subject: House buying process [print this page] House buying process House buying process
1. How much are you comfortable paying in mortgage repayments per week?
Have a good look at the expenses involved in owning a house ie rates, insurance, mortgage repayments, to work out how much you are comfortable borrowing from the banks
This will help you decide how much you would like to spend on a house
Remember mortgage rates can go up as well as down so use a slightly higher rate when working out payments
Allow around $50 per week for city rates and house insurance
2. Get a pre approval
Talk to a mortgage broker or bank and get a formal indication of how much a lender might lend you
Remember different banks have different criteria, sometimes it is easier to talk to a mortgage broker who deals with many banks
Try to get a pre approval in writing, sometimes a verbal indication cannot be relied on
3. Check out houses and haggle the price
Signing an offer or bidding at an auction will be legally binding, do your homework before any such actions. Consulting a lawyer early on in the process can help a lot in the long run.
Buying by negotiation is usually done with a real estate agent and prices are negotiated in writing on a sale and purchase agreement, your offer should also include and conditions which are attached to it Such as a building inspection condition (if you want to check the structure of the house out before committing)
A finance condition to enable you to double check that the lender is happy with the transaction
A Lim report (so you can find out some further information about the land)
Buying at an Auction will mean that you can not back out later on Do your homework before biding at the auction, check everything out about the property you want to ie building inspection, LIM report
Make sure your lender is happy with the transaction before bidding
4. Negotiate rates and decide on your loan structure
Once your offer has been accepted and all conditions are fulfilled you can re look at the market rates offered by lender. Plus you should really sit down and work out how much of your home loan you might on a fixed interest rate
A good mortgage broker can help you negotiate the rates and decide on how best to structure the lendinghttp://www.mortgagesonline.co.nz/mortgages/fixed-term.php
Keep in mind the impact of making extra payments on the total interest cost of your home loanhttp://www.mortgagesonline.co.nz/mortgages/reducing-the-interest.php
5. Move in
Give notice to your land lord if any, book the mover etc, organize the house warming!
