Ali Hasani, mortgage broker in Ryde, Sydney

Your home buying journey, from start to keys

Every home journey starts with one question: can I really do this? The answer is very often yes, and it starts with your pathways to home ownership. You might be a first home buyer starting from scratch, or someone coming back to the market. Either way, the first step is getting your money in order. That means a budget plan and a clear picture of your deposit options. Our first home buyer tips cover the basics worth knowing before anything else.

Once your deposit is growing, it helps to know how lenders work out what you can borrow. That means learning about loan to value ratio (LVR). It also means knowing what lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) is and how to avoid it. The last piece is whether your savings count as genuine savings. After that, choosing the right home loan and getting your pre-approval sorted lets you start looking with confidence.

There is also government help that some buyers can use. The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme lets buyers who qualify buy with a smaller deposit and no LMI. The guide to its good and bad points covers both sides. The First Home Owner Grant puts cash towards your purchase. The First Home Super Saver Scheme lets you use your super to build your deposit. The Help to Buy scheme cuts how much you need to borrow. Knowing about NSW stamp duty and any discounts you qualify for can save you thousands more.

Then comes the fun part: finding the right place. Our guide on how to buy the right property helps you look past the listing photos. You will learn what to check in location, condition and vibes, and how to tell whether a place is worth the asking price. Once you find the one, the lender orders a bank valuation. Our valuation guide explains what that is and why it matters to your loan.

How you buy depends on how the place is being sold. You might do a deal through a private treaty sale, bid at an auction, or buy something off the plan before it is built. The place itself could be a freestanding house, a strata title apartment, a block of land, or land you plan to build on. Each one changes how the loan is set up.

The last stretch is settlement day, when it all comes together and the keys are yours. We work with your solicitor and your lender to keep it smooth. All of our free guides sit in the Loan Vault.

As a Sydney mortgage broker based in Ryde, Buyvest helps people buy, refinance and invest. We cover 220+ suburbs and 12 Sydney regions, at no cost to you. You can see how it all works over at Buyvest, or book a free chat any day of the week. This is general information only, not personal financial advice.