Steps to buying your first home

Buying your first home feels enormous because it is — but it is also a process thousands of people complete every week. Break it into milestones and each one is manageable. Here is the path our advisors walk first-time buyers through, in order.

1. Know your deposit position

Most first-home programs start at a 5% deposit, with better rates unlocking at 10%, 15%, and 20%. Before anything else, total your savings, check for family-gift rules with your lender, and set a realistic price ceiling. A smaller deposit is not a failure — it is simply a different loan structure.

2. Get pre-approved before you browse

Pre-approval tells sellers you are serious and tells you exactly what you can spend. Ours takes minutes, costs nothing, and never affects your credit score. Buyers with a pre-approval letter win bidding contests far more often than those without.

3. Budget the full cost, not just the price

Closing costs typically run 2–5% of the purchase price.
Set aside an inspection and valuation budget up front.
Keep three months of payments in reserve after moving day.
Factor insurance, taxes, and maintenance into the monthly figure.

4. Make an offer with evidence

Your advisor helps you compare recent comparable sales so your offer is competitive without being reckless. Attach your pre-approval letter, keep conditions tight but sane, and let the agent negotiate — emotion is the most expensive part of any purchase.

5. Survey, valuation, and final approval

Once an offer is accepted, the lender values the property and you commission your survey. Issues found here become renegotiation points, not deal-breakers — most purchases adjust slightly at this stage and proceed normally.

6. Close and collect the keys

Legal work, signatures, funds transfer, keys. From accepted offer to move-in day, our buyers average nineteen days. Then the real project begins: paint colors.