Handy tips when making the leap from tenant to homeowner

Tired of paying off someone else’s mortgage? We’ve put together these handy hints to make the transition from rent payer to home buyer with confidence.

When the time is right to make the transition from renter to home buyer, it’s worth considering a plan and timeline to make sure you have covered all bases and can make the key decisions with confidence. We’ve put together a few tips to get you started with your planning.

Work out a budget

Firstly, do your numbers! Check an online calculator to understand what sort of repayments are involved with a home loan and how that compares to your current rental fees. In addition, consult a lending specialist to find out what deposit amount you will require to start. It’s important to work out a budget that you can manage without having to compromise on your new home.

Set some goals

Just like all major life milestones, setting realistic timeline goals is sound advice and will go a long way to creating manageable expectations. Whether your goals are working towards a home deposit, increasing your savings to boost your budget, it’s a discipline that will definitely pay off.

Track your spending

When thinking about taking out a home loan, understanding your spending patterns is always a good first step. Spend a few weeks writing down details of everything you spend on to get the full picture of your monthly spending cycle. Once you’ve done this, you will be able to make some fact based decisions on what you could ‘do without’ in order to put some extra savings away.

Understand the timeline

Building a new home can take up to 12 months, depending on various factors. You will also need to factor in the research and decision stage and the land title period, to get a rough idea of the new home building timeline. While you may be a renter for a little longer the light at the end of the tunnel will be well worth the wait as you proudly make the transition to being a homeowner.