’s important to budget for additional expenses such as mortgage insurance, stamp duty, legal fees, council rates and bills.

A good rule of thumb is to allow for 5% of the purchase price.

Looking for more advice?

Our free First Home Buyers seminars cover the entire home buying process and can help you reach your goal of home ownership sooner, without the financial jargon!

Click for more information and to register your interest in our free First Home Buyers seminars.