First home buyer
Buying your first home is likely to be one of the biggest purchases of your life. Here are some tips to help you get there.
Some tips to help you get there
Do your budget
Work out how much you can borrow and what you're repayments will be. Our calculators can give you an idea of what you could borrow and if you're a Westpac customer, you can see some of the options available to you through Westpac Wonder.
What about the deposit and costs?
If you've started saving you may start looking at buying once you have around 10% of the purchase price. However, if you have less than 20% of the purchase price, you may need to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
Keep in mind the other costs you'll need to cover when you buy your home. These may include Government stamp duty and solicitor fees.
Getting Approval in Principle
Approval in Principle means you have a loan with Westpac conditionally approved, subject to our standard lending criteria being satisfied. This means you can make an offer or bid at auction with an idea of how much you could borrow in mind.1
The property hunt
Once you know what you're able to spend, you're ready to start looking at homes. Westpac has a handy Home Finder app that can help you with your property search - you can use it to record your inspections and rate each place according to your needs.
Offer accepted? So what do you do now?
Congratulations! But you're not quite there yet. You'll exchange contracts (your solicitor or conveyancer can take care of this), pay your deposit and contact us so we can arrange a property valuation. We'll also verify your financial details (the details you gave for Approval in Principle). Once that's done we'll help you finalise and settle your loan.
Free property reports
Things you should know
- 6 month Home Loan Approval in Principle
A Home Loan Approval in Principle tells you the amount Westpac could lend you based on your current financial situation. This helps set your home buying budget, which means you can house hunt with confidence. It’s important to know this is only the first stage of the home loan approval process and it’s not yet an agreement to give you a home loan. The next stage of the home loan approval process happens once you find the property you want to buy. At this stage we do an assessment based on your property of choice and your current financial situation.
A Home Loan Approval in Principle Certificate is valid for 6 months. If you don’t find a property after 3 months you will need to contact us to confirm your financial situation hasn’t changed, for the certificate to remain valid.
- RP Data Property Report
While the RP Data property reports are offered to Westpac customers with the permission of RP Data Pty Ltd ABN 67 087 759 171, Westpac accepts no responsibility for their accuracy or completeness. We recommend you seek independent advice before making a decision based on this information.