Help me buy my next home

You may have grown out of, or are tired of your current home. Perhaps your children have grown up and left the nest, or your work circumstances have changed and you need to relocate. Either way, the first step is to work out your requirements.

Understand today’s costs of buying

Some costs may have changed since you purchased your last home, so it’s important to factor all current costs into your budget when working out how much you need to borrow.

Buying and selling costs

Establish a realistic budget

As you’ve already experienced, owning the roof over your head is a wonderful feeling. But that glow can wear off quickly if your mortgage repayments force you to sacrifice the good things in life. Take time to work out your budget and how much you can really afford to pay.

Calculators    Budget Planner calculator

Choose the right loan for you

It’s very important to choose the right home loan for your current circumstances. This could save you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan and give you flexibility for the future. Be sure to shop around and ask about any incentives – such as a cashback offer to sweeten the deal. Find out more about our range of home loans.

Credit Union SA can help you with this. One of our Mobile Managers can visit you at your convenience - just make an appointment when it suits you.

Make an appointment    Compare Home Loans    Mobile Lending Managers

Get loan pre-approval

Acquiring home loan pre-approval will allow you to start shopping around for your next home with the confidence of knowing exactly what you can afford to offer. This is particularly important if you’ll be bidding at an auction, as auction purchases tend to have no cooling-off period.

Home Loans

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Now the fun part – find a home!

With your budget finalised and home loan pre-approval in hand, you’ll be ready to begin the search for your next home in earnest. Have a good look around and when you think you’ve found a winner remember to take a look at our CoreLogic RP Data Property Reports for the suburb it’s in. They’ll help you make an informed decision as to whether it’s good value for money.

Free CoreLogic RP Data Property Reports

Make your offer 'subject to finance'

When you’re ready to put in an offer, be sure to make it 'subject to finance'. Even if you have pre-approval for a new loan, you’ll still need to formally apply for it and receive unconditional approval before you can actually pay for the new property. You may also need to make the offer subject to a satisfactory building inspection or sale of your existing property.

Reflect and reassess

Choosing a home can be very emotional and it can be easy to fall in love with the idea of living somewhere. It can happen to anyone, so it’s important that during the cooling off period you take the opportunity to objectively review the reasons why you’ve chosen the property. Remind yourself of all the functional qualities you need in the new home and don’t let a fresh lick of paint or nice garden distract you from a lack of bedrooms.

Arrange insurance

After the cooling off period has expired the property will be legally your responsibility, so you may wish to ensure you have Buildings Insurance organised by then. Even though legal title doesn’t pass to you until settlement, make sure you’re covered from the time you sign the contract.

Home and Contents Insurance