Buying your first home at North Harbour

July 17, 2023

Buying your first home is one of the biggest steps you will take in your lifetime. It’s a time of great excitement, it’s also a time when many questions arise. These first home buyers’ tips are written to help you better understand how to buy your first home.

Saving your deposit

The larger the deposit, the less you have to borrow. This also means your regular repayments will be lower and you’ll pay less interest over the life of the loan. Most lenders ask for at least 5% of the purchase price as a deposit.

Check your eligibility for the First Home Buyers Grant

You may be eligible to receive up to $15,000 towards the cost of purchasing your first home. It’s a grant that’s available from the Queensland Government. Find out more about the First Home Buyers Grant in Qld and check your eligibility.

Communication is key

If it’s a first home buyers house and land package that you’ve chosen, communication is key to your happiness and success. In other words, keep in touch with your North Harbour sales team and informed of your home’s progress. Ask questions. Listen carefully to the answers. Complete inspections and progress payments, as required. Most importantly, look forward, with great anticipation, to calling your new home yours.

Choosing the right lender and the right loan

When buying your first home, it’s important to choose the right lender and the right loan. It pays to research, research, research! The time you invest now will benefit you in the long run.

Lenders typically offer three different types of loan products – variable, fixed and split. With variable-rate loans, the interest rate you pay moves with the market. For fixed loans, the rate you pay and the repayments are fixed for a set period. Split loans give you the best of both worlds – you can fix part of your loan and leave the balance at the variable rate.

Write yourself a first home checklist

What features do you want your first home to have? Write yourself a checklist of inclusions. Decide whether each one is a ‘must-have’ or a ‘nice-to-have’. When preparing your checklist, don’t just consider the home itself, consider the community too. Does it have good public transport connections? Is it located in a growth area? Is the quality of housing high? Are there nearby public spaces? Is it a wise investment?

The Purchasing Process

When you have found your ideal block and you’re ready to purchase, the ideal timeline is as follows:

Step 1: Visit the North Harbour Sales Office and Display Village and review our available land for purchase. Once you have chosen your block we will hold it for 48 hours without deposit. After two days we will call you to confirm that you wish to proceed. If you want to go ahead, we will ask you for some further details (full names of buyers and your solicitor) to enable us to prepare the contract. An appointment is made to sign the offer to purchase in the following week when all parties are available. After the buyer/s has completed the offer to purchase, it is then signed by the Developer (us) and sent to our solicitor. At this point the deposit is payable.

Things to note in Step 1: North Harbour as the developer sells the land (block). Once you have chosen your block you then need to choose the style of house you would like to put on there – you can do this by choosing one of our pre-approved house packages come with a variety of inclusions from basic requirements up to marble benchtops and top of the range cookers. Each builder offers a range of different packages to suit a range of needs and budgets.

Step 2: You, the purchaser, have 28 days to secure finance. You will need to speak to a mortgage advisor or your chosen bank to secure finance. If finance is declined, the deposit is fully refundable. This deposit is held in Trust with our solicitor until settlement – which will occur 28 days after registration.

Step 3: Registration normally takes place 3 – 5 months after the release of a new stage (we sell our land in stages of around 30 blocks). Registration can be delayed due to bad weather affecting the civil works and is also subject to council approval timelines. Once registration is through council, it can then go to titles office to register. Once registered, we will call the buyer to inform them of registration and they will also receive notification from their solicitor and a settlement date.

Things to note in step 3: This step is somewhat outside the control of the developer as it is subject to council approval timelines. It can be subject to delays – we do our best to mitigate any delays but it is not always possible.

Step 4: Once settled, your builder can start building your new home.

Things to remember: Contact Opticomm at opticomm.net.au to get your broadband set up so you can join North Harbour’s fibre optic network and get access to Australia’s Fastest Broadband, your builder can organise for your gas to be connected to our reticulated gas system.

Home Ownership has so many benefits

• Investing in an asset
• No dead money on rent
• No landlord
• No agents
• No inspections
• No rent increases
• Freedom to plant what you want in your own garden
• Freedom to interior decorate to your style
• You decide what floor coverings, wall colour and finishes you want

Useful Terms you might want explained

What does LVR stand for?

The acronym LVR stands for Loan to Value Ratio and is also sometimes referred to as ‘LTV’. The LVR is the amount you are borrowing, represented as a percentage of the value of the property being used as security for the loan.

What does LMI stand for?

The acronym LMI stands for Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance and is a one-off insurance payment made by the borrower at the time of the loan settlement that protects the lender.

What is a Fixed Interest Rate?

With a locked in rate your home loan interest rate will remain the same over the fixed rate term (usually 1 to 7 years). Fixed rate loans are generally a great option for first home buyers who are getting used to making home loan repayments or other borrowers who are on a strict budget and need repayment consistency.

What is an Interest-only Loan?

An interest-only loan is a loan that temporarily allows your repayments to only cover interest on the amount borrowed, the principal, for a set period of time.

What is a P&I loan?

A principal and interest loan has repayments of the principal, which is the amount of money you have borrowed from the bank (minus your repayments) and the interest which is the money charged on top of the principal and is calculated based on the interest rate and size of the principal.

Find Us  

Visit North Harbour’s Sales and Information Centre & Display Village. Open seven days a week,

10am-5pm, we’re located on the corner of Buckley Road and Falcon Street, Burpengary East. 

The Display Village showcases more than 30 stunning Display Homes (including the latest in stylish

and innovative kitchen design) from some of Australia’s best new home builders. To find out more about living at North Harbour sign up for our email updates and find us on Facebook and Instagram

(@northharbourliving).  

We endeavour to make the business of finding your dream home at North Harbour as easy as possible. You can view general information on our website www.northharbour.com.au.  

*Any product pricing and availability referenced in this or other North Harbour articles are accurate at the date of initial publication and are subject to change at any time without notice.  Please contact the North Harbour sales team for further information.