Melbourne

I love In Bruges!

Its getting quite apocalyptic. Really weird glow

sky smoky :(

It’s so unsatisfying!! I want to see the rain!

Step 1 - sort the money - talk to bank about borrowing limits, knowing that these can change in a blink of the eye. If you can get a guaranteed borrowing amount GET THAT IN WRITING and the expiry date. Step 2 - look at houses available. Set up list of criteria in 4 sections - 1) Must have 2) Nice 3) Nice but can do without 4) Dealbreakers. Get agreement from spouse and kids on these. Step 3 - identify possible purchase. Then get council reports, engineering reports, architectural reports - and any other reports you think apply like flood prone land, possible future freeways, asbestos and other soil contamination etc. They are cheaper than remedial works - trust me on this. Step 4 - start negotiations. If the house needs essential work, an estimate of price of the work (not from the REA) should form part of your calculations. If they want the $$ fast, expect to get a substantial discount for settlement in less than 60 days. Don't allow REA to panic you into a fast decision. You might want to employ a purchasing agent - they charge a fee but do Steps 2, 3 & 4 for you once they have your criteria. As these are the difficult bits, this might be time/hassle effective.
Step 5 - pay up. Step 6 - move in.
Step 7 - discover all the stuff that you should have done in steps 2, 3 and 4 above. Scream and regret not having a father/brother/sister/cousin with electrical/gas fitting and other general trade qualifications. Step 8 - install petunias

Source: purchased just before the pandemic. Yes I did employ a purchasing agent cos I was ignorant/out of date of all that stuff. Seamless experience which I recommend. They even went to the auction and bid for me (within the limits I'd set) so I didn't have to panic about that either.

Everyone's covered money and process well so far, so I'll just add some advice.

A global pandemic really helps. I'm not kidding. Never let a good crisis go to waste. Be prepared to strike when opportunity presents itself. We brought in covid, and couldn't afford this place if it went on the market today. If you can, going country can help. Warragal got expensive, but further out isn't too bad so long as you don't have to do the city 5 days a week. Seymour has houses for under 400k, and a vline to Melbourne taking 1.5 hours (which isn't THAT much worse than Pakenham to Melbourne).

Talk to your parents and sibs.

See how much assets the family owns.

Discuss if you want share buying a house, if anyone is up for being a guarantor, if they will help with deposit.

See how much you can repay every month.

Organise first home buyer benefits.

Look at houses that are way less than you can afford. This way you won't be too stressed.

Try to buy something built in 60s or 70s, even if it's in a crappy suburb. Be close to PT, hospitals, schools and parks.

Aim to live in the house your whole life if possible. Buying and selling , stamp duty, is a terrible waste of money.

Make sure you have money for maintenance.

Pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, and hot coffee please. Gotta carb load before it gets too hot to eat, or my brain will cease functioning. If it hasn't already.