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Buying your first home is a big and exciting step, but it can also be overwhelming – so overwhelming, people actually put off buying a home because they don’t know where to begin 😧

There’s a huge amount of information out there. But when you break it down, buying a house isn’t actually that hard. You might just need a little help.

Our job is to make home ownership not only doable but easy. That’s why we’ve created The Ultimate First Home Buyers Guide to kick start your home ownership journey.

What we cover:

  • What to consider when choosing your home design
  • How to get the right home loan
  • The lowdown on House & Land Packages
  • Government grants
  • What is Lenders Mortgage Insurance?

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Our Fav Government Grants in Western Australia

Thanks to the government, getting a home you can call your own is a lot easier. There are a number of grants, schemes, and initiatives that are offered by the State and Federal Government that you can take advantage of! ✅

First Home Guarantee

The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS) allows eligible first home buyers to purchase or build a home with a deposit of as little as 5% with the government covering the remaining 15%.

First Home Guarantee Eligibility Requirements:

  • You haven’t owned property in Australia in the last 10 years.
  • You are an eligible first home buyer
  • You are an Australian citizen or Permanent Resident
  • You are 18 years of age, or older
  • You possess a deposit of at least 5% in genuine savings
  • You meet both income and property price threshold requirements

Family Home Guarantee

Single parents or legal guardians with at least one dependent will be able to buy a home with a deposit of just 2%! The Government will then guarantee the remaining 18%.

Family Home Guarantee Eligibility Requirements:

  • You do not currently own a home in Australia
  • You are a single parent or legal guardian with at least one dependant living with you
  • You are an Australian citizen or Permanent Resident
  • You are 18 years of age, or older
  • You earn no more than 125k annually
  • You possess a deposit of at least 2% in genuine savings.
  • Your Property meets price threshold requirements

First Home Owners Grant

The First Home Owners Grant (FHOG) is a one-off $10,000 payment from the WA Government to help you build your first home. Win! You can buy an off-the-plan home or house and land package. There’s some FHOG criteria you’ll need to meet, but it’s super straightforward.

FHOG Eligibility Requirements:

  • You have never owned property in Australia
  • You are an Australian citizen
  • You are 18 years of age, or older
  • You must live in the home you wish to build (owner-occupier)
  • You meet all property price eligibility criteria for this scheme
  • You meet income eligibility criteria for this scheme

First Home Super Saver Scheme

First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS) allows eligible first home buyers, to withdraw from their super fund to help with a deposit on their first home.

FHSS Eligibility Requirements:

  • You have never owned property in Australia
  • You are an Australian citizen
  • You are 18 years of age, or older
  • You have never had funds released from superannuation through this scheme
  • You meet all property price eligibility criteria for this scheme
  • You meet income eligibility criteria for this scheme

Stamp Duty

Stamp duty, or transfer duty, is a tax that applies to all property and land purchases or transfers. As a first homebuyer though, you get a little extra help from the WA Government known as first home owner rate (FHOR).

Here are the facts:

  • When you build a home, you don’t pay stamp duty on the house, as no transfer is taking place.
  • You only pay stamp duty on the block of land you buy.
  • First home buyers don’t pay stamp duty on land purchased up to the value of $300,000.
  • Land between the sale value of $300,001 and $400,000 receive concessions (reduced stamp duty).
  • You must be eligible for the FHOG for this to apply.
  • Definitely something to bear in mind when deciding between building your first home or buying established – you could save thousands!

For the most up-to-date info on stamp duty and current concession rates, always visit the WA Government website.

All about
Home Loans

Home loans are might seem complicated, but when someone breaks it down for you it can be a lot easier to digest. Thats why we have highlighted what we believe are the biggest questions around home loans and given you the quick answers for each of them! 🧐

Home Loan Quick Facts

How Much can you Borrow?

So just what is your budget for your first home? Well, your borrowing capacity is determined by a mix of criteria that assesses your ability to meet your home loan repayments. Basically, banks want to know you can pay their money back (this is due to responsible lending practices – fair ).

Banks and lenders will look at your:

  • Income
  • Assets
  • Debts and living expenses
  • Credit score
  • Property value (of the home you want to buy)
  • Type of home loan
  • deposit amount

How much do you need for a deposit?

The quick answer is most lenders require a deposit of at least 5 – 20% of the total home loan amount. Yep, a decent chunk of change!

This deposit has to be ‘genuine savings’ which means there’s evidence of money accumulating in your savings account, over a minimum of 3 months. OR, if you have been paying rent for over 12 months, some lenders will use this as proof of your ability to service a loan and consider this your ‘genuine savings’.

Low deposit & No Deposit Home Loans

At Easystart, we understand not all first home buyers will have a large amount of savings available for a deposit. So we’ve created an awesome No Savings Home Loan that’ll help get you into your first home, sooner.

There’s another option for those with smaller deposits and that’s wrapped up in what’s called a Keystart loan. This is an initiative of the WA government and you only need a 2% deposit.

Common Types of Loans

Standard Variable Loan

This is where the interest rate that’s applied to your home loan can change whenever your lender changes the rate. This means your minimum repayments will decrease when interest rates go down, or will increase when rates go up.

 

Fixed Rate Loan

As the name suggests, these loans offer a fixed rate of interest regardless of interest rates changes in the market. These loans are usually offered for the first 1-5 years of the loan and then the home loan rate will switch. Make a note of what the rate is after the fixed rate period.

 

Split Rate Loan

The split rate loan is a goldilocks scenario where part of the loan is variable, and the other is fixed

Lenders Mortgage Insurance

Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) is insurance that covers only the lender for the total of your outstanding loan balance if you can’t meet your mortgage repayments and default on your home loan.

  • LMI is added to your total home loan amount as a one-off lump sum
  • It acts as insurance that covers your lender (not you) if you default on your home loan.
  • It is completely avoidable by…
    • Saving for a bigger deposit (more than 20% of your total home loan.)
    • Taking advantage of specific government schemes e.g. Keystart home loans.
  • It doesn’t go away if you refinance later.

Buying Land

As they say, it’s all about Location! Location! Location! So where to do you want to call home? 🏡 North of the river, south of the river? The hills or the coast? Near family, friends, schools and parks? There’s a bit to consider:

Land estates icon

Land estates

The majority of our clients choose to build in new land estates or developments. These estates are masterplanned – designed to be like little communities and offering shared amenities like parks and even local schools and shopping options.

Lots are released in stages (rather than all at once) – and there could be 5 or 20 lots in the release, it just depends on the developer.

Land titles icon

Land titles

Land comes with a document called a Title. Titles are legal documents issued by the Government, which show all the details of that plot of land as well as the current owner/s name. Sometimes lots in new estates haven’t had Titles issued so you’ll need to wait for that before you can build - this is not a bad thing as we can lock in the price of the block!

Land size icon

Land size

Land size (aka lot size) varies greatly (and is determined as part of the developer’s masterplan). When choosing your block, think about how much space you would love around you. Do you want a backyard for future kids or fur kids? Or would a smaller, low maintenance outdoor area be more your vibe? This will help narrow the land search.

Just on lot size...
There are two ways blocks are generally measured: lot width (or frontage) and depth.
On a home design, the lot width is the minimum width needed to build that particular design. So that ‘lot width’ on the brochure is not the house dimensions, but the land size required to build it to meet council regulations. You’ll see these lot widths on our range of designs too.

House and land packages icon

House and land packages

If you’re thinking that a) finding and buying land and b) working out a home design that fits said land is all sounding a little too-hard-basket, then listen up:

This is where a home builder - like us! - bundles land and a home design to match in one package deal. You often get a choice of several home designs and several locations of land - and you just pick and choose the one best suited to your needs and lifestyle. It certainly takes the legwork and stress out of getting into your first home.

We’ve worked hard to ensure that our epic house and land packages are well located and affordable for everyone. Our strong relationships with land developers means we can find you a block at affordable prices in a great location.

Building your home

Define your dream home!

Let’s just take a mo’ to think about what you want and more importantly - need - out of a home. We find that it helps to look at it like a relationship. ❤

If it’s gonna be a long term relationship, you’ve got to be on the same page. And not just the same page right now - all the future pages, too.

So let’s get your priorities in order so you know exactly what boxes need ticking before you start the search.

Choose Your Home Design

Choosing a home design and all the selections that go in it can be quite overwhelming.

Our advice is to think about what you really need out of a home. What do you enjoy most when you are at home? Entertaining? Watching movies? Cooking for family and friends? The answers to these types of questions should be the focus when selecting your home design.

And it’s not just right now you need to think about - it’s 2, 5, 8 years’ time. Are kids👶 – or fur babies🐈 – on the horizon? Looking to start a business and work from home?

We can help guide you through all these important questions and create the perfect home design and floorplan for you now and into the future. We’ve got an awesome range of 3 ,4 and 5 bedroom designs that can work on blocks of all shapes and sizes.

The Building Process

So you have your home design and you own some land, whats next? Now we build, baby! 🔨

If you want to know the fine details of every step of the building process, we havr broken down everything from pre-construction to handover.

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