Buy new or old house, things to consider while buying home in Australia, tips to keep in mind while buying a property
Once any family from overseas settles in the Australia and they think they want to go further in their family journey then the first Home of own will be everyone’s wish. This is quite natural. In this article we will discuss some points that should be considered during your decision making in the whole process of acquiring house.
In general, there are 2 options available, to buy new land and home package or buy an existing house. Lot of people always comes around this question and get stuck. There is no definite answer to this question or dilemma, however, we will try to touch the both scenarios specific pros and cons and will help you steer through that situation and take appropriate action.
Buying a new land and home package is the process where you might get the land and home building both from same builder or seller. Sometimes, you can also buy the land first and separately look for builder to build your house.
Understand what you get
The first benefit of this approach is that you get what you want. This is a simple to say but it begins with the choice of land site, area, interior and exterior design selection, colour selection, amenities to include, floor selection, roof selection, appliance selection and it keeps on going. In this process, starting from signing a contract for land and then building the house there are numerous stages and at each stage you have the opportunity to oversea the progress or sometimes you are part of the process.
On the other end, when you are buying an existing property, you do not get 100% what and how you want, however you will have a control over your search process, meaning you have to define your desired features for property search and filter any property against those expectations in mind. So, it is a mix of expectations and assumption process where you rely on the seller’s description about a property or get more clarity during hose inspection process. Generally speaking, if you are at least reasonable in your expectations while buying process then you are almost likely to get ready to move in house as long as building structural inspection comes out positive for the home.
Only drawback with existing house is that it is X number of years old which could be 2 or 3 or 5 or 15 or more and in relation to age factor there may be a likely chance of something going wrong quickly in old home compared to new one. Though, in general, Australian house build quality is certainly good because sometimes we could see houses more than 40 years old and yet stand. So, having a proper building and structural inspection done could help you estimate the likely expenses in near or far future for existing home and you can account for them.
How much cost, money, price to my pocket?
The next comes the cost to acquire. Cost to purchase an existing house generally in a same area with desired amnesties is lower compared to buying a home and land package to build a same house.
Consider time value combined with price
Third factor you should consider is of the time associated with cost. Typically, new home and land package turn out to be taking almost a year minimum it could be less or more. This means during that 1 year, you might be required to pay the rent for your current stay during that period which hits your pocket. In addition, when your land gets registered on your name, your bank interest and principal amount starts to get deducted from you bank account. On the other hand, post contract of sale signed between the buyer and seller, it could hardly take 1 to 2 months’ time for settlement of the house transfer process and then you are the owner of it. So, naturally you are not double paying for longer duration when you buy an existing property.
Extra expenses
Fourth factor is the expenses incurred during the acquiring process by engaging other professionals such as loan broker, solicitor or lawyer, building and pest inspector, council charges. For an existing house, these charges are reasonably lower compared to buying a new property.
Family and income factor
Fifth and last main factor is your own budget, income stream, capacity to buy and endurance power until the house is yours and acceptance of family member in your choice. So, it’s desired to take any of such decisions wisely and with family members agreement as there are numerous examples we see in society where things fall apart very easily if this factor is not considered into decision making. So, always have your family members voice heard.
As said earlier, there is no right or wrong approach in buying a property quest. What matters the most is your own and family acceptance into your choice, future centric thoughtful plan to manage your family needs, stay happy with your final choice and give your 100% in moving to your dream home.