Oz-bound

Hi! I'm due to start the whole house buying process and wondered if anyone could give me a heads-up on the following so I can work backwards with what I've got to spend

1. Approx. end to end timescales
2. Fees on top of house price (inc. 1st time buyers) i.e. stamp duty, legal fees, etc.

Timber Floor Au

Where are you moving to? this has an effect on fees etc

Oz-bound

Oops It'll be somewhere in the Sydney region, Northern Beaches prob most likely.

spottydog

In NSW as a first time buyer on top of the governments grant you get no stamp duty on purchases under $500k, reduced on purchases from $500k to $600k then full stamp duty over $600k.

When we moved to our place a couple of years ago we had the mortgage agreed up front then moved in 6 weeks after exchanging on the contract of sale, which was about a week after putting in the offer once the building & pest inspection is complete, the solicitor has checked the contract & your mortgage lender has done anything they want. If you buy at auction then you exchange when the hammer falls (and pay your 10% deposit) then normally complete 6 weeks later, check the contract out prior to the auction to confirm exact details (you ask your solicitor to do this prior to the auction).

Our solicitor cost us around $1000 and buildings and pest inspection around $600 but this varies as it does in the UK. Check out a mortgage lender on the web as a lot of them have calculators which will show a breakdown of costs as you get other things like attendace at settlement which attracts fees.

When you put in your offer you can put down a 0.25% deposit which means they can't take any other offers but also you can't just change your mind without losing it so you need to ensure they are advised it is subject to you getting a satisfactory building & pest inspection and finance of your chosing etc.

walaj

Cost we had and timing of cash flows to consider (in Sydney)

allow for 10% deposit upon exchange contracts (can ask for 5%)

the biggest cost of course is Stamp duty and that is payable around 30days (better check on that) after exchange, ie before the normal 42days when settlement occurs. (eg $40,490 on $1m house).

building & pest check $608

solicitors fees ended up a bit high, however they had done work for us on several houses/land that we did not end up buying (ie out bid at auction) which was not charged for. Fee $1930, this would have inc several charges by council/government.

We had fees for bank cheques for stamp duty, cash balance for house (ie part not covered by mortgage). If the vendor wants 5 or 20 cheques, you pay the bank fees for these cheques. There will be a term that if this number is above a figure they will pay you $x, we had to get this changed to reflect the true cost, not much but it all adds up (note, the contract is biased towards the vendor, so especially look at the alterations to the standard contract).

A $180 govermental charges via lender for registration of mortgage & something else.

removal costs - from rented place & we packed ourselves $1600

bills that vendor had paid for period after settlement date - council & water paid via solicitor.

First home owners grant $7k, if you get the paperwork filled out in time before settlement, then you can get it through your mortgage provider by settlement.

We have bought an older house which we intend to knock down in a few years, but have had significant costs since moving in (thus either budget an amount, or get extra checks) - roots entering the sewage pipes, causing a blockage - to clear blockage & get a camera to check where problem lays $550. This does not incl cost for either foam root treatment or lining the pipe as a longer term solution. Mentioned as especially in places like Kuring-gai there are plenty of big trees, thus could be an unseen issue.

Pool pump gave up on us $600

Look around the house/property, and see what inclusions have been ticked on the front page of the contract - it is a pain to plug in the TV and find there is no ariel (as a friend did last year).

All the best

jellibaby

We are part way through FIRB - we have a 496 VISA which is provisional for first two years - so we are classed by everyone as temporary. This usually takes 14 days but the FIRB website says allow 28 days. If we dod not have this to go through and given we are buying a new house which is empty we could have wound the purchase up in 2 weeks I reckon. As it is we have a completion date of Tuesday 26th Feb which is 42 days from the date we exchanged contracts and paid the 10% deposit. It is dependant on FIRB approval just in-case!

The 496 visa means we're not entitled to first home buyers grant either - so anyone coming in might want to wait until they roll a temporary VISA over to permanent to get the $7k. Our stamp duty was $22044 on 590k which was quite a hefty whack! Solicitor fees will be around $1200. The house has just been completed and has a full 7 year warranty which includes pest and termite damage so we did not go for the pest survey.

It takes longer to hunt for the house / land that you want that ticks all the right boxes - the buying bit seems to be the easy bit!