Buy with Harcourts

Buying a property is a huge step. At Harcourts Home Real Estate we aim to make the buying process as smooth and easy as possible.

Why buy with Harcourts Home?
Time and time again, happy clients tell their friends and family about us and stay loyal for successive transactions. Check out our reviews on Rate My Agent from both buyers and sellers that proves we strive for excellent customer service and communication each and every time.
We are not a numbers business, we are a family business.
Harcourts Home Real Estate is a family owned and run business servicing our community in all areas of real estate. We put the people first! Whether you are selling, buying or renting we value your business and strive to achieve great results for all of our clients.
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Understanding the buying process

Buying a home is a huge step and decision and there is a lot to consider. Here we run through the typical buying process you will go through when purchasing your new home.

The first step before buying a home is to ensure you have a deposit saved. Most lenders will require you to have a 20% deposit for your home loan. For example, if you wish to purchase a home worth $400,000, you would require an $80,000 deposit. However, most lenders have loan products to borrow up to 90% of the property value.

You may also like to create a budget to determine what you can realistically afford to spend on mortgage repayments.

Once you’ve worked out your budget, you can use a home loan repayment calculator to get an idea of what your mortgage repayments would be. Mortgage Express has some useful tools you can use.

Approach lenders to get finance pre-approval so that you know what price range you can look at for your new home.

Start to look at neighbourhoods that would suit your needs and your budget. A great place to start is online. There are lots of property comparison sites on the web which will give you an indication of the average sale price of houses, land and units in an area.
Also start attending open homes. Take advantage of an open home and use the time to perform a thorough property inspection.

The best way to make a formal offer and avoid any confusion is to make the offer in writing. A sales consultant will most often provide you with a contract to start the process which will also highlight any conditions of sale. The consultant will then present this offer to the sellers.

If you’re offer is accepted, and all parties have signed the contract you will be asked to pay a deposit. This usually equates to 10% of the purchase price.

You will need to nominate a solicitor to act on your behalf once your offer has been accepted.

Financial fees vary greatly, depending on such matters as what percentage of the property value that you will be borrowing, the amount of the loan, the amount of the purchase and which bank you are borrowing funds from. If you speak to your local Harcourts Financial Services representative you can quickly ascertain approximate costs for your particular circumstances.
Possible expenses you may incur are:

Bank fees
Solicitor’s/conveyancing charges may include legal searches (please consult your solicitor)
Home protection insurance
Miscellaneous costs (building inspection, rates, removalists, etc.)
Completing the purchase
Before settlement your solicitor/conveyancer will undertake the necessary searches with respect to the property and your financier will prepare the mortgage documentation.
On settlement your solicitor will exchange with the seller's solicitor:
Monies
Transfer documentation
Keys to the property (usually given to you by the sales representative)

Within a few days of settlement your solicitor or financier will register the necessary documentation and mortgage transfer with the Land Titles Registry.

Possession of the property usually takes place on the settlement day although the seller and buyer can agree for these dates to be different.

One of our team members will contact you to arrange a pre-settlement inspection. This is your opportunity to ensure all appliances at the property are in working order and that the property is as you recall from the time you signed the contract. If issues arise at this inspection, you should immediately contact your solicitor/conveyancer/settlement agent to postpone settlement until your concerns are addressed.