Process steps to buying a house in Victoria

[FabFiona]

I completely understand the falling in love part. We visited a house with a bay window and a lemon tree. 45 minutes later we bought it whilst I was having pre-labour contractions and knowing I was being induced on Monday!

You can buy a house without a mortgage approved. It just needs to be approved a few weeks prior to the settlement. I'd recommend a long settlement in your situation (at least 90 days) to sort out your mortgage.

We just got a mortgage with NAB after being with Credit Union Australia for our other mortgages. The NAB staff were really great and their package was excellent.

Archicentre are all that you need. They are the main ones in Victoria.

We've used the same solicitor to sell and buy a few places. They are in Moonee Ponds so if that's convenient let me know and I'll PM you the details.

Mortgage insurance is a reality for many people. We needed it for our first mortgage as we borrowed 98% of the property value. It's annoying but a fact of life. Most banks will loan you the amount for the mortgage insurance too! Very convenient for them!!

I would do the inspections before you talk money or contracts. That way if it's a dud you haven't wasted your time.

If you decide you want it then put in an offer. It depends if it's been for sale for a long time, how many others are interested, if it's going to auction etc etc. There are lots of scenarios from this point but it basically depends on how much the vendor wants to sell.

Good luck!

[LionsandBears]

FF - Moonee Ponds is a bit away from us, but I'd rather use someone known to be good, if that makes sense. If you can PM the details then I'll talk to DH.

This house has a bay window and a lemon tree too!! And a vegie garden.

I need to read about settlements etc. The vendor may want a quick sale. it was tenanted, but it's now empty with a new coat of paint and hire furniture. Of course, we're going OS for 3 weeks in November. We also have a lease until Feb. Not the first time I've broken a lease though. Not even thinking about that.

I bought a property report and the value on the report may make it outside our range. The price is advertised as $x+ and that + is meant to be about 10-15% apparently.

[Cassius2]

I'd be talking with a few bankers, home lenders ASAP and see what they offer re rates, borrowing power, mortgage insurance. we ended up going with bendigo bank for our home loan and have been super happy with them as people (we have become friends with the manager hahahaha!). some banks can offer pre-approval really quickly, whuch is great as you can then start making offers and bidding with confidence knowing what the limit is etc.

Um, yep, you need a solicitor or lawyer or conveyancer. we went with a solicitor that was just down the road and had a flat rate. really, all they do is sign off the paperwork, and check the section 32 etc. we paid about $1300.

as for inspections...i would only really do it if i really believed it was a goer. we had a building inspection done through archicentre and TBH they told us nothing we were not able to work out ourselves. they can only see what is on show...no looking in roofs etc. of course, for peace of mind it is worth it, but in our case we opted not to do it again unless we could see potential structural probs and needed to know extent and timeline of when it would need to be fixed.

another tip i have if you start seeing a few places (the bug catches quickly once you start lol!) is to take a camera so you can remember what place is what...we seriously couldnt remember what our place looked like when we bought it..could only remember that we loved it ).

kitchen and bathroom can be the big ticket items. we were pretty conservative with our kitchen and all up cost about $13,000 (we had to remove a wall!). the kitchen itself was $6000. plus electrician, gas plumber, benchtops, tapware and stove/oven/rangehood.

[Ginger]

we used archicentre as well to do the building inspection and they were fine.
we also used a solicitor (i think from memory she was in boronia- that may be closer to your area?) i can look up the details if you like?
also used an awesome mortgage broker who was based in richmond but came out to our house for a consultation. we were really happy with him and the help he provided.

[LionsandBears]

we used archicentre as well to do the building inspection and they were fine.
we also used a solicitor (i think from memory she was in boronia- that may be closer to your area?) i can look up the details if you like?
also used an awesome mortgage broker who was based in richmond but came out to our house for a consultation. we were really happy with him and the help he provided.

Solicitor & mortgage broker details would be great.
I really want to know details about the house condition, even crawling into the roof to look at insulation and under the house to assess the stumps. Dont think archicentre do that.

[Ginger]

yeah they do all that. they told us a lot about the condition of under our decked area (which we knew before purchasing would need to be replaced) and also the stumps etc. we found their report really thorough.
i'll pm you xo

[Ginger]

hows it all going Tashybabe? do you think you'll buy it? fingers crossed for you. so exciting!!!