Purchasing a new home is one of the largest investments you will ever make, and it can be an emotional and stressful experience without careful preparation.  To ensure purchasing your next home is as smooth as possible decide what you want in terms of size, location and price range before you commence your search. 

Property Alert
A great way to find your new property, is to register for the cjkeane&co. Property Alert. By adding  your name, contact details and requirements to our register, as soon as we list a property that fits what you are looking for, it will be emailed directly to you.

Know what your looking for? Click Here to Register for a cjkeane&co. Property Alert.

Buying in Your Price Range
Before starting your search for a new property, it is important you know what you can afford. It is vital that you have spoken with your Bank Manager or Mortgage Broker and have finances available before making an offer in a private sale or bidding at auction.

Deposit
Ensure that you have made arrangements to cover the deposit should your offer or bid be successful, and arrange to have the appropriate mortgage funds available for settlement.

Deposit requirements will vary, but as a general rule of thumb, at least ten per cent of the selling price will be required.

Calculating Your Loan Repayments
Confirm with your financial institution or bank the amount they are willing to lend you and calculate this based on your capacity to repay the loan, without it negatively impacting on your lifestyle and other financial commitments. 

Don't forget that (variable) home loan interest rates can move up and down, so you need to have a bit of leeway to cope if this happens.

Click Here to visit the Bendigo Bank Home Loan Calculator


Additional Costs
You will also need to take into account a number of other costs associated with buying a property for which the buyer is liable. These may include the following:
- legal/conveyancing fees
- stamp duty on the transfer of property
- stamp duty on the mortgage
- loan application fees
- insurance
- adjustments such as council rates and water fees

Once you have identified the type of property you are looking for, the next step is the most exciting – finding the property!

Look in your local newspapers including: The Geelong Advertiser  and The Bellarine Echo
Visit popular websites like realestate.com.au  and realestateview.com.au
And go to auctions and open for inspections and to conduct research about the market. 

Our search page also provides you with all the properties we have listed with our agency.
Click Here to start searching for your dream property now.

You can also visit your local cjkeane&co. branch and speaking to one of our sales staff.  Not only can we show you the properties we have listed for sale, but even if we don’t have the property you’re looking for we can contact our other branches on your behalf, or keep your details in case they find something for you later.

Plus don’t forget to register for the cjkeane&co. Property Alert.  Click Here to Register

The best way to present a strong offer on any property is to utilise your purchasing option by signing a contract note offer.

There is a cooling off period which is only available to the purchaser and this allows for an offer to be presented to the owner in writing, on the Contract of Sale.  This clearly demonstrates to the vendor that you are serious about your offer.

Once an agreement on price, settlement, conditions etc. has been reached with the vendor, the sale can proceed.  An exchange of contracts is the only way to actually buy or sell a property.  The exchange of contracts occurs when the purchaser and vendor each sign an identical copy of the proposed contract for the sale of the title of land.

If you want to make an offer, be certain that you can follow through by having the following items confirmed:

- A pre-approval of finance from your bank or lending institution
- Your own property sold, or at least assessed for value and possible sale time
-  You have chosen a solicitor or conveyancer  to assist with the purchase
- Determine how you will be paying the 10% deposit and associated costs
- An idea of settlement times required before you take possession

Attend a few auctions to learn about how the process works.  The property to be auction will usually be open for about an hour before the auction, so take advantage of that time and ask the agent any questions before the bidding starts. 

If you are intending to buy at the auction, all of the above mentioned must be in place, Auction day is final.  If you turn up to bid and you are the highest bidder past the reserved price, you are the instant owner awaiting settlement of that property.

Private sale is the most common method of selling in today's real estate market.

A buyer can inspect the property, and if interested make offer to the selling agent. The person selling the property (vendor) can then either accept or reject the offer.  The selling agent will continue to negotiate with the buyer on behalf of the vendor, until the property is sold; or the buyer withdraws their interest in the property.

For more information on buying a property please contact your local cjkeane&co. office.

Click Here for details on your nearest office.