As we all learnt at school, doing your homework does reap rewards, and this also applies anyone about to purchase their first home. Remember – look before you leap!

Homework, or research, should be carried out around three key elements of the home buying process. These include:

- Finding out as much as you can about the area you intend purchasing in;

- Deciding on the type of property you intend purchasing; and,

- Selecting the most appropriate loan you will need to buy the property.

By researching the area you want to live in, you need to determine what sorts of facilities are important to support your current or long term needs e.g if you intend to start a family.

When looking at any specific properties, you should determine if the property offers value for money, relative to the area, and once you decide on a property you like, carry out an inspection by a professional building inspector.

Before going any further however, you need to determine firstly what you can afford. Whilst there are many introductory loans on offer which come with low interest rates and special features attractive for first home buyers, you need to shop around to find out the most appropriate one for you.

First home buyers should also remember that they may be eligible for the First Home Owners Grant, in addition other government concessions. All first home buyers should carry out an honest appraisal of their current financial landscape before making any commitments.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 1:33 pm and is filed under First Time Buyers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.