Calculator Tools for Buying your First Home
Buying a house is one of the biggest decisions you will encounter in your life and you should consider several factors before deciding. Use our loan and borrowing calculators to help you make a final decision.
Buying your First Home: Things to Know
Buying your first home is a big decision and requires commitment. Some people buy a house to live in, to start a family, or as an investment.
While all of these reasons are important, you should know the responsibilities involved in being a home owner. So before making a commitment, here are some of the important things you should know before buying your first home.
Your Current Financial Status
To put it simply, you need to determine how much you can afford. Don't buy a house out of your budget! Take note of your current income, expenses, savings and debts as they are included when your monthly loan repayment is calculated.
Choose the Right Type of Home
We all have a dream house - but not all house types are best for us. One of the most important factors to consider is if the type of house suits your lifestyle. Understand the pros and cons of different house types before you decide.
Discover your Borrowing Power
Before you make any decision, it's worth taking a look how much a lender will allow you to borrow. It’s possible that your borrowing power is different to what you’ve predicted. Using a borrowing calculator can help learn your borrowing power while you’re shopping for a house.
Have a Good Credit Record
Lenders will likely check your credit history, so it’s important you have the best credit score possible.
Base criteria of: a $400,000 loan amount, variable, fixed, principal and interest (P&I) home loans with an LVR (loan-to-value) ratio of at least 80%. However, the ‘Compare Home Loans’ table allows for calculations to made on variables as selected and input by the user. All products will list the LVR with the product and rate which are clearly published on the Product Provider’s web site. Monthly repayments, once the base criteria are altered by the user, will be based on the selected products’ advertised rates and determined by the loan amount, repayment type, loan term and LVR as input by the user/you. Rates correct as of 6 March 2024.
^The addition of offset sub-account means your comparison rate will change.
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Interest Rates Calculations FAQs
You can calculate a mortgage's monthly interest by multiplying the percentage rate of the interest to the outstanding loan amount and dividing it by the number of months in a year. For example paying off a 600,000 loan per month with 3% interest:
(AU$600,000 x 0.03) ÷ 12 = AU$1,500
One factor that drives mortgages rates up or down is when there are more homes built and/or resold. Buyers tend to apply for home loans when there has been an increase in homes being sold. Fewer homes on the market could mean a decrease on mortgage demand. This relationship of supply and demand drives mortgage rates up and down.