Are you a first-time house buyer? Seven mistakes to avoid

Not educating yourself on the buying process, this can be very stressful and frustrating as buying your first home is a very big commitment and a very important moment in your investment history.

Not having the right real-estate team in place / not to have a real-estate team at all. Simply put, having a professional real estate expert will not only save money but time!

Finding a home before taking the location in to considering for long term living, for example are there schools close by? Good supermarkets and additional amenities in the area that are important to you to be close? What’s the future expansion of the general area and road ways?

Buying based on emotions. Wanting to buy a property because family lives close by or because you grew up in the area is certainly not reason enough.

Not being financially prepared / pre-approved for bank mortgage if required. It is important to start saving your money months if not years in advance as most banks require a 10% (for local) and up to 30% for permit based or foreign status, down payment. A onetime fee of 7.5% Stamp Duty is payable, lawyer fees and home and life insurance will be necessary to pay upfront.

Not putting the appropriate condition clauses and time frames in the offer to purchase, such as if a bank is involved. Omitting that you should obtain a valuation, the latter of which will be a requirement.

Not having a professional engineer do a proper inspection of the roof and structure. This is crucial as you are only seeing the face value of the property while viewing the property; having a professional inspection commissioned for review on the structure of the property is very important so to know exactly what you are getting yourself into.