Steps to buying your home

06 April 2012

Hi all,

I have purchased a unit, and have been asked by friends what steps are involved.
So here goes :)

The following steps are what happened when I bought my unit, in NSW, Australia.

1 - Find a home loan with the best interest rate. 
Brokers (eg Aussie Home Loans / Mortgage Choice / RAMS) will be able to help you out for free, however as of today, uBank has the best deal and brokers can't offer this.  You will be locked into the mortgage for about 5 years, so if you don't get the best deal, don't stress. 
If you don't already have a solicitor, have one ready to go.  Solicitor fees will probably be around $2500.

2 - Get a pre-approval for a home loan, this will tell you how much you can borrow. Never go over your limit!

3 - Find your new home!
Make a checklist of things you want in a house and get out there looking.  Real estate websites (eg www.domain.com.au, www.realestate.com.au) will help you find the places you are interested in... you will also get an idea of what prices people are currently paying.
Try to look past cosmetic things like paint/carpet/furniture. 
4 - Make an offer on the place you like.  The real estate will pass this offer to the vendor and if accepted.......

5 - Give a copy of the contract to your solicitor and have the solicitor organise any reports (strata/building inspection/pest inspection). Strata reports currently cost approx $270.

6 - Sign the contract your solicitor has approved and hand over 0.25% (non-refundable) deposit to your solicitor.  You may have a 5 day cooling off period.

7 - Advise home loan lender to proceed with the loan, give them the 1st page of the contract.

8 - Before the end of the cooling off period (5 days), the remainder of the deposit (usually 10%) must be paid to the real estate.  If you don't have 10%, your lender will be able to give you this. You should tell your solicitor this upfront, as this will change the contract.

9 - Your solicitor will request a bank cheque for the entire stamp duty. Google stamp duty and you can use online calculators to estimate this.  This is different for each state/territory.

10 - Your lender will mail you forms to complete. Sign these and return them to your lender promptly. If you put it off, your loan may not go through on time!
If the bank requires proof of home insurance (and you are covered by strata), then purchase a certificate of currency online, approximately $60.

11 - Settlement date (standard is 6 weeks) will be stated on the front page of the contract.  Use this time to start packing, organising any renovations or tradespeople, organising utilities to be connected.  BEWARE settlement dates can change.

12 - On settlement date get the keys off the real estate, and run over to your new home and pop a bottle of bubbles to celebrate :)  A big congratulations from me!!

13 - Phone your lender and ensure that their automatic withdrawals match what is convenient for you.  (ie with your pay schedule).  

14 - Once you are settled into the groove of paying your mortgage, try to make additional repayments when possible.

15 - After your lender lock-in period (5 years), check again for the best mortgage deal, and if you're not getting the best deal - see what your bank can do, or change to a better deal.

All contracts are different, and you may have a long settlement, and no cooling off period.  These are things that your solicitor can let you know. 

Happy house hunting :)
Ms Bender

Eyeliner Tattoo Experience

I have recently had my top eyeliner tattooed in Sydney, Australia.


I am not associated with a tattoo artist, and am not recommending the service, just sharing my knowledge, as I found it hard to find when I was looking for it.


Before:

 

I was unhappy with my light coloured eyelashes when I have no makeup, and I wanted a natural look that simply filled in my lash line.  Makeup trends change, and I didn't want something I would regret later. Also I have one slightly lazy 'Paris Hilton' eye, and don't want to call attention to it.

I turned up at the tattoo clinic with no mascara, and had not tinted my lashes in several weeks. 

When I arrived at the cosmetic tattoo place I was placed in a dentist chair and laid back flat. We had a quick chat about what I wanted (colour and look), and then the tattooist placed a numbing cream over both eyes and left me alone for about 10 minutes for the cream to kick in.

I was given stress balls for my hands - just for peace of mind apparently, and to keep your hands from accidentally jumping up to your face.  The stress balls probably made me more nervous, as I started to consider what would happen if I did jump (I'm quite skittish) and I ended up with this massive tattoo line up my face. *Deep breaths* After calming myself down and trying to relax the tattoo lady did her thing on the first eye.

I can happily announce there was no pain!  The tattoo machine wasn't noisy, and my eyes remained closed for the entire procedure, with the tattooist manipulating the lids and and getting right in between my eyelashes all the way to the waterline.  

Time for the second eye!  The cream had been sitting longer on the second eye, and should have been more numb, however , it was very irritable and kept weeping.  I couldn't really feel pain, but I was getting worked up that I could feel the tattoo gun, and I made the tattoo lady stop and add more cream. I was getting nervous again, but the tattoo lady was wonderful and very cooperative and calm.

We continued on, with my second eye causing slight grief. It was over quickly, thank goodness.

Afterwards I sat up and was given a lookover by the tattooist - making sure my eyes matched and there was no missed bits.  I was given the OK, and was sent off to the train home, with some baby wipes and Bepanthen to rub on my eyes.

By the time I got home, the colour seemed to have faded a bit, but the eyes weren't too bad in terms of swelling/bruising.  I had to rub the Bepanthen on my eyes every 2 hours, using a fresh baby wipe.  I was very gentle as my eye felt bruised and stingy to touch.

About an hour after the tattooing:

Now for the scary bit... I woke up the next day, and looked like this!!!

Day 2:

There was quite a bit of swelling, and I don't know if it was because I was laying down flat, but it had gone by lunchtime.

Another thing I wasn't expecting, was that big chunks of black were coming off my eyes when I wiped them with Bepanthen...  There was no missing black bits on my eyes, and I had followed instructions keeping my eyes moist, so wasn't overly concerned.

 

The next day the eyes weren't swollen and everything was back to normal.  I was told to get a new mascara, but not wanting to risk any infections, I continued on with no eye makeup for the next 3 weeks.

Here is the final result - taken one week after:

 

Most importantly - I am quite pleased with it.  :)

If I'm heading out I still pop on the liquid eyeliner, but I don't bother with daily eyeliner anymore. Also I tint my eyelashes less frequently, as they aren't as 'invisible' anymore.

PS - Apologies for the colour changes in the photos - I have not adjusted them at all.

I hope this is helpful to anyone considering this procedure.