What to keep in mind when buying a home

Cohen Handler founders, Simon Cohen and Ben Handler, offer up their top five tips for potential home buyers in the Inner West Courier. 

• Have a plan in place; the search for your dream home can be painstaking and takes time and research, having a plan that includes attaining a “strata and building/pest report, contract reviews and a good mortgage broker or finance partner,” can assist the process.
• Be realistic with what you can afford; being aware and understanding your budget is essential to curb time wasting.
• Purchase a property off-market; buyers agents can help source properties sold off market, these privately sold properties make up 40 percent of Australia’s market.
• Look outside the areas you want; considering properties just outside your ideal area can help you “secure a property at a lower price, in an area that is likely to grow in value as more infrastructure is built,”.
• Consider asking your parents for help; asking for assistance in securing a 20 percent deposit enables you to evade paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance.