possibly, the BIGGEST PURCHASE you'll ever make

For most of us, buying a house/apartment will probably be one of the biggest purchase we'll ever make.

That's why, its vital to do as much research as possible.

Take as long as you want to make that decision is what I've been told.

Because there's no backing out of it.

10 things to do before buying a home

 1. Save as much as you can.
 -A good down-payment is 20% of your purchase. If you can't come up with a 20% down-payment, you will have to get a PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). Which will come up to quite a fair bit as well. The more you put in up front, the less you pay for insurance. A 10% should be the minimum down-payment. If you don't have that, don't buy now! SAVE SAVE SAVE!

2. Total up the costs of purchasing a home.
-Apart from the price of the home you're considering on purchasing, there are other costs that should be accounted for, such as : 
* Stamp Duty - The highest additional cost you'll incur. Its a tax based on the purchase price of the property. First home owners usually get some concession.
* Lenders Mortgage Insurance or Low Deposit Premium- Its a one off charge that is added to the loan. To avoid it, save up 20% or more of your purchase Or, get someone to be a guarantor for your loan.
* GST - Applies to inspection and valuation of the company, auctioneers and real estate agents. This does not apply to bank fees.
* Capital Gains Tax - If the property is bought for investment or is going to be sold in a short period of time, chances are, capital gains tax will be incurred. Amount payable depends on how long you've lived in the property.

3. Set a budget and stick to it.
-Make sure you can afford it and that you still have enough for daily expenses, insurance, rates, savings and miscellaneous. A good and safe estimate of what your monthly mortgage repayment should be is 30% of your gross pay.

4. Go to all the banks (heck, get them to come to you)

-They want your business. Therefore, get them to come see you anytime you want. Find out as much information as you can (ie. interest, flexibility of loan repayment). List your questions down before meeting them. 
-It may also be a good idea to be pre-approved for a loan by the bank.

5. Look at dumps
-New/Off the plan properties can be very tempting and often take our mind off our main aim. Which is buying a property that is value for money. But of course it does not necessarily apply all the time.

 6. Location location LOCATION
-No one really wants to live in whoop whoop! Its better to buy an old place that's in a developed area than building a house in whoop whoop. Yes, whoop whoop will be a developed area eventually. But that will take years. Chances are, you will be selling it off in the next couple of years.

7. Its cheap to renovate
-"Ewww the toilet is disgusting..kitchen is so old.. the carpet is a yuck greennnn!"
Again, don't be fooled by the looks because its not expensive to get a new toilet, kitchen and new flooring's done. Buy that dump and change everything to make it your home :)

8. Don't be fooled by the amenities
-"OMG theres an awesome gym, spa, sauna, massive swimming pool, lounge, pool table, theater and meeting room!!!!" Chances are, you'll only use the facilities a couple of times a year.

9. Keep looking
-Even if its the 500th house you've seen, keep looking. You'll know its yours when you see it. Don't just settle.


10. List down the PROS and CONS
-It helps us see the big picture as a whole.

Sean and I have been thinking that maybe, just MAYBE its time for us to get our own place. We've got to start somewhere right? So we went to see two apartments. Taskers, Mosman Park (off-the-plan) and Adagio, Perth City (brand-new-ready-to-move-in). 

Both of them look Amazing!!

Taskers had river and ocean views. 

While Adagio overlooks the city from one balcony and the river on the other. 

I've listed down what we thought about both the apartments.

In conclusion, we decided that for that kind of money, a house would be better and more worthwhile. The amenities are so damn awesome but seriously, when you see someone else using the pool, you don't feel like using it. Its not like having your own pool. 

Same goes to the spa and sauna.

A place that is available to live in or rent out now would be better for us.

Cause who knows where we'll be in the next couple of years.

Also, its probably better to start with something more affordable than pay a mortgage and not have much to play around with. I think a monthly mortgage repayment should just be slightly more than what you would pay for rent.

And so, the search continues...