The Government has launched a new scheme which will assist first home buyers in purchasing their first home without the need to pay lenders mortgage insurance where they have a deposit of as little as 5%.

The scheme is only available to Australian citizens who are over 18 years of age who have never owned property within Australia before and only certain lenders have been selected to participate in the scheme.

There are income caps in place as well as price caps for different locations within Australia. Full details of the scheme including eligibility requirements can be found here.

Red Key Conveyancing would like to wish everyone a safe, happy and relaxing Easter long weekend. 

Our office will close at 5:00pm on Thursday the 18th April, 2019 and re-open at 9:00am on Tuesday the 23rd April, 2019. 



 

Our office will close at:

5:00pm on Friday the 21st December, 2018.

We will be back on deck and ready to start the new working year at:

9:00am on Monday the 7th January, 2019. 

Red Key Conveyancing wishes everyone a safe and wonderful holiday season.
 

Earlier this year the Australian Institute of Conveyancers (NSW Division) put a call out to all Conveyancers wanting to donate to the Buy a Bale program to help farmers battling through drought. 

The AIC took donations directly from Conveyancers and also passed the hat around at conferences held by them and agreed to match all donations dollar for dollar. 

The fundraising campaign managed to raise $4,500 which, when matched by the AIC, means a total of $9,000 will be heading towards our farmers who need it. 

It’s amazing what can be done when a community comes together.

 

From the 13th March, 2018 certain windows in strata buildings will have to be fitted with safety devices to restrict them opening more than 12.5cm.   

Does this mean I can no longer open my windows?  No.  If the locks allow the windows to fully open and close and also to lock at less than 12.5cm, they will comply with the legislation.  The locks should be engaged when children are inside the property.  

If I have bars or grills, do I still need safety locks?  If the gaps between the bars or grills are less than 12.5cm, they may comply with the legislation but they must be robust and childproof. 

What if the devices aren’t installed by the 13th March, 2018?  Owners Corporations may face fines if they don’t comply with the legislation when it comes into effect. 

What can I do?  Find out if your Owners Corporation have arranged for the locks to be installed or if you need to do this yourself.  More information can be found in the NSW Fair Trading website. 

If you’re looking at buying a property, there are few things you can do to help make it a less stressful experience.

Check out the surrounding area.  There’s no reason why you can’t knock on the neighbour’s door to see if they can give you any information about the area.  You probably want to know who’s going to be living next door anyway. 

See your lender to get a pre-approval before you start looking at properties.  At least you’ll have a clearer idea of what your price range is and once you find a property, the final approval process is much quicker if your lender has already been over your paperwork. 

Do your homework.  Make sure you get your pre-purchase inspections done so you know exactly what you’re buying.  No property is perfect and while some issues identified in these reports might be minor, others might require a substantial financial investment to fix.  Also check Council records to make sure all of the proper approvals have been granted for the buildings on the property.  

First Home buyers of properties valued up to $650,000.00 will now be eligible for a 100% exemption from Stamp Duty for both new and existing homes as a result of changes recently announced by the New South Wales Government.  

Previously, this exemption was only available for brand new homes valued up to $550,000.00.  This amounts to a saving of $24,760.00 for the buyer of a home at the top of the threshold.  

The changes announced also include a reduction in Stamp Duty for new and existing homes valued between $650,000.00 and $800,000.00.  

The changes will apply to Contracts dated on or after July 1, 2017 and will hopefully make the goal of owning a home more achievable for some first home buyers.    

A house is probably going to be the single most expensive item that you’ll buy in your lifetime so don’t you want to know exactly what you’re buying?  

Having a pest and building inspection done on a property before you sign on the dotted line can help to avoid running into expensive issues later on down the track.  

A building report will tell you all about the property from minor cosmetic defects to major structural issues, non-compliance with building codes and safety hazards.  

A pest report will tell you if there have been termites in the property in the past and whether they are still active.  It will also show you where termites have caused physical damage to the property and outline ways to minimise the risk of infestation in the future.  

Having these inspections done does add to the cost of buying a house but in the big scheme of things, it’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.    

By July 2019, all standard New South Wales property conveyances will be conducted electronically.

It seems that the days of paper title deeds are numbered.  While the use of e-Conveyancing is currently optional, the New South Wales Government recently announced that the transition from paper conveyancing to electronic conveyancing is expected to be completed by July 2019.  This means an owner of a property will no longer have a physical title deed for their property, instead details of the property will be stored electronically at the Land Titles Office.  Solicitors, Conveyancers and Banks will no longer need to meet to effect a settlement when a property changes hands.  Instead, they will come together online in a virtual meeting room making the conveyancing process more streamlined.