Buying through Ray White Rural and Livestock

From first home buyers to experienced property investors, our mortgage experts at Loan Market can help you make your property dreams a reality.

Understand how much you can borrow

From first home buyers to experienced property investors, our mortgage experts at Loan Market can help you make your property dreams a reality. With access to exclusive offers and the power to negotiate a competitive deal, we could help you understand how much money you can borrow based on your current assets and income, and also help you save money on your loan.

Researching the property market

Ray White Now is a good place to start as it provides you with comprehensive facts and figures on the property market.This detailed report explains supply and demand across Australia to help you better understand areas the property market drivers. Additionally, some government websites provide reports or community profiles that disclose information about council plans, development projects or building regulations.

Talk to your local sales agent

With over 1,000 offices across 11 countries, one of our 12,000 specialists are ready to discuss your property needs. Use our office locator to find your nearest Ray White agent.

Attend an open for inspection

Ready to start looking? Our comprehensive property search function showcases the latest listings from Ray White offices across the country.

Building and pest inspections

Most contracts of sale will require you to complete a building and pest inspection before finalising your property purchase. A pre-purchase building inspection is recommended to ensure the condition of a property is what appears to meet the eye. This report will highlight any current defects or concerns about the property's integrity, looking out for any defects such as leaking taps or cracked walls, whereas a termite inspection will determine if there is evidence of active termites or damage to the property from termites, allowing you to make further negotiations on the contract.

Let Ray White Concierge & hipages take the hard work out of finding a qualified, licensed and trustworthy building and pest inspector in your local area.

• Receive up to 3 free quotes from professionals then you choose the best one.

• There is 100% no obligation to hire.

• No need to ring around and research - the professionals will come to you.

Purchasing your property - auction or private treaty?

At auctions you’ll be bidding against other potential buyers, will have to make fast decisions and will generally know if you will own the home when the auction concludes. If you’re negotiating through a private treaty you’re negotiating the sale price with the vendor and the initial price is set by the market value of the property, not a price reserve. The process can take days or weeks longer than an auction.

Sign contracts and pay the deposit

You may need to engage a lawyer or conveyancer to help you with your contract negotiation and signing.

Pre-settlement inspection

Conduct a final inspection the week before or on settlement day. You're entitled to take a tour of your purchased property before it settles to make sure it's in the same condition as when you signed the contract of sale. Consult your conveyancer, buyer's agent or vendor's agent if you have any questions regarding the settlement period or your what to do in the event of an unsatisfactory inspection.

Moving day - welcome home

Need help moving home? Ray White Concierge can help. We have all your moving services covered, including:

• Home, landlord, tenant and car insurance

• Linking you to tradespeople

• Finding a removalist

• Finding storage solutions

• Finding a tax specialist

• Finding a solar power specialist

Our team at Ray White Home Now can also help connect your utilities, comparing the best deals from our extensive list of providers.

Visit our partner websites today.

If you’re buying your first home or helping a family member enter the property market, make sure you’re ‘bid ready’ by doing the following before raising a bidder paddle or making an offer. If you’re on the hunt for your first property, here’s five key tips from the experts at Loan Market:

Get finance early

At the moment approvals are taking longer. If you find your dream home, you’ll want to celebrate—not suffer anxiety hoping for your loan to be given the thumbs up. And, most pre-approvals expire within three to six months, so you need to get to it.

Research your target suburb/area

Once you find an area you like, research the latest median prices, market data and local demographics. Know what is planned for the area — public transport upgrades, planned high rise, new schools.

Does it tick your boxes?

Make sure the property meets your needs, but be realistic. Can you fit your family in the bedrooms? How far are you from public transport? Is the freeway too close? Is there a beach down the road? What are the growth prospects? If it’s your first house, it doesn’t have to be the ‘dream home’. Start small, buy what you can afford and go from there.

Take a long-term view

Long term planning is key to home buying in a slow market, and this slump is just getting started. It’s being said that things won’t improve for ages so, move in, renovate, get a pool or a granny flat, whatever; but maybe sit tight. Sell when prices bounce back. On the other hand, if you’ll be flipping the property soonish for profit, see below for some investor strategies.

Investing?

When investing, look at the big picture. What’s the economy doing and where are we in the property cycle? Select the right market—usually in a capital city—and preferably one that’s bottomed out or growing strong. Then find the right suburb—generally where locals have higher disposable incomes, or where renovation is happening. Examine the last ten years of growth figures to confirm trends. Pick the spot in your chosen suburb close to everything that makes property valuable—transport, lifestyle etc. Finally, pay what you know is a fair price.

Packing tips

Your finances are sorted, contracts are signed and the settlement period has finally come to an end which means it’s time to move into your brand new house.

Tips to make moving house as seamless as possible

But moving can be stressful at the best of times so use these tips from the experts who have seen it all so you can start your home owning adventure with minimal fuss.

Pack smart

Kevin Chokshi and Alex Pearson of Ray White Cheltenham have seen their fair share of house moves and have discovered some easy hacks to make packing and unpacking easier.

“Put all hanging clothes in bin bags, that way it makes it easier for when you do finally move to take them all out and keep them nice and clean,” Mr Pearson said.

“Another simple hack to make life easier is to label and colour code all of your boxes; that way, when you move you know exactly where everything is, saving plenty of headache for when you have the long task of unpacking.

“Numbering your boxes from most important to least and putting them in the truck with the least important at the back will also save a lot of time and frustration on the other end.”

Mr Chokshi added his own packing tip, “wrap your drawers with cling wrap, pull the whole drawer out and wrap it with plastic cling wrap and once you get to the next property unwrap it and put it straight back into the drawer.”

Declutter before you move

Who wants to have to declutter when they unpack? Instead Ray White Wetherill Park agent Mathew Bell’s moving tip is to get rid of it before you pack.

“The number of owners who carry unnecessary items from house to house is crazy. Think of the amount of money in removalist fees you'd save if you had ten less boxes,” Mr Bell said.

Dealing with heavy items

Moving heavy piles of books and furniture has probably contributed to more than a few back injuries over the years. Using these hacks will save you back pain and the physio bill.

“Put all your heavy items into a suitcase because they generally have wheels and you can go straight into the new property and not worry that you’re going to put your back out ,” Mr Pearson said.

Mr Chokshi also said when it comes to heavy furniture, sliding a magazine under the legs will make life easier.

“Slide heavy furniture using a magazine, rather than straining your back, all you need to do is grab the magazines and put them under your furniture and then it’s nice and easy because all you do is slide it along,” he said.

The little things

Little things have a tendency to go missing when moving house, so making sure they are stored effectively and close at hand is a must. Electronic devices and cords can also prove a nightmare for some inexperienced movers.

“Snap a photo of your electronic devices set up, whether it be your TV, surround sound, Foxtel or whatever it may be,” Mr Chokshi said.

“Once you move, you need to reconnect all those cables and you’re probably not going to remember what cable goes where, so take a photo of it because that way it’s so easy to set up your new home.”

Storage wise, keeping cables in toilet rolls and furniture fixtures in snaplock bags are a simple and budget friendly way to move smoothly.

“Store your electronic cables inside a toilet roll, that way they’re not going to get tangled up and will be easier to manage when you’re unpacking and trying to reconnect all your devices,” Mr Chokshi said.

“Snaplock sandwich bags are your best friends when moving, they can store things like jewellery, keys and nuts and bolts. Make sure you label these sandwich bags so once you get there you know which bolts and which nuts go for which piece of furniture.”

Selling your property is a major cause for celebration. But after you revel in the fact you have either bought or sold a property, you need to start planning for the move.

Selling your property is a major cause for celebration. But after you revel in the fact you have either bought or sold a property, you need to start planning for the move. There is a lot to do, so a little planning can go a long way to ensure the move is a smooth one.

These ten tips can help you ensure you are doing as much as you can now so you can focus solely on unpacking and enjoy your new home on moving day.

1. Book a removalist and make an inventory of furniture

The week you sign the Contract of Sale it’s recommended that you find and book a removalist. Removalists book up quickly at certain times of the year, so getting in early can ensure you find one you trust and one that fits within your budget.

Before you commit to a removalist, they may want an idea of what specific furniture you have, how many bedrooms you have, whether you have any furniture that is difficult to move or how many boxes you have. Take an inventory of your large furniture and make a rough estimate of how many boxes you’ll likely have so you can get an accurate quote.

2. Gather moving supplies

Start gathering cheap or free moving supplies such as good quality boxes in a range of sizes, newspaper and bubble wrap. Ask friends and your local shops if they have any boxes they do not want.

3. Does your new home have enough space for your belongings?

Working out whether your new property will be able to fit all your furniture is important. It’s a good idea to measure your larger pieces of furniture and use the floor plan of the property to work out where each item will fit. If pieces don’t fit, you should either look to sell, hire storage, give away or discard. Doing this well in advance can save you the headache of not having a place for it on moving day.

4. Organise all important moving paperwork in one convenient file

Ensure all your important documents that relate to the property sale and move are consolidated. You have enough to deal with and don’t need to be bothered with searching for contracts and receipts that quickly accumulate during a move. It is wise to create a physical folder for all your tangible receipts and an online folder for all electronic documents. An email folder is very helpful for storing your e-receipts and moving-related emails.

5. Changing your address

You may think, “I have plenty of time to deal with such minor details.” However, many people move only to find that their post is still going to their old address. Make a list of the organisations that send you physical bills or important paperwork. Use this time during the weeks leading up to the move to contact them with your new address and date of move. You’ll likely get other post during this time that you may not even have considered, so be sure to add those senders to your list as well. You may also want to redirect your mail with Australia Post, but the longer you use their service, the more it will cost you.

6. Decide where everything will go

If you have a floor plan with exact measurements, it will be highly beneficial when planning where everything will go. If you do not have one, ask the real estate agent for one. You will need to know if a room is big enough for your furniture before the movers get frustrated trying to figure a way to get something to fit. Do not just “eyeball” it either. You don’t want to end up having to leave something behind because you did not correctly estimate the size of a wall or door.

7. Start packing early and toss, donate or sell unwanted items

Whatever you do, do not wait until the days leading up to the move to start packing. It will cause sleepless nights and undue stress. Instead, put yourself in a good spot by going room-to-room and packing away things you do not need.

You will likely find things you don’t use or don’t want any more. This is a good opportunity to sell those things while you still have a place to keep them. After all, the more you take with you, the more expensive and time consuming moving will be. Many people recommend having four piles in each room, labelled ‘Keep’, ‘Toss’, ‘Donate’, and ‘Sell’.

Pack lighter items such as clothes and toys in the largest boxes and the heavier items such as plates and appliances in the smaller boxes. Make sure you label relevant boxes 'fragile'.

Also make sure you pack a box of essential items that contains items you will need to access the first night you are in your new property. Items such as bed linen and towels, pyjamas, toothbrush, toilet paper. You don’t want to be hunting around through multiple boxes when you arrive.

8. Contact the utility providers

You’ll need someone to connect your electricity at your new home and stop billing you for it at your old home. The same goes for gas, TV, phone and internet. The sooner you do this, the sooner they can make arrangements to set you up so you are not left in the dark.

9. Make travel arrangements

If your move requires you to drive a long distance, make sure your vehicle is serviced beforehand. Also, make sure you’ll have enough room in your vehicle for kids and pets. If not, you may want to arrange for someone to care for them until you’re ready to move into the new home.

10. Unpack as soon as you move

Unpacking can feel like an enormous task so it’s best approached with discipline. It’s a good idea to unpack the bedrooms first and in particular the kids rooms so they feel like home quickly. Unpacking one room and a time will help give you a sense of achievement as you move through the property.

Once you’ve decided that you want to make an offer for a property there are two main methods to purchasing: auction and private treaty.

At auctions you’ll be bidding against other potential buyers, will have to make fast decisions and will generally know if you will own the home when the auction concludes. If you’re negotiating through a private treaty you’re negotiating the sale price with the vendor and the initial price is set by the market value of the property, not a price reserve. The process can take days or weeks longer than an auction.

Buying at an auction

Buying a home at auction is an exciting time - the crowd and competitive atmosphere means it’s easy to get caught up in the passionate bidding. Remember these tips:

• Knowing your maximum bid is just one part of being prepared. Knowing how much each extra bid will cost you in weekly repayments can help you make the tough decision of whether to keep bidding or not.

• At an auction there is no cooling off period, the property is sold when the hammer falls.

• If you are worried about getting too emotional in the auction process you can make someone bid on your behalf, with your instructions to purchase.

• Ensure you know the conditions of the sale before you bid so you know when the property would settle,

• If the property is passed in and you’re the highest bidder you’ll have the opportunity to exclusively negotiate with the vendor.

If you're the successful bidder at an auction, you’ll have to sign the sale contract and a 10% deposit on the spot. Your solicitor or conveyancer will then carry out the research needed on the property and arrange the settlement date. When you buy at Auction there is no cooling off period.

Private Treaty

Some buyers prefer buying through private treaty because it’s a slower, less emotional process than buying at an auction. Some buyers view it as a ‘fairer’ way to agree to a property price and conditions of sale.

Keep these tips in mind if you’re going to buy through private treaty:

• You can take your time making bids on the property

• You can negotiate certain terms and conditions of the sale in your favour

• You can delay getting inspections and reports done on the property until after you’ve agreed on a price.

• Once you’ve agreed on a price to purchase the property there is a cooling-off period that depends on the state you live in.