The first step is to relax as you are in safe hands. We will at every step guide you through the next steps. This guide is merely to give you an outline of the overall picture.

When you are ready to buy the first step is to arrange a pre-approval to confirm that the bank is willing to lend you the funds once you find a suitable property. You certainly do not want to waste your time looking for a home to buy only to find out the bank is not going to loan you the money anyway.

A pre-approval is free and once you have one you can start making offers on property with confidence knowing that the bank is happy with your application. 

Once you are pre-approved the next step is to find that property to buy. Using Domain.com.au and Realestate.com.auyou can make a shortlist of properties you are interested in and then get out there and start looking!

You can also use a buyers agent if you like to help you locate that property. Buyers agents will charge you a fee of between 1-3% of the purchase price but will generally save you more than their fee in getting you a cheaper sale price. 

It is now time to make an offer. This is always a tricky time as there are no hard and fast rules about what an offer should be. Some commentators say that 10% off the list price is standard but really it is very much case by case.

Certainly there is no harm going in a little lower with a cheeky offer as the worst the vendor can do is say no and then you can bump your offer up a bit. Remember, you can always increase your offer but it is hard to reduce it.

One thing I always consider when making an offer is how long the property been on the market for? If its only been on the market for a week or two then the vendor is probably going to be reluctant to knock much off the price. If the property has been on the market though for some time then there may be an opportunity to get a bargain. 

Advise MAP that you have agreed on a property to buy and have the contract forwarded to our office by the real estateagent. This is now the time also to appoint a conveyancer/solicitor who will handle the legalities for your purchase and arrange a building and pest report (in some states you need to arrange the building and pest report yourself but this is easy). Building insurance may also be required depending on the type of property and State in Australia.

It is important not to sign the contract or exchange contracts unless it is subject to finance or has a cooling off period.  The rules here do differ slightly from state to state so we along with your conveyancer will guide you here as to what to do and what not to do. Remember though, if you sign an unconditional contract or exchange contracts without having your finance fully and formally approved it is very difficult to back out of the contract so make sure you seek advice before doing so.

If FIRB approval is required then you need to have this as a condition in the contract or not go unconditional on a conditional contract until you have FIRB approval.

MAP will provide you with the forms you need to complete and direction here. Once your offer has been accepted it is time to lodge your FIRB application. 

Once MAP has received a copy of the contract we will arrange for the bank to conduct the valuation and do their finalchecks. Once satisfied the bank will issue formal approval which basically means they are happy with everything and will advance the loan funds on settlement. 

Once we have formal approval (and FIRB approval if applicable) you are free to exchange contracts or go unconditional on a conditional contract. Once you do this there is no turning back!

Settlement is when the property officially becomes yours and the bank advances the loan funds. Your conveyancer handles settlement so there is nothing for you to do here. Once advised it has settled you are free to collect the keys and start moving in!