6 Saving Tips For First Home Buyers

If you’re a first home buyer who is looking to enter the property market, it can be hard to save enough for a deposit. It can be difficult to change your spending habits and learn how to save money in the best ways that you can. Thankfully, there are a few things that you can do save money if you are looking to buy your first home so that you will have the money you need sooner rather than later.

1. Create a Budget

If you are going to start saving for anything, you need to create a budget. Saving for a new home can be hard, especially if you are looking to buy something that may be a bit out of your price range. But creating a budget and sticking to it can really help you to save as much money as you can in the quickest amount of time. 

The first thing you should do when creating a budget is to calculate your expenses for a month.

This will show you where and how you are spending your money and if there are any places where you may be able to cut down on certain things to save money. 

2. Save Where You Can 

After you’ve created your budget and you know how much you will need to save to afford your first home, you will need to think of ways that you can save money.

We all have expenses that we could stand to get rid of, especially if we are trying to save for something big like a house or a unit. 

Some expenses are necessary, so you may find it difficult to make cut-backs in some areas, but there are other things you can cut down on or get rid of for a few years so that you can save your money quicker.

For example, if both you and your partner have a car and you only need one car, you should consider selling your car and putting the money towards your new home. 

Another good way to save money is to downsize your home. If you can rent somewhere cheaper than your current home while you are saving, you will be able to put the money you would have spent on rent and other living expenses towards your new place.

Even though it may seem like a big sacrifice to give up things like your car or your home, it is something that will not be for a long time, so it is worth it, in the long run, to save where you can when you are trying to buy a new home. 

3. Pay off your debts

If you are going to buy a new home and you are trying to save up your money to pay for it, you need to get rid of any outstanding debts that you have, first.

You should try to pay off things like car and personal loans before you take out a home loan so that you only have one or two debts to worry about at any given time. 

Debt consolidation can often be helpful for people who have lots of debt that needs to be paid off, so speak to a financial advisor to see if this is an option for you.

If you are looking to get a home loan, which is what most people do when they are saving for a new home, you will need to show your lender that you are worthy of their money and you can do this by paying off your debts.

Lenders look at your financial history when they are deciding if you are a worthy candidate for a loan.

If you have a bad financial history with outstanding debts or debts that have not been paid off fast enough, your lender may be discouraged from lending to you. So before you start to apply for a new loan, you may need to try and pay off any existing debts and re-evaluate your financial situation. 

4. Start Small and Work Your Way Up

Although everyone would love to buy their dream home as soon as they can, it is not always possible if you have a limited budget.

For example, if you want to buy a house in an expensive area, it may be hard for you to achieve your goal because you will have to pay more money for a larger place in a good location. 

But, if you start small and buy something that is in your budget, like a unit in a cheaper part of town, you may find that it is easier to afford your next property that you are looking to buy which may be the one that you really want.

This is because you will save enough money quicker than you would for a larger place and you will enter the property market quicker. 

Then, once you have bought your first place, you can save up a bit more money and then use the capital from your first property to buy the second one that you really want.

So if you do your research and you think that it will take you years to save up for the house that you really want to buy, it may be worth looking at other options that will get you there faster. 

5. Talk to a professional

If you are looking to buy your first home and you don’t really know much about buying property, you should always consult a professional to help you out.

Consulting a financial advisor is always a good idea because they will about able to help you figure out how much you need to save and how long it will take you to save it, based off of your financial situation. 

They will look at your average monthly income, any savings or assets that you may have and the price of the property that you are looking to buy and help you figure out just how much money you will need to save to pay for your property.

Talking to a financial advisor will also help you figure out how much money you can borrow when you are looking to take out a mortgage on your home. 

A home loan is something that you will be paying off consistently for a long time, so you need to ask as many questions as you can before you agree to the terms of the mortgage.

If you are not happy with the term of your mortgage, then you will need to negotiate the best rate that you can get with your lender.

Online mortgage calculators can also help you to figure the amount of money that you will be able to borrow so that you can get a sense of what you need to save before you start to save for your home. You can find out more information using a mortgage calculator by viewing it here.