Ready to buy but tight timelines and unsure what to do first?

Hi all,

I'm looking for an investment property around the Werribee/Hoppers Crossing VIC area for $420k - $480k. I think I have strong serviceability (high income, low debts, no dependents). I'm trying to buy before the 1st July before they get rid of the stamp duty concession (discount of $5k - $6k). Please note I am not going through a broker as I am an employee at the bank I plan to get a loan with and will benefit from discounts.

1. Should I get a pre-approval before reaching out to agents? Is it a bad look if I do so without speaking to my bank first?

2. How long can a pre-approval take?

3. How do banks view my crypto portfolio? (has roughly $20k, do I need to liquidate it asap?)

4. When does the contract of sale get signed - is it after my offer has been accepted? (very important step to be done before 30th June for stamp duty concession)

5. At which stage do I involve a conveyancer?

6. Pest and building inspection completed before or after my offer?

7. When is my deposit payable and to who directly?

8. When is my stamp duty payable and to who directly?

9. Is a longer settlement (90 days) better for me? I currently have $68k which just covers the 10% deposit (no LMI as staff), stamp duty, conveyancer, pest inspection fees etc. If I can have a bit more time to build a cash buffer it would make me feel more confident.

10. Is HECS debt added as a liability in assessing my loan? (~$30k)

11. Do you think I can successfully buy before 1st July?

Thank you so much for your time in helping me

 

1. You should speak to a quality broker to work out what your strategy will be. They will be able to tell you how long approvals will take and any hurdles that may happen

2. Pre-Approval is not worth a great deal. I would trust the broker fact find.

3. Just as a volatile asset. There is no need to liquidate it, unless you need that money for deposit or to reduce lmi

4. The contract is signed when you place an offer and has all the ‘subject to’s that you want to add to it

5. Some will say a lawyer is better then a conveyancer, I’ve used both and not had any issues. Prior to offer, you should ask for the section 32. That is all the information on the house and land - this should be looked over by your conveyancer/lawyer at this time. You might find easements, covenants, caveats, unapproved structures, easements etc.

6. Up to you, to a point. The vendor may not want to take it off the market whilst you work out the building and pest. They may wish to go to auction, if it went to auction, you need to have the building and pest done prior as auction is final and unconditional. However, it gets expensive if you complete all these building and pests for places that you don’t buy. On the other hand, if you don’t, and there is a massive problem - also expensive

7. Deposit is paid to the rea, when you place your offer. It sits in their trust account.

8. stamp duty is paid at settlement date and handled by your conveyancer/lawyer

9. That’s entirely up to you

10. Yup, and a payment hit to seviceability

11. Maybe, depends if you find something you like, and the strength of your offer

 

Thank you Jetstream for your elaborate answers! Just want to be clear on point 5. Do I get my conveyancer to read the COS before I submit any offer? I imagine I would be submitting 5-10 offers for different properties and conscious that it might be excessive for the conveyancer to review every contract I "may" get into? Or is this normal practice

 

Would it be a good idea to submit multiple offers at the same time? In Victoria, offer is generally made by signing CoS. What happens if few or all vendors accept your offer and execute the contract?