First Home Buyers- A Fast Guide to Rebates

Buying your first home is an exciting yet daunting experience. It is a crash course in adulting and can be a complete emotional rollercoaster. There are so many different people involved in the transaction from agents to brokers through to builders, developers, banks and solicitors. Plus, dealing in huge sums of money and looking at loans with 25-30-year terms can bring out the inner commitment-phobe in any of us.

But the good news is there are several special rebates available to first home buyers to help ease the financial burden and put some money back into your pocket for a change. Support for first-time property buyers is offered at both Federal and State government levels. It is important to be across what’s on offer so you don’t miss out because grants cannot be claimed after you have bought property.  After all, you are only a first home buyer once in your lifetime.

Current Federal Government initiatives include:

• First Home Loan Deposit Scheme – allowing eligible first home buyers to get a home loan with just a 5% deposit and avoid the extra cost of lenders mortgage insurance (LMI).
• First Home Super Saver Scheme – allowing eligible buyers to make extra contributions to superannuation funds and then withdraw them to form part of their deposit.
• Family Home Guarantee – allows eligible single parents to buy homes with just a 2% deposit and avoid LMI costs. This doesn’t just apply to single parents who are first home buyers; single parents who have previously owned a home can also qualify.

While first home buyer rebates vary between States – there are general eligibility criteria that applies across the board outlined below:

• You must be a first home buyer as a person (not as a company or trust).
• At least one applicant must be a permanent resident or Australian citizen.
• Each applicant must be at least 18 years old.
• You or your spouse, partner or co-purchaser must not have previously owned an interest in land in Australia which had a residence on it before 1 July, 2000.
• You or your spouse or partner cannot have lived in a residential property you owned from 1 July, 2000.
• You or your spouse, partner or co-purchaser may not have claimed the grant previously.
• You must occupy your first home as your principal place of residence within 12 months of the construction or purchase of your home. The minimum period of occupancy is 12 continuous months.

Once you know you tick all these boxes, you can go ahead and confidently stake your first home buyer claims.

We’ve put together a summary outlining how first home buyer packages vary from State to State to help you when browsing Coposit’s listings, but of course you also need to research this yourself to capture any changes or updates with your own circumstances in mind.