Buying your first home in Sydney: the honest guide
You're at the start and it feels like a lot. This page puts the useful bits in order, in plain English, from someone who's been the nervous first home buyer herself. Read what you need. Skip the rest. Call when you're stuck.
Step one: the money
Talk to a broker before you fall in love with anything. Pre-approval tells you what you can actually spend. Don't forget stamp duty, inspections and legal fees on top of the deposit. Then read our guide to first home buyer grants in NSW. If you don't have a broker, we'll introduce you to a couple we trust.
Step two: the suburb
Price guides lie, suburbs don't. Pick three suburbs you could actually live in, then test the commute on a Tuesday at 8am, not Sunday at 10. Our suburb guides cover the ones we know best: Westmead, Dundas, West Ryde, Epping, Rydalmere, West Pennant Hills, North Parramatta and Carlingford. And here's the honest take on the best family suburbs across Ryde, The Hills and Parramatta.
Step three: the open home
An open takes about 15 minutes. Bek is there for the full time, often the last to leave. Look at where the sun hits at 4pm, where the yard drains, the soft spot near the laundry, the hairline crack above the doorframe. The obvious stuff isn't what costs you. The stuff you can't see is.
Step four: before you offer
The contract (properly, not a skim). The strata report if it's a unit: here are the seven strata report red flags we check every time. Building and pest. Finance approval in writing. What similar homes actually sold for. This is the part most first home buyers skip because nobody told them.
Step five: auction or private treaty
In NSW, a private sale usually comes with a five business day cooling-off period. An auction has none. Here's how to buy at auction without losing your head.
Step six: offer, exchange, settlement, keys
Between the offer and the keys there's exchange, the deposit, settlement (usually around six weeks in NSW) and a final inspection. We stay with you through all of it, and your conveyancer looks after the legal side.
Want someone to do this with you?
That's our first home buyer service. Five stages, one fee, and Bek from first chat to front door. Or just call with the silly questions. Those are usually the important ones.