You’re a young couple finally starting to settle down in life, but the Australian dream seems out of reach. You’ve grown tired of paying $400 odd in rent every week for a house that you cannot change the paint, or even install a home security system.

You’ve reached a point where you now want to own a home and get the peace of mind that comes with saying goodbye to landlords — and having a space that you can finally call yours.

You have listed down what you’d want in a home and in the neighbourhood.

Perhaps you’ve even come up with a workable budget based on what you hear about the property market.

But you hear strange terms like on-market and off-market and pre-market — and you are confused.

However, what frustrates you the most is trying to determine how to get financing for your home.

Don’t worry...

We are going to gently walk you through these issues so that at the end you’ll feel like you have a handle on it.

Here we go.

It’s important to mention that property prices have been on an upward trend for a while.

Since last year, real estate market prices are defying earlier projections of slumps.

So while waiting for when prices are low may look like a good strategy, the market is clearly unpredictable. In fact, prices are tipped to rise further.

Here is where you can get some fresh property market information.

Where Can You Find Properties For Sale In Australia?

There are two options:

You can decide to go with the on-market route, or you can explore off-market properties for sale.

But what is the difference?

It's simple.

An Easy Explanation of An On-Market Property

An on-market property is a property listed for sale by real estate agents that can be discovered through public advertising such as on websites, through brochures and on signboards.

What Is an Off-Market Property?

An off-market property, which is growing in popularity among home buyers and sellers – are houses for sale listed by real estate agents that are not typically advertised through the mainstream channels.

Some of these off-market properties are sold by real estate agents before they are publicly advertised. This is called a pre-market sale. Traditionally to secure a sale agents spread the word about the property among their networks.

Buyers can then snap a property up before its advertised and seen by a large number of competing buyers.

Marketplaces like ListingLoop.com.au make it a click away.

How Can I Finance an Off-Market Property?

Hold on a minute.

Before you consider financing options, you need to know how much you really need. This can be found by reviewing off-market property matches. It also depends on your preferred location.

After having an idea of how much you’ll need, then comes the financing bit — the most frustrating, discouraging aspect for many potential buyers.

Here, we give you major options that should make this a little less challenging.

One other thing:

Most financial plans require you to finance up to 20% as a deposit towards the purchase of both on-market and off-market properties.

So how can you obtain financing?

You Can Access First Home Owners Grants

These are cash grants the Australian government gives to those who have never owned a home before. But there is other eligibility criteria as well.

This table might be helpful if you want to have an idea of the exact grant amount you can qualify for:

You could use these funds to contribute to the deposit for your off-market property.

You Can Save Using The First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS)

This is a savings scheme program by the government where salaried workers have the chance to contribute to an Australian government housing fund at tax discounted rates.

If you look at financial values of off-market properties in Australia, you’ll know that you can't dispense with personal savings.

Of course you may want to save in a bank.

But what will you get for your troubles?

Just 2% annual interest.

But savings through the FHSSS due to tax incentives gives a lot more than that.

Just look at this comparison:

So if you manage to find an off-market property for $500,000— and you are saving $6,000 per year, you’ll have saved about $81,000 in 15 years.

If you add up the amount you can get as a grant, you may be able to achieve the deposit required.

But don’t beat yourself up if you can’t manage to get the deposit.

You can still get a loan from several lenders. The only difference is that it will be a little more expensive due to something called Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI).

You Can Pool Friends Together and Own a Home

Sounds odd—but yes, you can pool together and own a home. If you have three friends, you can fund one person, then another, and then the last.

You Can Use Rentvesting To Finance a Home

You can rent a house that fits your lifestyle, then own one that fits your budget.

In fact, it’s estimated that at least 30% of investors in home properties also live as tenants!

But how—and most importantly, why?

When you own a house, you can use depreciation and repairs to reduce your tax liability. So you’ll increase your disposable income which you can then use to pay off the mortgage.

It’s a trend that many are going into and it’s something worth carefully considering.

Other Real Estate Financing Avenues

There are other incentives for first time home buyers like stamp duty concessions — which depend on the state you live in — and other arrangements like BuyAssist.

For BuyAssist, eligible individuals are linked to specific financiers for specific properties.

Your Go-To Place For Off-Market Financing

Listing Loop is the property marketplace that gives you access to properties you previously didn't know were for sale. Get VIP access and go where serious buyers go to find their next property. Check it out here.

We're here to help

We're always happy to help with all the dramas and stressors of house buying and selling.

And if you're particularly tired of house-hunting, we've even partnered with buyer advocates who can check out homes for you and organise sales assessments and negotiations.

Our off-market and pre-market marketplace gives you VIP access to properties so you can get in first.

Just sign up at Listing Loop or download our app.

Photo by Our-Team / CC BY