Don't leave it til too late before you buy your first property, and with the government's First Home Owner's Grant scheme, owning your own property has never been easier.

Overview - How much will I receive?

The First Home Owner's Grant (FHOG) is a government scheme designed to assist first home owners with a deposit to purchase their first home. Depending on your circumstances, such as whether your are purchasing an established house or brand new house, and whether you are purchasing in regional or metropolitan zones.

The table below sets out how much you would receive as a first home owner

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for the FHOG, the State Revenue Office must be satisfied that:

• you or your spouse/partner have never owned a residential property either jointly or separately, or with some other person before in Australia before July 1, 2000;
• you or your spouse/partner must not have lived in a property for a continuous period of 6 months within the first 12 months in which either of you had a "relevant interest" (meaning you owned the property by being the registered owner on the title);
• you or your spouse/partner have never received the grant in any state in Australia;
• you and your spouse/partner must be a natural person in Australia, and are an Australian citizen or Australian Permanent Resident; and
• you have purchased a property where the value of the property does not exceed $750,000

Documents Required

In order to receive the FHOG, you must have

• Certified copy of ID which proves you are an Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident
• Complete First Home Owner's Grant Application Form

Frequently Asked Questions

1. If I have owned a property before that was an investment property and have never lived in it, but now I want to purchase a property to live in, would I still qualify for the grant?

This is one of the most common questions that we are asked. Many brokers, conveyancers and solicitors will give you differing opinions on this, however our reading of the relevant eligibility criteria from the SRO website which has been recreated above. The most important of these conditions is:

you or your spouse/partner must not have lived in a property for a continuous period of 6 months within the first 12 months in which either of you had a "relevant interest" (meaning you owned the property by being the registered owner on the title

In the plain English reading of this, it can be interpreted that if you therefore owned a property and did not live in it (ie it was an investment property), then if you purchased a second property, you should be able to qualify for the First Home Owner's Grant. However, we do recommend you consult with your legal adviser in relation to this.

2. When do I receive the grant?

Many people believe that they will receive the grant as a cheque or a deposit into their bank account when they are purchasing a property. Whilst this will only happen in rare circumstances, generally speaking, we will apply for the First Home Owner's Grant through the banks, who are "approved agents" of the SRO. This means you will get the First Home Owner's Grant at settlement, assuming it has been approved at least 10 days prior to settlement.

3. What if I am building - can I receive the First Home Owner's Grant at land settlement?

Many of our clients who are building their first home can fall into the trap of expecting their grant to be available when they purchase the land. However, it is more often the case that the FHOG will only be available when the builder completes the concrete slab/foundation stage. This is because the SRO needs to be convinced that you actually are building the property!

However, we do have some lenders on our panel who are willing to release the First Home Owner's Grant at land settlement, and therefore, it is a good idea to consult our specialists who will assist you in navigating through this.

4. If I am an Australian citizen, and am buying a house with my partner who is a non-resident, will we still receive the grant?

Yes. Our interpretation is that only one of the applicants needs to be an Australian citizen or Permanent Resident.

5. What's the best loan for a first home buyer?

It depends. Although you are purchasing your first home to live in, we would need to know the answers to these questions:

• Will this be the only house that you ever buy for the rest of your life?
• If the answer to that question is no, or even maybe not (and of course hopefully you aren't planning to own only 1 property!), then if you are going to buy another property, do you intend to live in that (to upgrade) or would you be buying a smaller house to downsize?
• If you buy that second property, will you be selling the existing property, or will you want to rent it out as an investment?
• What would be your time-frame for purchasing the second property?
• How aggressive/conservative would you like to be in purchasing your property?
• What percentage of your income will you realistically use to pay a mortgage?
• How often do you take holidays, or have large once-off lump sum expenses?

6. HELP! I've already gotten a pre-approval from my bank/broker and he/she never asked me any of those questions?

Don't worry, it's not too late. In the same way that many patients seek a second opinion from a specialist doctor as opposed to their local GP, our friendly consultants will give you a complimentary second-opinion as to whether or not the loan structure your existing pre-approval is based on, and therefore whether or not the other broker/bank has given you a suitable product.

We can guarantee that in virtually  every single case where this has occurred we have been able to make at least some recommendations to improve the loan structure or product, whether it is to give you a cheaper product, or to assist you to organise your financial affairs more efficiently and help you pay off your mortgage MUCH faster.

So contact us today by filling out the form on the right.