Additional costs when buying a house

[Jessica Berry]

We have just bought our first house in Adelaide and thought the following information might be useful to new/prospective migrants.

 

The cost of our house was $505,000 but on top of that price you have to pay stamp duty which was $21,605. Some of the other additional costs include adjustment for rates and taxes and water, conveyancer costs and GST (the same as VAT).

 

The total settlement cost was $530,483.76.

 

So remember when you are looking on www.realestate.com.au the price advertised for the house is not the final price you will pay.

[Rachiegarlo]

Also if you are a perm res and have never owned a house before you may be entitled to the first home buyers grant.... about$7000.

[Guest Nicky&Andy]

:jiggy:thanks for the info jessica , i knew there was some extra costs, its good to see its not quite as much as i thought,

 

Rachel we have a perm visa, do they automatically sort out the grant or do you have to apply before somewhere before buying,

thanks in advance for any info

[Rachiegarlo]

I'm not sure, I think when you are looking to buy you apply and you get it once you buy. Most gov payments are like that. Try googling it.

[Rachiegarlo]

The Federal Government's First Home Owner Grant Scheme (FHOG) provides a one-off $7000 payment to all first home buyers, regardless of their income or the price of the property they buy. To qualify for the scheme you must:

• be an Australian citizen or permanent resident who has never owned property in this country;
  
• have lived in Australia for at least six months;
  
• be over 18-years old.

States are responsible for administering the grant. For more information see the websites for each state government listed below.

Additionally, many states provide a concession on stamp duty for first home buyers. The size of this concession varies from state to state and is dependent on the value of your property. There may also be other eligibility criteria.

 

How do I apply?

Applicants can complete and lodge the appropriate application form with either an approved FHOG Participant, which includes approved financial institutions, or RevenueSA. You are only able to complete and lodge the appropriate application form with an approved FHOG Participant where you are borrowing funds from that Participant, as part of buying or building your home. You need to apply within twelve months of completing the transaction. For further information, please visit the How to Apply for FHOG page.

Cheers

Rachel

[Guest Shy Ted]

We have just bought our first house in Adelaide and thought the following information might be useful to new/prospective migrants.

 

The cost of our house was $505,000 but on top of that price you have to pay stamp duty which was $21,605. Some of the other additional costs include adjustment for rates and taxes and water, conveyancer costs and GST (the same as VAT).

 

The total settlement cost was $530,483.76.

 

So remember when you are looking on www.realestate.com.au the price advertised for the house is not the final price you will pay.

 

 

Thanks Jessica excellent advice. How did $505K sit against the asking price, or auction guide price? Morover, can we have some PICS!!!!

 

Cheers,

 

Richie

[Guest Nicky&Andy]

:jiggy:thanks rachel that is really helpful,

[Jessica Berry]

:jiggy:thanks for the info jessica , i knew there was some extra costs, its good to see its not quite as much as i thought,

 

Rachel we have a perm visa, do they automatically sort out the grant or do you have to apply before somewhere before buying,

thanks in advance for any info

 

We organised our mortgage through Virgin Money and we had to complete the FHOG (First Home Owners Grant) paperwork and then they sorted it out and arranged for us to get the money.

[Jessica Berry]

Thanks Jessica excellent advice. How did $505K sit against the asking price, or auction guide price? Morover, can we have some PICS!!!!

 

Cheers,

 

Richie

 

We had been looking for somewhere to buy for nearly a year and have been watching the market and going to auctions.

 

It is a very competitive market (house prices in Adelaide rose by 19% last year), especially in the areas we have been looking at approx 10 mins from the city centre. A lot of the houses for sale don't have a price which is a pain, often don't even get to auction or they have something vague like in the $400,000's.

 

I could list several examples of auctions we have attended and the wheeling and dealings going off but one of the auctions we went to bidding started from $360,000 and it sold at auction for $504,000. You need to know your limit and stick to it and not get carried away.

 

Our house was advertised as going to auction but we asked if they were open to offers before auction, which they were. The asking price was in the $400,000s but we knew because of the quality of the house and location if it went to auction it would go in the $500,000's. The house was open on a weekend and we faxed through an offer of $500,000 at 9.00 am on the Monday morning and after negotiating with the owners we settled for $505,000 and the house was ours on the Friday.

 

We have found the process of buying a house far more stressful than in the UK and we are not usually the sort of people that easily get stressed.

 

We feel we got a good price for the house and if it had gone to auction it would have gone for a lot more. The same principle applies over here, there are 3 things that sells a house, location, location, location. We took our time to choose a house in a good suburb that would be a good investment for the future.

[richjop]

We are also v. near the city in Glen Osmond, sounds like you did well to secure this one as the properties this way are v. expensive!!!!

[Guest chippie74]

We have just bought our first house in Adelaide and thought the following information might be useful to new/prospective migrants.

 

The cost of our house was $505,000 but on top of that price you have to pay stamp duty which was $21,605. Some of the other additional costs include adjustment for rates and taxes and water, conveyancer costs and GST (the same as VAT).

 

The total settlement cost was $530,483.76.

 

So remember when you are looking on www.realestate.com.au the price advertised for the house is not the final price you will pay.

 

We are in the middle of buying a small 2 bed unit and with the 1st time buyers grant our fees are $2000 extra than the excepted bid. our biggest problem is trying to get a morgage with both of us being self employed and only being here 6 months..but thats a diffrent story!!

[Guest Shy Ted]

Jessica thanks for taking the time to reply, sounds like a bit of a process! Good luck in your new gaffe though.

[Jessica Berry]

Jessica thanks for taking the time to reply, sounds like a bit of a process! Good luck in your new gaffe though.

 

Thanks Shy Ted. We are loving life in our new home and all the hassle was worth it, just got to pay the dreaded mortgage now!!