Since my last blog post on 7th December 2024, I have been preparing for settlement day on 29th January 2025 (the same day as Chinese New Year day). For most of the period, I was waiting for my home loan to be formally approved by both the bank and the Victorian State Revenue Office (who provides the funds from the Victorian Homebuyer Fund). I received formal approval from the Victorian State Revenue Office during the New Year break and from the bank last week. I visited the bank to sign the home loan documents and set up my bank accounts to pay the loan. While I have received formal approval for my home loan, the money from the bank, the Victorian State Revenue Office and my initial deposit is not enough to fully cover the purchase price. This resulted in a shortfall of a few ten-thousand dollars that I needed to cover. Luckily, I have enough money to cover the shortfall plus establish a buffer to pay off the home loan in case I cannot work for a period of time. This was all thanks to my diligent saving over the past few years that I am able to raise enough money to buy my first home. Even though there are government schemes where one can buy a home with just a 5% deposit, saving as much money as possible gives me more options as to the property I purchase, as well as favourable home loan terms.

I am also working to get quotes for renovations that I would like to complete before I move into the apartment. Even though the renovations are minor, I would like to replace the existing carpet and wooden floors with new laminate floorboards. Last weekend, I visited a few floor shops to look at some samples and speak to a few people to get a feel of price. Apparently, laminate (printed) and hybrid (textured vinyl) floorboards are cheaper to purchase and install compared to timber floorboards while being more water and scratch resistant. I have received some quotes that fall within the budget of replacing the floors. Additionally, replacing the floors would only take about 2 days, meaning if everything goes well I will have new floors when I move in. I would also like to replace the electric wall heater with a split system air conditioner (which would providing both cooling and heating), repair the wooden windows and install fly screens. I am getting quotes to get these jobs done before I move into the apartment.

Lastly, I am starting to do some research on the electricity, gas and internet providers I will use, with the aim to minimise costs. I have found an electricity provider that seems cheap on the surface, but is not a well-known brand. I will need to do some research on them. I also found a few internet providers that are cheap for the speeds they are offering. However, as I do not know what their reputation is like, I will need to do some research as well. Water is not a worry for me at the moment as I just need to pay the water rates upon settlement, so the water will be connected by the time I move in.

Overall, things are going well at the moment as I am busily getting everything ready for settlement and moving into the apartment.

I finally bought my first home, one month after getting my pre-approval! That home is a two-bedroom apartment in a quiet street in Hawthorn East. The apartment is located near a train station where I can catch the train to the city, as well as near a park where I can do some exercise. It is also a few minutes walk to Camberwell which has all the shops and supermarkets I need to fulfil my daily needs. The home is also near some op-shops where I can buy some cheap used items, aligning with my beliefs of reusing items where I can. Hence, the apartment is very conveniently located to everything I need.

The two-bedroom apartment is also a good property for my first home. Both bedrooms are pretty big for a two-bedroom apartment, meaning I have more than enough room to fit everything I have. I will use the bigger bedroom as my main bedroom, with the other bedroom as my home office where I can do some work. The living room is also large, with enough room to fit both living and dining room furniture. The kitchen is also fully renovated with a lot of storage space to store food, bench space to do some cooking and a breakfast bar to eat my meals. Plus it has a washing machine/dryer combo which would allow me to do all my laundry in the apartment. Overall, this apartment has everything I need to live in now and in the future, and I am so glad that I got to buy that property.

I bought the property via auction last Saturday. I have been preparing for the auction for a few weeks, attending inspections to assess the suitability of the home, asking questions to learn more about the property and the owners corporation and ordering a building and pest inspection report to see whether the property is habitable. I have also been looking at properties on the street that have recently been sold to form a basis of how much I should pay for the property. That gave me a high level of confidence coming into the auction. During the auction, I was able to make a first bid that was within the price range of the property and knocked other bidders out of contention. There was one other seriously interested bidder who was trying to call someone to raise their limit, but they could not get a bid in time before the property was passed onto me. The reserve price that I received was not only within my expected range but was also what I expected to be market value, being cheaper compared to recently sold properties in the street. Having accepted the offer, after providing a few signatures, the property was sold to me. The weeks of preparation have been well worth it for me as I got the property I wanted.

I feel ecstatic about buying my first home that would suit me for a long time, being located in a quiet street with a lot of amenities at a fair price. With the contract signed, I am now trying to get everything done ahead of settlement where the keys to the property would be handed to me. The signed contract has been sent to the bank to order a valuation for the property that would form the basis for formal approval of my home loan. I have also sent the contract to my conveyancer to start the property transfer process from my end. Lastly, I am planning the renovations that I would like to make before I move in. Mainly, I would need to replace the carpet with floorboards as well as replace the heater with a reverse cycler air conditioner/heater. I’ll have to get the relevant approvals from different stakeholders, as well as a few quotes from different companies, before settlement day so that the renovations can be done straight away. There are other renovations that need to be done to the property, but these can be done over time after I move into the property.

Anyway, I feel glad that I will have a place I can call home in a few months. That home will be a place where I can establish my own lifestyle that would suit me, away from the expectations of family. I cannot wait to move into a new place where I can live by myself and do things my way.

Over the past month, I have been looking at two apartments located in quiet streets within my suburbs of interest. One of them is a ground-floor apartment in Ormond, located south of Carnegie in Melbourne’s inner south-east. The other one is a first-floor apartment in Hawthorn East, between Hawthorn and Camberwell in inner east Melbourne. I have inspected both properties twice, checking the condition of each property, locating the plugs and NBN ports to put my appliances in and seeing how I could arrange my furniture. I also did some due diligence on both properties. I did some research online to see which planning zone the properties are in and whether there are any problems with the property such as being located in a flood zone. I have also read the contract and vendor statement for each property myself and got them reviewed by the conveyancers to see if they need to be revised. Lastly, I have ordered building and pest inspections to see whether there are any oustanding problems that need to be rectified.

Looking at both properties closely, I can see both the positives and negatives of each one. The Ormond property is only a 10 minute walk to the nearest train station in the Frankston line. That makes it easy for me to catch the train. Moreover, when the Metro tunnel opens next year, I can change to an express train in Caulfield station to go straight to the city. I also really liked the big outdoor space of the apartment. In fact, there is enough space to build an outdoor deck and set up some small garden beds to grow some plants and vegetables.

However, I have spotted a few negatives with the Ormond property. The aforementioned outdoor room has the fences in the wrong places, meaning the window of one of the bedrooms is overlooking a neighbouring backyard, presenting an invasion of privacy. I have alerted the agent of the issue who relayed it to the vendor. The fence problem is nearly being fixed with a quote being organised to move the fence. What cannot be fixed; though, are the rooms in the apartment being small. This not only means I cannot fit everything that I have in the apartment, but I would outgrow it quickly, forcing me to sell in the short-term. That is what is stopping me from buying the property.

In contrast, I prefer the Hawthorn East apartment more. That apartment is located within a quiet street in Hawthorn East. It is near a train station, meaning I can easily catch the train to the city; Camberwell, where there are plenty of shops, markets and amenities; and a park, where I can do some running. The rooms are also big, meaning I can fit everything that I have while still having enough room to buy more things. That makes it less likely that I will outgrow the apartment and being forced to sell the apartment too soon. Lastly, the kitchen and bathroom are renovated, meaning there are only a few things that I need to do (mainly replace the carpet with the floorboards and the heater with a split system) before moving in. Despite a higher price tag and higher strata fees, it is a really nice apartment that I can see myself living for years to come.

The auction for the Hawthorn East apartment is happening tomorrow. Having done a lot of research on the apartment, I will be coming to this Saturday’s auction and bidding with the intent of buying the property. I feel I have a good shot of winning the auction. Not only have I done a lot of research on that property, but I have decided on the prices that I think will get me the property without paying too much. If I fail to get the property; though, there are still plenty of properties that I can buy that would suit me. It has only been over a month since getting my pre-approval, but I am already getting stuck into the property search and seeing what it is like to be looking for the property that would be right for me. I can use the upcoming Christmas/New Year break to recharge and reflect on what I have learnt so far. Hopefully when I get back into the property hunt in the new year, I will be renewed and ready to find the property that is right for me.