The buying process

Make an offer

If you are buying at an auction, you are required to pay a deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price) immediately.

If you are buying privately, you are usually required to pay a holding deposit (can be anywhere between $2,000 and 10% of the purchase price).

Contract of sale

The Contract of Sale, prepared by the agent or by the vendor's (the current owner of the property) solicitor, outlines your offer, the date of settlement and any conditions that must be met before the sale goes ahead. Discuss the Contract of Sale with your solicitor before you sign it. There are two kinds of offers - unconditional and conditional.

Unconditional offers

This is an outright offer to buy the property. You should be 100% sure that this is the property you want and that you have access to the money to buy the property. Once the vendor has accepted your offer, you are legally obliged to go through with the sale.

Conditional offers

A conditional offer is also a binding contract, provided that all your conditions are satisfied. You can only back out now if one or more of your conditions are not met. Conditions may include:

• subject to valuation - the sale will only go ahead if the valuation is acceptable to both you and your bank.
• subject to finance - the sale will only go ahead if your bank approves your finance.
• subject to acceptable title search - the sale will only go ahead if there are no ownership, access or other claims recorded on the property title. Your solicitor will do this for you.
• subject to an acceptable builder's or engineer's report - the sale will only go ahead if you are satisfied that the house, or land it is on, is sound.

You may wish to set other conditions eg subject to certain repairs being carried out. Talk to your solicitor about anything you are unhappy or unsure about. Don't sign your Contract of Sale until you are happy with the conditions.

Negotiation, acceptance and deposit

The vendor may accept your offer straight away or may negotiate on the price or other aspects of the sale. The real estate agent will act as the 'go-between' until you and the vendor reach a happy medium. If you cannot agree on a price, you can withdraw your offer. Remember that if there are any changes to the Contract of Sale, you should let your solicitor know before you sign. Once both you and the vendor have signed the agreement, it is legally binding.

You will normally be expected to pay all or part (10%) of your deposit directly to the real estate agent on signing the agreement. It will be placed in a trust account until all conditions have been met.

Finalise loan

If you have pre-approval, you can finalise your loan by contacting your ANZ Branch Manager or call the Home Loan Hotline on 1800 100 641.

You can apply for your loan in three ways:

Apply online

Call 1800 100 641

Visit any ANZ branch

The following list contains documents you may need to complete your application for a home loan. You may only need a few items from the list below. However, we encourage you to read it carefully as it may help you to think of information that you may not have considered.

Personal information

Bring two of the following current documents to complete the customer identification process:

• driver's licence
• passport
• photographic ID (ie Proof of Age Card, Australian tertiary institution card, Department of Defence, Waterways/Boat Licence).

If only one photographic ID document is presented, you will also need to bring one of the following documents:

• birth certificate
• citizenship certificate
• Centrelink Pension Card
• Medicare Card
• utilities bill (less than three months old)
• rates notice (less than three months old)
• tax assessment notice (less than 12 months old).

Property information

You will need to provide:

• Contract of Sale
• copy of Certificate of Title
• copy of Transfer of Land.

If refinancing you will need:

• copies of your current home loan statements
• property details of the home to be refinanced (eg no of bedrooms)
• a copy of your fixed price building contract, if building a property, might be helpful.

Financial information

Assets

• savings / cheque account statements or passbooks
• term deposit receipts
• investment statements / certificates (eg. shares / superannuation)
• details of property or motor vehicle assets.

Liabilities

• loan statements
• credit card / store card statements
• overdraft account statements
• hire purchase agreements
• lease agreements.

Income

• group certificate or payslips
• tax return (if self - employed)
• rental properties - bank account statements, agent reports / statements
• details of any social security payments
• details of any other regular income from sources such as investments.

Expenses

• details of your rent / board payments
• council and water rate bills
• electricity and gas bills
• details on your car expenses - petrol and maintenance costs and insurance.

Once the application is complete and submitted, it will be assessed. You will be notified of the assessment by phone or mail.

Once your loan has been approved you will receive a letter of offer. This is a legal contract stating the terms and conditions of your loan, please read this carefully before signing and retain a copy for yourself.

At the time of settlement, you or your solicitor/conveyancer will meet with a representative of ANZ and the previous title holder of the property. Once the documents have been exchanged, you legally own the property and ANZ has the mortgage. Settlement day is decided when the Contract of Sale is signed, it is usually four to 12 weeks later.

Once the exchange of contracts is complete, your loan will be drawn down. The previous owner will be paid out and any fees or taxes will be paid.

You will receive a letter by mail after your settlement, confirming the details of your loan.

Loan payments begin on the chosen repayment date after the settlement day, eg two weeks or one month.

If you have taken out a variable rate loan, your rate will be the current rate at settlement. If you have a fixed rate loan, your rate will be the current rate at settlement unless you have chosen to pay a Lock Rate Fee during the settlement period, which guarantees the rate at the time the fee is paid. This is only available on fixed rate loans.

Settlement

The Contract of Sale will state the amount of time you have to settle the conditions. When all conditions are met, the offer becomes unconditional, the sale will go ahead and the property will be yours.

1. Your solicitor/conveyancer will prepare and arrange for you to sign a Transfer of Land document. You should ensure that this is done at least two weeks prior to the settlement date. This document will be handed to your lender at settlement. Your lender will register it at the State/Territory Titles Office on your behalf. Upon registration the property will be changed over to your name.
2. Your solicitor/conveyancer will contact your lender, the seller's solicitor/conveyancer and any other interested parties to arrange the date, place and time of settlement.
3. Your solicitor/conveyancer should advise you, one week prior to the settlement, of the exact date and time of settlement and the amount of funds that you are required to provide prior to settlement (if applicable). This amount is usually required to be paid by bank cheque one day before settlement.
4. After settlement has taken place, the vendor's solicitor will contact the real estate agent and advise them to hand over the keys to you.
5. Your solicitor should contact you and confirm settlement has taken place. They will also send you a Statement of Adjustment to show you how the funds have been disbursed to the parties involved.

If you are looking for a lawyer to conduct your conveyancing, you can use the FindLaw directory to begin your search.

Find all the tools necessary for moving home. Includes planners, guides, employment search, 'address change' services, as well as finding a removalist and organising your packing.

Information provided by

Building your dream home can often be more complex than anticipated. We have home loans that are purposely designed for buying land then building on it. We also have some tips to make sure you are confident through the process of building your home.

Loans for building your home

ANZ has designed the ANZ Residential Land Loan to help you through the stages of buying land and building a house. This loan includes the following features, specific to building your home:

• progress draws - you can progressively draw funds, as required during construction, which minimises your interest
• interest only payments - you pay only the minimum amount due on your loan, which frees up your cash for other expenses
• additional repayments - you can make additional repayments at any time
• redraw availability - you can access your additional payments, if you need them at a later date (once the loan has been fully drawn down).

The ANZ Residential Land Loan uses the standard variable interest rate and you also have the ability to link to a 100% mortgage offset account, which can save you interest on your loan.

ANZ also allows progress draws on most loans. Find out which loans have this feature.

The building steps

Plan your budget

You need to set up a budget so you have a clear idea of how much you can spend on building your new house. Try our budgeting calculator and borrowing indicator to see how much you can borrow.

• Budget Planner
• Borrowing Power Indicator

Before you sign

Before you sign a contract for land you can make an appointment with us to receive approval in principle, which means that you know exactly what you can afford. This will also give you more credibility when talking to your developer.

Choose your location and house

When you are looking for land to build on, you can either choose your land then design a house to be built on it or you can go through a developer who is selling house and land packages. This means that the developer organises both the land and the house.

Most developers will be able to take you through their range of display homes. From here you can get a good idea of what the house feels like and also the quality of the workmanship. Most designs can be varied to suit you once you find something you like.

If you are organising the build yourself, you will need to get the land surveyed (a contour survey) to make sure it is suitable to build on, then select an architect or builder to design and organise the construction of the house. Research the designer of the house as well, to make sure you will be happy with your home.

Once you've purchased

Once you have purchased your property and settled on your loan, building will commence. There are three stages at which your builder will invoice you and you will need to make a drawing on your loan. At these stages your lender will revalue your property, draw on your loan and pay your builder.

Loan repayments need to be paid during the construction time. This is a good time to use the interest only feature, which can free up your cash for any extra costs.