SFA040 Everything you wanted to know about buying a home (1411 words)

This is an in-depth view of what’s involved in buying a home. It answers 12 questions starting with preparing (budgeting) to borrow through to explaining interest rates and a calculation to show what portion of a loan is taken up by interest.

Ready to make the leap from renting to buying a home? Well, before you begin the search for your perfect home there are lots of questions to find answers to. Here are some of the big ones.

Do you need to own your home?

What repayments can you afford?

How much can you borrow?

What’s it really going to cost?

What deposit do you need?

What’s your savings record?

Do you know how mortgages and interest rates work?

Fixed or variable?

How can you reduce your interest payments?

Ready to buy?

Do you understand everything, including all the fine print?

What insurance cover do you need?