The complete guide to buying your first home

Show notes

Amy Lunardi is a buyer’s advocate, podcast host, and the Owner of Amy Lunardi Property, an independent buyer and vendor advocacy in Melbourne. Amy is passionate about helping first home buyers, and has just launched ‘The First Home Buyer Guidebook’ course and podcast to further share her expertise with anyone looking to get on the property ladder.

In this episode, Amy goes back to basics and breaks down exactly what you should expect when you’re buying your first home. She’ll explore the common timelines and waiting periods involved in buying a house, and break down all the steps between deciding to buy and picking up the keys. Plus, Amy shares a sneak preview of what to expect from her new first home buyer podcast and course.

Transcript

0:00
The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and is not to be taken as financial or personal advice.

0:06
It does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs.

0:10
You should consider whether this information is suitable for you and your personal circumstances before acting on it.

0:17
Hi and welcome to the homerun your guide to buying your first home in Australia.

0:21
On the show, I’ll walk you through the home buying process from every angle.

0:24
We cover the steps to take the pitfalls to avoid and the answers to all your questions you’ve been dying to ask no matter what stage you’re at, you’ll learn everything you need to know about buying your first home.

0:35
I’m your host, Michael Nasser and I’m a mortgage broker at Lendstreet and I really love helping people buy their first home today.

0:45
I’m joined by the extremely impressive Amy.

Michael 0:47
Lunardi Amy’s done it all.

Michael 0:49
Not only is she a buyers advocate, property expert and investment advisor, but Amy is also passionate about providing resources for first home buyers, which you can hear in her excellent show, the Australian property podcast.

Michael 1:03
In today’s episode, we’re going back to basics as Amy breaks down what to expect when you buy your first home.

Michael 1:10
You’ll hear Amy share the common timelines involved in buying a house.

Michael1:13
She’ll explain everything from the very first step of deciding you want to buy a house to what you need to consider even after the keys are in your hand.

Michael 1:22
And finally, she’ll share a sneak preview of what you can expect from her new first home buyer podcast and guidebook.

Michael 1:29
Let’s jump in.

Michael 1:34
Amy,Thank you for joining us today on the show.

Amy 1:36
Thank you.

Amy 1:36
Great to be here.

Michael 1:38
How did you become a buyers advocate?

1:39
Yeah.

Amy 1:39
So I’ve been a buyers advocate for just over 10 years now.

Amy 1:44
So don’t be fooled by my youthful appearance.

Amy 1:46
I’m just joking. previously, I was working in property leasing briefly and prior to that, I was working for the state government so totally different change of pace, but very fortunate to be working in this profession because I honestly can’t imagine doing any other job.

Michael 2:06
It feels like you’re kid of everywhere. You’ve got a whole heap of shows, podcasts and pretty active on social media.

Michael 2:09
Where did you get started in the podcasting world?

Amy 2:11
I’ve got my own business.

Amy 2:13
And then during COVID here in Victoria real estate agents, we couldn’t work, we couldn’t inspect properties, we couldn’t purchase properties.

Amy 2:21
So I utilized that time to work on a podcast and familiarize myself with how to do podcasts and how to put that information out there and it was very successful.

Amy 2:32
It was really popular and I didn’t even market it.

Amy 2:35
And all of a sudden these people were listening to it and I thought, how did you even find out about it over time?

Amy 2:41
I’ve really learned how to, I suppose, provide that information in a really concise manner and understand what, especially first home buyers want to learn about and what they don’t know because having done this for 10 years, sometimes you do forget what buyers don’t know and just sort of guiding them in the process and the questions that they should be asking themselves and the real estate agents

Michael 3:08
and did the first home buyer side of things come naturally or, I mean, being a buyers advocate, obviously, you know, you’d see a whole heap of variety of buyers, first home buyers or investors and the like or upgrades or downsizes what may, but that first home buyer appeal, like, how did that fall into place?

Michael 3:21
Was it a natural thing or was it something that you’ve always been really conscious of?

Amy3:24
Well, as a buyers advocate, I work with all different types of buyers.

Amy 3:28
I do have quite a few first home buyers as clients, but then downsizes expats investors all types.

Amy 3:34
But I’ve found that it’s the first home buyers that are generally the most hungry for this information.

Amy 3:40
The ones with less knowledge, the ones that are out there who are listening to the podcast and, and seeking this information, and also they are the demographic that need the most help but can’t necessarily afford the cost of a buyer agent.

Amy 3:56
So it’s a way for me to get that information out there to that broad audience.

Michael 4:00
And I guess that first purchase is so critical as well.

Michael 4:03
So, if you do get it wrong, it can sort of have that long term negative effect.

Michael 4:07
So that information upfront can really assist.

Michael 4:10
Do you have an example of a recent success story that you’ve had with the first home buyer that you can share with us?

Amy 4:14
I have a case study from not too long ago, they were actually clients from Sydney and they were moving down to Melbourne.

Amy 4:22
So they were relying on me for not only helping them purchase the property, but to really give them an understanding around location.

Amy 4:30
So what locations could suit their lifestyle, can they afford what they want in those areas?

Amy 4:36
And what that meant is we started off by looking at a broader selection of suburbs and I gave them a lot of homework to do before we officially got started.

Amy 4:44
So they moved down here.

Amy 4:45
They were in short-term accommodation and then they started visiting these areas and we’d have a recap on them.

Amy 4:50
And they really started to quite quickly resonate with certain parts of Melbourne and in particular Elwood.

Amy 4:56
So that’s an area which wasn’t on their list beforehand, but ended up being just ideal for them and we managed to buy almost straight away.

Amy 5:05
So, within a couple of weeks of them moving down here.

Amy 5:07
And that’s because we did put a lot of effort and time and research into that prep work beforehand.

Michael 5:13
That’s when things can happen, that are unexpected as well.

Michael 5:15
So you sort of have a bit of a plan and, and then you execute it and it’s like, well, hold on.

Michael 5:19
No, I really like this or I really like that and then you sort of evolve from there, I, I guess, and it sounds like what happened with them.

Amy 5:25
Well, before you get started on your, I call it your official property search.

Amy 5:29
So that is once you’ve got your pre-approval in place and you’re out there and you’re technically ready to buy financially and emotionally, the more prep work you do before you get to that point, the better because you’ll be looking at the right types of properties not setting yourself up for failure, wasting your time telling agents you want one thing and they know you can’t afford it.

Amy 5:46
So they’re less likely to help you or give you off markets and then you don’t end up feeling disheartened because you haven’t done that, put that property brief together and done a reality check.

Amy 5:55
It’s so helpful to do it.

Amy 5:57
And, and it also means that if the right property comes up really quickly, you’ll feel more comfortable considering buying it rather than looking back at it a few months later and saying, damn, that’s the one that got away just because I wasn’t emotionally ready yet.

Michael 6:10
No, I think that strategy can help you execute without a doubt in terms of what you’re looking to do.

Michael 6:15
The main focus of today’s chat is around the home buying timeline and looking at it as a timeline and what occurs and how it occurs and, and that process.

Michael 6:23
So, like I said, I want to step back and have a look at the first home buying process from a bird’s eye view and to do that, step one, you know, you’ve decided you want to buy a house, let’s say, you know, you’re in that category.

Michael 6:34
I’ve just decided I want to buy a house.

Michael 6:35
What’s the first step that a buyer or a potential first home?

Michael 6:38
I should be considering at that stage?

Amy 6:40
Yeah.

Amy 6:41
So the first step is taking a step back actually and figuring out why you actually wanna buy, making sure that it is coming from an internal place rather than external pressures, like feeling like this is just something that you have to do or your parents are telling you to do it or you see all of your friends buying, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right option for you or the right time frame for you as well.

Amy 7:04
So figuring out your why and that will guide the entire rest of your strategy moving forward and then from there figuring out your when and that’s a combination of your personal situation.

Amy 7:15
So, yes, maybe you’ve decided to buy a property.

Amy 7:18
But if you’re thinking about changing jobs or starting a business or traveling right now might not be the best time for you.

Amy 7:25
And that’s in combination with then your finances.

Amy 7:29
So speaking to a mortgage broker and understanding what your capacity is and your limitations and then using those conversations to set some goals in place.

Amy 7:38
It’s all well and good to say, I want to buy a property, I wanna spend 800 grand and buy this property in this location.

Amy 7:45
If that’s not achievable, then what’s the point when I say achievable?

Amy 7:50
That’s a combination of kind of three things which is, can you afford those mortgage repayments?

Amy 7:56
Can you service that loan?

Amy 7:59
Is the bank even gonna give you enough money and then how much deposit you need?

Amy 8:02
And can you save that up within the right time frame?

Michael 8:05
We will talk about these steps relatively quickly.

Michael 8:06
But the reality of the length of time between steps can be a long one or it’s an indefinite one potentially.

Michael 8:13
And when you start obviously somewhere and then it’s like, well, hold on, I need to raise this much deposit and this is how much I’ve got.

Michael 8:19
So, therefore, you might have to do a sub-step or it’s like, well, now I’ve got work to that particular strategy or even with your finances.

Michael 8:26
We’ve mentioned about sort of, you know, that pre-approval and being able to borrow those amounts of funds, it might be then trying to say, well, hold on, I’m at this particular point, I need to earn this much to get the loan that I need.

Michael 8:36
So I need to work towards a pay rise and knowing what that may be.

Michael 8:39
I think.

Michael 8:39
So, mapping that out makes total sense.

Amy 8:41
And if you can’t, you’ve got to reassess.

Amy 8:44
So if the broker says, ok, well, you’ve got to either save this amount or be earning this amount and that’s not achievable for you, then that’s ok.

Amy 8:53
But you sit back and say, ok, what are my other options?

Amy 8:55
How can I get there or what can I change in the meantime, or what other, what other ways can I get there?

Amy 9:02
For example, considering first home government benefits.

Amy 9:06
So the first home guarantee which allows you to buy a property with as little as a 5% deposit.

Amy 9:12
and you don’t have to pay lenders mortgage insurance.

Amy 9:14
So a broker will be able to help you figure out these options.

Amy 9:17
That’s the great thing.

Amy 9:18
And in some cases help you apply for these things as well.

Michael 9:21
We’ve gone through those considerations.

Michael 9:23
We’ve figured out the why and the how and we’ve spoken to a broker and we’re working on that pre-approval and we get the pre-approval.

Michael 9:30
So thumbs up, we’re good to go searching what happens at that particular point.

Michael 9:34
And how do you go about finding a place?

Amy 9:36
Yeah.

Amy 9:36
Well, I would say before you even get the pre-approval, that’s the point in time where you need to be doing all of your research.

Amy 9:43
And I think that research is fun when it comes to property and when I use the word research.

Amy 9:47
So people think, oh, that’s a lot of time and effort.

Amy 9:49
But it’s not like combing through graphs and data and statistics or anything.

Amy 9:55
It’s actually just first of all, spending time in the locations that you’re considering and checking out the public charts board and the streetscapes and the amenities.

Amy 10:04
But then also using the sold section of realestate.com.au or domain spend hours and hours and hours in there.

Amy 10:11
That is all of the information that you actually need to understand what things are selling for in those locations you’re looking at and can you afford them.

Amy 10:21
And if not, if you can’t see anything that you like, you’ve got to change something.

Amy 10:25
So figuring out what you want and then importantly, making sure that you can afford it and that sold section will tell you that I’m making it sound easier than it is.

Amy 10:35
But the reality is, is the information is there at your fingertips rather than looking at things that are just for sale, that’s a small snapshot of things and the prices aren’t reflective of what they might necessarily go for.

Michael 10:45
I like the fact that you’re mentioning spend time in the location because you may think that you want to be there or for whatever reason, then you go and spend some time there and whether it’s, I’ll just say the general vibe of that suburb and see if that is really what you’re after.

Michael 11:00
I think that’s a really massive point that perhaps not a lot of people think about.

Amy11:04
Yeah, exactly.

Amy11:05
And during that phase two, it can sometimes make you realize that what you think you want, you want something different.

Amy 11:11
And for example, sometimes I’ll have buyers tell me they have to be walking distance to a train station.

Amy 11:17
So that’s totally fine.

Amy 11:18
No problem.

Amy 11:19
But then once we stress test it a little bit and they start looking at properties that are say a short drive to the station or they can get a bus in between, but their property itself is much bigger and better and more modern, et cetera.

Amy 11:29
And they realize, well, you know what, that’s probably not as important to me to be close to the station.

Amy 11:34
I actually value a bigger house more so that research process and starting to go to inspections and getting a feel for what your money buys.

Amy 11:42
You can help you figure out your priorities that can change over time and that’s ok.

Michael 11:47
Yeah.

Michael 11:47
And I think that flexible mindset from the beginning in terms of what you’re planning to do and throughout the purchasing process potentially is something that you have to be mindful of.

Michael 11:57
And I guess it gets hard because when it comes to these types of purchases, we get quite emotional and so we can get caught up in a particular way of thinking or what we want and being mindful from the outset that I need to be flexible with.

Michael 12:08
This probably assists the process, I would imagine.

Amy 12:10
Oh, absolutely.

Amy 12:11
And you are allowed to be emotional when it comes to buying property.

Amy 12:14
As long as that doesn’t override your rational thinking.

Amy 12:18
I think that emotion is important because this is your home that you’re going to live in.

Amy 12:23
If you aren’t emotional about it at all, then is it the right option for you, is the right property for you?

Amy 12:29
But yeah, you always need to come back to say when you are approaching how much you’re going to negotiate or bid at auction, you know, working through the comparable sales analysis and figuring out what the market is doing and setting your limit that way, allowing emotion to come in a little bit, but then not overstretching yourself or paying a huge premium because you haven’t put the consideration into it and you get carried away and your emotions overrule that previous information.

Michael 12:57
Yeah.

Michael 12:57
And to keep those emotions in check, I, I guess that’s where the research comes in.

Michael 13:01
Are you able to give us some examples of what the research process might look like for a first time buyer you’ve mentioned real estate and the likes of those websites, is there anything else in terms of a basic research process there that one could adopt?

Amy 13:12
Well, in the prep purchase phase, it’s very much that spending time in the location.

Amy 13:16
You know, if you want to get to the next level, reading the council structure plans and going through all their planning department information on them, there’s so much information on the council websites.

Amy 13:26
You can go to that extreme if you wanted to.

Amy 13:28
But then once you are ready to purchase and you’ve got your strategy in place and you’re out there looking at inspections, there’s a couple of steps in the due diligence process and when you’re inspecting properties, you know, making sure that that property ticks all of your non-negotiable.

Amy 13:42
There’s, there’s a lot you can look at.

Amy 13:44
I actually started making a checklist as part of my online course for things that you should look out for.

Amy 13:50
And I got up to 100 I started off with like 20 and then I escalated from there.

Amy 13:55
I got to 80.

Amy 13:56
I thought I can think of some more.

Amy 13:57
So I’ve got 100 things there to look out for.

Amy 13:59
And I’m not suggesting that you have to look at every single one of these, every time, but it’s just food for thought.

Amy 14:05
So making sure that you’re looking at the right things, it’s ticking your non-negotiables.

Amy14:11
And then from there any property that you want to pursue, you have to make sure you do all of the due diligence steps before you put an offer in or before you go to auction.

Amy 14:21
And there’s a couple of steps there.

Amy 14:23
So there is the doing your comparable sales analysis and your market analysis, figuring out what that property is worth to you.

Amy 14:31
It is getting your contract looked at it is getting a building inspection.

Amy 14:35
You might do this before or after you submit an offer if it’s a private sale, depending on the situation, doing a check-in with your broker, making sure that nothing’s changed with your finance, making sure they’re happy with the type of property that you’re looking at local planning checks.

Amy 14:51
You can do that online or calling council.

Amy 14:53
So there’s a lot of extra steps that you then need to do before you like seriously move forward because you can highlight deal breakers through that process.

Amy 15:00
You can find out things that will influence your final budget and that’s just an essential thing that you need to do beforehand.

Michael 15:07
And you mentioned checking with your broker and the budget side of things.

Michael 15:10
I mean, with the rate increases that have been currently happening that is affecting borrowing capacities.

Michael 15:15
And so if you’ve had a preapproval and it’s been sort of two or three months and as we speak now, getting your broker to review that your borrowing capacity hasn’t been affected by the recent rate increases is probably a point there that a lot of people need to be mindful of as well as it currently stands.

Amy15:31
Yeah.

Amy15:31
Absolutely.

Amy15:31
When it comes to finance, we don’t want to take any risks there.

Micahel 15:34
Absolutely not.

Michael 15:35
What are the biggest mistakes that people are making in the lead-up to buying their first home?

Michael15:40
And I guess, what have you seen?

15:41
And if there’s an example that you have

Amy15:50
so, one mistake is really when it comes down to putting that brief together and doing the reality check.

Amy 15:49
And I always come back to that because it’s something which because I’ve done so many times with buyers, I feel like it’s an obvious thing to do, but it’s not because how would, you know, and I liken this to anything that we approach in our life.

Amy 16:02
If we don’t have a plan in place, then you can’t create a strategy on how to achieve that plan.

Amy 16:07
So putting together your property brief and understanding exactly what you want rather than just going out there and looking at random properties and you, you end up just spending so much time and not potentially getting anywhere or confusing yourself and then just making sure that you don’t have what we call in real estate.

Amy 16:23
Although I’m sure it’s the saying elsewhere, the beer budget, champagne taste where, you know, you’ve got this wish list and these are all the things they want, but you can’t afford it in the locations that you’re looking at and if that happens, you just, like I said earlier, you end up on this wild goose chase and agents don’t take you seriously.

Amy 16:41
So that’s the key thing is the preplanning phase.

Amy 16:44
So writing down your brief and making sure it’s achievable.

Amy 16:47
Another mistake I see is not realising that there’s this big hidden market out there in the property world called off-market properties.

Amy 16:57
And we buy as advocates.

Amy 16:59
I buy around 30% of my clients properties off market.

Amy 17:03
That’s quite a lot.

Amy 17:05
And these are properties that aren’t on the internet and they are sometimes great.

Amy 17:12
They are are motivated vendors and they’re reasonably priced.

Amy 17:17
Sometimes they are a waste of time because the vendors selling off market because they maybe want a bit too much money or they’re not in a rush.

Amy 17:25
But the whole point of it is to give yourself more options and to access is part of the market where you might find your dream home and you will have less competition because that property is not on the internet where hundreds of people are looking at it.

Amy 17:40
And I would say pretty much nobody calls every single real estate agent who is selling properties in that area to say, hey, what do you have off market?

Amy 17:49
I do that because that’s my job, but no buyer is gonna do that.

Amy 17:53
So, and then they therefore they are in theory missing out on a lot of properties

Michael 18:05

as a home buyer, you know, you’re buying a property once every 7 to 10 years, maybe less, maybe more.

Michael 18:03
But, and speaking to agents in that time, so asking, you know, you’re only asking that question once or twice in that period of time, whereas you’re doing it on a day, daily, weekly, monthly basis, you know, speaking to the agents and asking those questions.

Amy18:14
Exactly.

Amy 18:15
We buy, say on average 23 properties a week and I have thousands of agents on my database who will get my email every week and then just constantly calling them in a, I call it polite and hagging.

Michael18:29
Yeah, it’s gotta be a certain way.

Amy18:30
Yeah, exactly.

Amy18:32
And that’s how I get them.

Michael18:33
All right.

Michael18:33
So there’s some of the mistakes, I guess and a bit of the planning process in terms of pre-purchase and not sort of dwelling too much on the mechanisms of sale or the method of sale.

Michael18:41
But, you know, you’ve purchased the property and now it’s looking sort of after the purchase.

Michael18:45
So you’ve got the house.

Michael 18:47
How long is it usually between buying the house and actually getting the keys?

Amy18:51
So settlement time frames can vary.

Amy18:53
They are generally shorter than 30 days.

Amy18:56
That’s because there’s a lot of paperwork and, you know, need to get your loan approval and everything in the meantime.

Amy19:02
But I’ve had settlements at, you know, 7 8 months before and that’s uncommon, I would say on average 60 days.

Amy 19:11
But the reality is that it can be negotiable, depending on what you want and depending on what the vendor wants as well

Michaek 19:18
and every state has, I guess their own mechanisms of a default.

Michael 19:21
Like I know in New South Wales, it’s, it’s 42 days, the standard that can, like you’ve mentioned, be negotiated up or down accordingly.

Michael 19:27
And I’m sure in Victoria it’s probably something similar as well.

Michael 19:30
And is there, is there a standard set of days or is it totally up for negotiation in terms of what it is?

Amy 19:35
It’s totally up for negotiation the most common though being 60 days?

Michael 19:40
Alright.

Michael 19:41
Is there anything that you need to do while you’re in this settlement period waiting between purchasing and, and waiting for settlement and getting the keys?

Michael 19:48
What are the main things that someone should be considering at that point in time?

Amy 19:51
So you should be ensuring that anything that comes through to you to sign, you need to do it straight away, read through it.

Amy 19:58
This is your conveyancing documents.

Amy 20:00
These are your loan documents asking any questions if you’re not sure about anything, if you haven’t purchased within a strata block.

Amy 20:08
Also making sure you get building insurance.

Amy 20:10
I do recommend doing that once you purchase unconditionally and then you get the chance to do a final inspection beforehand as well before you settle.

Amy 20:20
So that’s an opportunity to walk back through that property to check that it’s in the same condition as the date you bought it.

Amy 20:27
It is not the opportunity for you to then go through that property with a fine tooth comb.

Amy 20:32
And to say, hey, I didn’t notice this before.

Amy 20:35
And the agent said I was like that when you sold it, that’s not the point in time to do that.

Amy20:38
You do all that before you buy.

Amy 20:40
It’s just to make sure that it’s in the same condition as when you purchased it.

Amy 20:44
And if you had say any conditions in the contract, for example, the vendor agreed to repair certain things and that was in your offer, then that’s the point in time that you check that as well.

Michael 20:55
Yeah, I think that final inspection before settlement, I always feel like there is a little bit of confusion as to what the expectation is out of that particular, you know, inspection.

Michael 21:05
It’s and like you’ve mentioned, it’s not to pick up on things that were there prior or, or whatever that may be.

Michael 21:09
But how would you define that, that final inspection?

Michael21:12
How do you go about it?

Amy21:13
So the short answer is to identify that it is in the exact same condition as the date of sale that you bought it.

Amy21:20
And that’s all the more reason why you should get a building inspection because in that building inspection, they take lots of photos and they make comments about the condition of that property because if you don’t have that to rely on even if you do notice something that’s been broken or damaged, et cetera.

Amy21:35
If you can’t prove it, you might not be in a position where you can do anything.

Amy 21:39
And also it depends on the conditions in that contract.

Amy 21:43
Some contracts won’t give you any protection if even if there is damage.

Amy 21:49
So your conveyancing representative should highlight this when you buy that property.

Amy 21:52
It’s very rare that there are issues, but I had someone reach out to me on Instagram the other day and they were telling me how they bought this property.

Amy 22:01
And at the final inspection, the person had trashed the house and they had very limited recourse based on the contract that they had signed and they tried to push back and it was ended up being a big drama.

Amy 22:14
And then when time came to settle, the house was almost unlivable and they, the vendor had left 30 horses on the property and those kind of things are unlikely not to, you know, scare people going into these situations.

Michael 22:28
yeah, 30 horses.

Amy 22:30
Oh my gosh.

Michael22:31
I wasn’t expecting to say 30 horses.

Michael 22:33
I was thinking like the doors have been trashed or something, but it’s like there were 30 horses left on the property

Amy 22:45 and it was like there was some cows and chickens and I can’t remember how many of those there was.

Amy22:42
But when you sign a contract, you need to understand what all of the obligations are under that contract.

Amy22:50
And for example, in that case, I have no idea what this person’s circumstances are by the way.

Amy22:56
But in that case, if I was looking at a property that was already not in great condition, there was stuff everywhere like full of rubbish and you know, I was unsure about it.

Amy23:04
I would get my conveyancing representative to word a really thorough clause around something like at the time of the final inspection.

Amy23:11
If all of the rubbish is not removed, then the purchaser has the right to deduct the cost of removal from the contract, it fully protects you.

Amy23:20
But if you don’t have anything like that in there and then the contract doesn’t have anything like that in there.

Amy23:25
You might not have any recourse later on.

Amy23:28
So it’s just something to bear in mind.

Amy23:29
And another thing that that happens sometimes is, you know, when you’re renting a property and you have to, you know, give it such a big thorough clean when you leave.

23:38
Otherwise you don’t get your bond back.

Amy23:39
And it, it can be quite frustrating when the property manager calls you and says, oh, hey, sorry, you’ve got to come back.

Amy23:44
You missed a spot.

Amy23:46
It’s not the case when you buy a property, the vendor doesn’t have to give you that property cleaned.

Amy23:51
Sometimes they might leave a bit of rubbish there.

Amy23:54
And in theory, you can also put conditions in there to get them to clean it and to get them to remove that rubbish.

Amy24:00
But also remember when it comes to buying property, the more conditions you have in the contract, the less appealing you’re offering is so it’s a fine balance.

Michael24:08
And one thing there that I picked up on is, you know, your conveyance may not know to put those clauses in because the commander will not go and inspect the property.

Michael 24:17
So in the exam of it being a really dirty property, you’re seeing, you know, lots of issues from the outset and putting that clause in, like you mentioned, I could only imagine with a buyer agent or a buyers advocate that something like that becomes knowledge, then you sort of say, well, this is what I think to address it with the conveyance to get this type of cause in.

Amy 24:34
That’s right.

Amy 24:35
You got to realize that your conveyancing representative, this is your conveyance or your solicitor.

Amy24:42
When they’re reviewing that contract, they haven’t walked through that property.

Amy24:46
They don’t know the circumstances, they don’t know what the agent’s been telling you, et cetera.

Amy24:50
So you need to give them that information and then they can guide you accordingly.

Michael24:53
Yeah, absolutely.

Michael24:55
So settlements come, it’s occurred.

Michael24:57
You’ve got the keys to your new house.

Michael24:58
Is that the end of the process or is there anything more to consider?

Amy25:01
well, from the buying process, that’s pretty much it.

Amy25:04
But now you’re a homeowner.

Amy25:05
So now you’ve got to do the fun thing of paying off your mortgage.

Amy25:08
And then from there, I mean, there’s so many strategies that you can consider moving forward.

Amy25:13
And I think a really fun interesting exercise to do is to jump on to Google offset calculator online.

Amy25:21
And you can see the power of, you know, tracking in an extra $100 a month or however much you’ve got into an offset account just if you’ve got an offset account as an example and how much interest that’ll save you over time.

Amy 25:34
So when you’re thinking about mortgage reduction strategies or interest reduction strategies, you know, understanding that and how powerful it is and then doing extra things like making sure you maintain your property over time, clean the gutters out, review your insurances every year.

Amy25:51
So just really being on top of all of this extra paperwork can save you a lot of money in the long-term.

Michael25:56
Cool.

Michael25:57
Oh, well, thank you.

Michael25:58
And they’re great insights, some final thoughts.

Michael 26:00
So we always close our interview with two questions.

Michael 26:03
The first one is what would be your number one tip for first home buyers trying to get into the market?

Amy26:07
Now, my number one tip would be to speak to a mortgage broker as soon as you have a property goal, even if you haven’t yet saved money up or you feel like, oh, you might be wasting their time, find someone who’s happy to speak with you now because they can help you and put you on the right track.

Amy 26:25
It’s almost like a personal trainer and they can say, ok, you want to achieve this goal, how do we get there?

Amy 26:29
They might send you away and then you can start saving.

Amy 26:31
But you know what you’re aiming for then, and you might be closer than you think, or might be further than you think.

Amy26:37
But you won’t know until you speak to a mortgage broker or

Michael
it may require a readjustment as we were sort of mentioning earlier.

Michael 26:43
Sort of like, well, I can maybe do this where I can’t do that.

Michael 26:46
And that’s one of the mistakes I think you mentioned is sort of that expectation management too.

Michael26:49
It’s at that point where you can really start to calibrate those expectations and sort of see what’s possible.

Michael 26:55
Alright, our second question, and this sort of touches on the first when you first mentioned about the, the Sydney couple moving down to Melbourne and the areas that they were looking to buy.

Michael 27:04
So it’s sort of location orientated if you were a first home buyer and you had a million dollars to buy.

Michael 27:09
So that was, you know, in the clear, we know that that that’s our purchase price.

Michael 27:12
Where would you be buying Melbourne based?id imagine

Amy27:14
I’m gonna give you a really boring answer and say it depends on what you want and you know what, like every person is gonna have totally different priorities.

Amy27:26
Do they want space?

Amy27:27
Do they want location to be near the beach or being out in the bush, you know, there’s so many different variables.

Amy27:32
So it comes down to what your non-negotiables are, which location you’re happy to live in.

Amy27:37
How far away if you want to be from the city, et cetera.

Amy27:40
Having a look at what a million dollars buys you in that suburbs.

Amy27:43
If it gets you what you want, great.

Amy27:44
And if not, you’ve got to reassess, look at slightly further out or look in a different spot.

Michael27:49
It’s quite a personal one there in terms of that.

michael27:50
And it depends on your situation before we wrap things up, you’ve just launched some very new, exciting things to help first home buyers across Australia.

Michael27:58
Can you tell us a little bit more about this new podcast and the course that you’ve alluded to it?

Amy28:01
Yeah.

Amy28:02
So I have a podcast and also an online course which is specifically designed for first home buyers.

Amy28:10
And that’s really a start-to-finish process that course, which is where do you even start no matter whether you’re six months or six years away from buying a property all the way through to getting your loan and the purchase process, how to speak with agents, negotiating bidding, everything from start to finish, which is essentially my 10 years of experience, kind of wrapped up neatly into an online course.

Amy28:34
So as a first home buyer, if you want the intel of an advocate, but can’t necessarily afford one or you just don’t want to use one that’s totally fine.

Amy28:43
This is a more affordable option for you to consider and

Michael
what’s it called?

Michael 28:47
And how can people find it?

Amy28:48
So, it’s called the first home guidebook and you can find it at the firsthomeguidebook.com.au Awesome.

Michael28:55
Well, thank you so much for joining us today.

Michael 28:57
If our listeners want to get in touch with you, we’ll find out more about your business and sort of, you know, how, how you can maybe assist, can they find you and get in touch with you?

Amy29:04
Yeah.

Amy29:04
So my business website is Amylunardi.com.au L U N A R D I

Michael
Nice.

Michael29:11
And we’ll make all those links available in the show notes as well.

Michael29:14
So for all of those items there, if anyone’s interested, you can jump on the show notes and get the links there.

Michael29:18
Thank you so much for your time.

29:19
Amy.

Michael29:20
There were great insights there and, and lots of value there that you shared with us.

Michael29:23
So, thanks so much for joining us.

Amy29:24
Very welcome.

Amy29:25
Thanks for the invite.

Michael29:29
You’ve been listening to the homerun your guide for buying your first home in Australia.

Michael29:33
This podcast was produced by Lendstreet.

Michael29:35
Lendstreet is a mortgage broker and home loan specialist that helps first home buyers find the right loan to meet their needs.

Michael29:41
We know applying for a loan can be overwhelming and complex.

Michael29:44
So we help guide and support first home buyers through the process from start to finish to find out more.

Michael29:49
Head to our website lendstreet.com.au

Michael29:52
We’ve also put a link in the show notes to make sure you don’t miss an episode of the home run.

Michael29:57
Be sure to subscribe to or follow the show in your podcast app.

Michael30:01
And while you’re there, please leave us a five-star review.

Michael30:04
It really helps others find the show.

Michael30:07
I’m Michael Nasser and we’ll be back next episode covering another step on the journey to owning your first home.