Sunday, July 1, 2007

Dear Sister, I'm buying a house. What do I do?

Yes, house buying can be a fraught process. It also depends on where you live. If say, you lived in New South Wales, Australia, there are many resources you could look at. The NSW Government has a list of resources for buying a property. The A-Z of home purchase pdf on the Steps to buying a home section is great.

Basically it tells me:
* Find out how much you can borrow - there many online calculators that let you do this
* Calculate what you can afford to spend - also taking into account any deposit you may already have
* Ensure in your budget you allow for legal fees, lender and mortgage costs and things like moving and furniture if applicable. Phone and cabling costs might also need to be included
* Think about your lifestyle - it will help determine what type of property to buy

The section on Buying a house from the Department of Fair Trading (NSW) also has simple checklists. The buying process page is worth printing off.

I shall now retire to the vestry to ponder further these matters ...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

St George Bank has a very useful resouce 10 Steps to Buying a Home.

They break it down into threecategories. First doing your research - thinking about where you want to live; how much you can afford to borrow (with some good online, easy-to-use calculators); finding the right loan and house hunting.

Second, under Finance there is information about hiring a legal expert; making an offer and finalising your loan.

Third, under Settlement is exchanging contracts; getting ready to move and settlement.

Think I'm almost ready to go ahead!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Sister. The St George site is a fabulous example of a simple, yet substantial, way to present information online. I think it;' a model for presenting many types of content (and no I don't work for St George!).