Does buying your own home locally feel like a pipe dream? Here are three tips to break into the property market.

The amazing beaches, the picturesque escarpment and the coastal lifestyle are amongst the reasons why we love calling the Illawarra region home. Add in a thriving cafe culture, emerging food scene and that we’re only a stone’s throw from Sydney it makes sense why the Illawarra is highly sought after as a place to buy a home.

The stark reality of this demand to call the Illawarra home was outlined in the latest ANZ-CoreLogic Housing Affordability Report. The research found that there was a home value to household income ratio of 9.6 whereas in Sydney this ratio is 9.4, which makes the Illawarra more unaffordable than Sydney. When prospective home buyers are trying to save for a deposit and get into the market, it can feel like the odds may be stacked against them.

Let’s look at three ways you can break into the property market:

1. Understand your numbers

Knowing how much deposit you need to have as a minimum is crucial to let you know if you have enough savings to get in the market earlier. Speak with a mortgage broker to work out your borrowing capacity and find ways to improve this by closing credit cards and personal loans.

2. Narrow your property search

Looking at property online can be a great place to start however it could be even better if you knew your purchase price range. You can start to identify suburbs you’d like to buy in and start to focus your property hunt on the types of properties you could afford and the one’s you like. Remember, photos don’t always tell the whole story so nothing beats getting out and inspecting these properties.

3. Get organised

Home buying is often linked to feelings of high stress, but it doesn’t need to be that way. You can have an enjoyable home buying experience by being organised with your Home Loan Pre-Approval also your support team who include a conveyancer, mortgage broker, building and pest inspector and a Buyers’ Agent.

For more information, contact the team at Atelier Wealth or grab a copy of Aaron’s new book ‘The Happy Home Loan Handbook’