Our Family Pledge Loan
By securing a guarantor, you may be able to buy your first home sooner without having to save a full 20% deposit.
5 steps to buying your first home
Buying your first home should be one of the most exciting experiences of your life, but you need the right advice to make sure the process runs smoothly.
Buying your first home - Greater Bank
Know your borrowing power
Before you start looking to find the house of your dreams, you should get to know your borrowing power to avoid disappointment.
Source your deposit
Generally you’ll need to have saved a minimum 5% of the purchase price as a deposit. A high-interest savings account, such as The Greater Bank Bonus Saver, is great for accumulating a deposit as it rewards your good saving habits by paying interest rate when you make a deposit and no withdrawals in a given month.
If your parents are happy to give you a hand in providing security for your loan, our Family Pledge option may mean you can reduce, or even eliminate, the deposit amount you need to contribute.
Calculate & get pre-approved
Use our borrowing capacity calculator to see how much you could borrow, then simply complete our form and speak with one of our lenders.
Find the house for you
With your borrowing power in mind, you can get out there and see what the real-estate market has to offer!
Be sure that you do your research, identify suburbs that have properties in your price range, and view a number of houses to get a feel for the market.
Did you know: you're able to borrow up to 110% of the property value by asking your family to guarantee the home loan by using their property as security on your mortgage.
Make an offer
When you find a home that matches all your criteria, you are able to make an offer to buy.
Contracts
Before making your offer get a copy of the contract that you can supply to your solicitor or conveyancer.
Online tools
Using the tools available to you online, check out the recent sale prices of homes in the same area, and if you feel that an asking price is too high, don’t be afraid to start a conversation in the hope of getting a better deal. If you are planning to buy a house at auction, be sure to consult the listed agent for the property to confirm exactly what you will need to bring on the day. This way you will be able to finalise the sale should all go to plan.
Finalise your loan and the sale
Once you have agreed upon a sale price for your first home, you can complete the loan application process.
You should take the time to consider which loan is best for you and your financial situation.
Let our experts do the work
At Greater Bank, our expert lenders will do all the hard work for you, so that you can relax and plan your moving-in day.
What next?
Before you sign and exchange contracts you should also arrange to get a Pest and Building inspection.
Sign your contract
Once your loan is finalised, organise your compulsory home insurance, then you’re all ready to sign your contract. After this, the funds will be transferred and you can complete the sale.
Collect your keys and move in
People also ask:
A home loan, or as it's often called; a mortgage is an amount of money provided by a lender (typically a bank) to an individual or couple for the purpose of buying a property.
A home loan can be used to purchase a house or apartment that is already built, buy a property before it's built ('off the plan') or purchase a vacant block of land to build on.
It all boils down to:
- How quickly you can save, and your desire to be in your first home sooner: So, what is the minimum deposit for a home loan? The figure of 20% being required for a deposit is a common one, but lenders across the country will usually accept a deposit somewhere in the vicinity of 5% to 25%. Of course, if you’re comfortable to wait until you have 20% of your purchase price saved, by all means go for it – you’ll be a more attractive prospect for many lenders. However, if you’re desperate to have your own place sooner, there are options available to you.
- What your lender will do in terms of a deposit percentage: Different lenders will accept varying deposit amounts when applying for a home loan. For example, at Greater Bank, we’re able to accept deposits as low as 5%, however in situations like this, you may be required to purchase what’s known as Lender’s Mortgage Insurance (LMI). For more on LMI, see below. We also get asked a lot – “Can I get a home loan without a deposit?” and another option that may be open to would-be buyers looking to get into the market sooner is our Family Pledge Loan. In situations where a potential buyer isn’t able to save the full 20% deposit amount, they may be able to use equity in a parent or guarantor’s property to secure their own home loan. For more on our Family Pledge Loan, click here.
- Whether you’re prepared to accept LMI: LMI is basically a one-off payment you make when you’re unable to save the full 20% deposit amount for your home. It protects the lender in the event you become unable to meet your loan repayments and default on the loan at any point. The amount you pay in LMI is linked to your saved deposit amount – the smaller your deposit percentage, the larger the amount you pay in LMI. The good thing is, however, that at Greater Bank, you are able to include your LMI payment in the total cost of your loan, meaning you can repay it over time in addition to your loan repayments, and get into your new place sooner.
Terms, conditions, fees, charges and credit criteria apply.
Check out our range of home loans and our current interest rates.
Greater Bank offers a number of ways for customers to kick-start what will surely be one of life’s most exciting experiences – buying a home.
You can start a conversation with Greater Bank today by
- Making a Home Loan enquiry online.
- Dropping into your nearest branch.
- Calling us on 13 13 86 and speaking with a friendly member of staff.
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Terms, conditions, fees, charges and credit criteria apply.
^Comparison rate is based on $150,000 over 25 years. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate.
#Discounted rates available for new home loans $150k+, with LVR of 80% or less.
~At the end of the fixed rate period customers can chose to re-fix their loan for another fixed rate period or let the loan revert to the applicable variable interest rate based on the loan and repayment type.
‡A prepayment fee applies to fixed rate loans if you make more than 5% in extra payments. Contact us before making additional repayments to get an estimate of the prepayment fee.
Interest Only home loans attract a 0.10% p.a. margin above the applicable Principal and Interest interest rate. Your interest rate which includes any margins, will be set out in your loan contract.
◊Cashback offers:
*Online Cashback of $2,500 for eligible home loans $250-$499k or $3,000 for loans ≥$500k available for applications submitted via the Greater Bank Digital Home Loan application channel (online application) with 80% LVR or below. Excludes refinances from Greater Bank or Newcastle Permanent. If eligible, cashback payment will be made within 60 days of the loan settlement date (loan must still be open at time of payment). Only one (1) cashback payment per eligible loan and for first eligible loan only. Not available in conjunction with any other cashback or promotional payment (except any interest rate discount offered). Offer may be varied or withdrawn at any time. See the full Online Cashback Offer Terms and Conditions.
+Cashback of $2,000 for eligible home loans $250-$499k or $2,500 cashback for loans ≥$500k available for refinance applications submitted via Greater Bank lenders (not online), with 80% LVR or below. Only one (1) cashback payment per eligible loan, and for first eligible loan only. Not available in conjunction with any other promotional payment. Offer may be varied or withdrawn at any time. See the full Cashback Offer Terms and Conditions.
**$2,500 cashback for loans ≥$250,000 with LVR less than or equal to 95%. Only one (1) Cashback Payment per eligible loan, and for first eligible loan only. All borrowers must be a first home buyer, which means they have never owned or co-owned a residential property. Not available in conjunction with any other promotional payment. Offer may be varied or withdrawn at any time. See the full First Home Buyer Cashback Offer Terms and Conditions here.
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