In the current ‘hot’ market, the idea of buying your first home may seem even farther away, with not enough properties available to satisfy buyer demand.
However, there are some options to consider to swing things your way.
First, check with your lender to confirm that all the financial bits are lined up and ready to go. In a market where properties are selling within a few days & sometimes within a few hours, needing to get loan approval or tidy up your credit will put you out of the game until you have dealt with those items.
You probably have dreams and expectations regarding the property you’d like to buy. This is very normal, but keep in mind that you’re going to buy your First Home, not your Forever Home. Even with a Forever Dream Home there will be compromises, so for a First Home, if you get 60%-70% of what you’d like, you’ll be doing well.
Look at it this way, before going house-hunting, or asking us to do that for you, do some careful thinking about what is absolutely non-negotiable essential to have in the property you buy. This needs to be a short list – no more than three or four items. This will help you to bypass unsuitable properties when searching online.
Another list to help with the online search is the absolutely non-negotiable “don’t wants.” Again no more than about 4 items.
Then, your third list can be of the things you would like in the property, but which aren’t deal-breakers if they’re not incuded. These may not be clear online, so you’ll probably need to inspect the property (or have us do it for you) to evaluate them.
In the current market, buyers are having to compromise on one or more of the 3 major aspects of the property:
- Position
- Property
- Price
1. Position – This is the location. It includes the street, high or low side, north-south or east-west orientation, distance from public transport, amenities, healthcare, shopping, entertainment & recreation among other things;
2. The property itself, including land/garden etc, the house, age, style, condition, type of construction, layout, number of rooms age of fixtures, fittings & appliances, plus how does it make you feel as you walk around?
3. Price, which is limited for just about everyone. A beginner’s trap is to look at houses priced around your upper price limit; in today’s market, most properties are selling well above advertised prices, so you’ll be better off looking at properties at least 10%-20% below your price limit. Make every effort to avoid being drawn into spending more than your budget – the ongoing stress of meeting higher payments will not only blunt the enjoyment of living in your own home, but will aslo reduce your ability to make changes and improvements.
Another choice might be to do a tree-change and live in a regional town. Currently median prices in SA’s regional areas are about half of Adelaide’s median price.
The first-home buyers we talk to tell us it’s the best thing they ever did – not easy but doable. It can be the platform enabling you to build equity and prepare to move to a home that can be a longer-term place of your own, still building equity and enjoying the community where it’s located.
For many years there’s been an underlying trend for households to “start out” in outer-ring suburbs like Hackham & Aldinga in the south. Smithfield & Blakeview in the north, Redwood Park & Surrey Downs in the Northeast etc, and – over time – move to middle-ring & preferred suburbs closer to Adelaide CBD.
If all this seems daunting, feel free to contact us on 08 7221 2800.
