Five Things to Remember to Include in Your Home Buying Checklist!

September 5, 2019

Home Buying Checklist

Buying a home is a huge decision as well as a serious financial investment and commitment – and for the majority of people, it’s the most expensive purchase we’ll ever make. There’s a lot to consider pre-purchase, so it helps to make a home buying checklist at the very start of your property journey, to ensure you don’t forget anything important.

So, we’ve put together a quick list of five things to include on your checklist before buying a home.

1 – Save Your Deposit

The first step in buying a house is to save up the deposit which is usually 10% of the total purchase price. While you’re saving you can start researching property prices, areas and home loans and also check if you are eligible for the First Home Buyer’s Grant. Remember that you will also need money for expenses on top of your home purchase such as legal and conveyancing fees.

2 – First Home Buyer’s Grant

First homes buyers in Queensland are eligible for a grant to help them build their first property (must be brand new, not an established home). To find out if you are eligible and what the grant involves check our first home buyers guide here. This is vital to add to your checklist before buying a home near Brisbane. Don’t miss out on free money, you might be able to afford your first home sooner than you think.

3 – Check out property prices, get to know the market

It helps to know if property prices are rising or falling in the area, so check pricing trends with the Real Estate Institute of Australia and look on real estate websites such as Realestate.com.au and Domain.com.au to get an idea of what things are worth. This is a good time to review the benefits of building a brand-new home versus buying an established home in your chosen area.

4 – Shop Around for Home Loans

The home loan industry in Australia is extremely competitive, so it definitely pays to shop around. Making the right home loan choice can save you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan, so you need to get it right. Each home loan has its own sets of terms and conditions, so make sure you work with a broker you trust and that you fully understand the details of your mortgage. For example, does your mortgage have a redraw facility? Will you be able to pay out your loan early by making extra payments? Are you able to pay fortnightly, monthly or weekly? When in doubt, find out – no-one enjoys an unpleasant financial surprise.

5 – Location Check

It’s an obvious point but can easily be forgotten, that once you buy, chances are you’ll be living in one spot for several years, so check that the location you want to move into has what you need. For example, if you buy your dream home but you’re working two hours away and not spending much time at home as a result, that dream might turn sour pretty quickly. So, visit the area plenty of times, get to know what’s available and take your home buying checklist with you to update as and when.

North Harbour’s suburb of Burpengary East is one of Brisbane’s best value suburbs. It’s close to shops, schools, transport, entertainment, sporting facilities and restaurants and has a great community feel in a semi-rural area. It’s located halfway between the Sunshine Coast (30 minutes to Caloundra) and Brisbane CBD (45 minutes depending on traffic) in the very sought-after northern corridor.

North Harbour offers plenty to do in a great family-friendly neighbourhood. Not only does North Harbour hold a free cross-country parkrun on a Saturday, free Yoga in the Park on a Sunday and Cam’s boot camp on weekdays and Saturdays (click here to find more details on our Events page), we’ve also got a café and four popular neighbourhood parks including a dog park, mountain bike trail, weekend dining destination Bite Markets at North Harbour and our $3m Heritage Park will soon be complete.

Find North Harbour

The North Harbour team is on hand every day to help you through the purchasing process. Our Sales and Information Centre & Display Village is open seven days a week, 10am-5pm. Located on the corner of Buckley Road and Fraser Drive in Burpengary East, our 33 home Display Village is an excellent place to do research for your home buying checklist as it showcases brand new designs from 17 of Australia’s best builders including:

• Bold Living
• Burbank Homes
• Coral Homes
• GJ Gardner Homes
• Hallmark Homes
• Homes by CMA
• Integrale Homes
• McLachlan Homes
• Metricon Homes
• OJ Pippin Homes
• Oracle Platinum Homes
• Orbit Homes
• Pantha Homes
• Stroud Homes
• Stylemaster
• Sunvista Homes
• Valeco Homes

We also have new Terraced Homes by Metricon TownLiving located opposite Habitat Park and wetlands which are perfect for an easy lifestyle.

North Harbour is the winner of the UDIA Award for Best Residential Subdivision in Queensland and is EnviroDevelopment Accredited. To find out more please contact us and to keep up to date with the latest news and info, including our regular events, please sign up for our email updates and find us on Facebook and Instagram (@northharbourliving).