Being a First Home Buyer is a big deal. It’s not only a huge financial commitment but can be made seriously confusing by all of the jargon and different incentives that are involved. In this article, we break down what’s available to you as Victorian First Home Buyer in terms of concessions, incentives and grants.
Stamp duty concessions
As a First Home Buyer you are eligible for some excellent stamp duty savings. A stamp duty concession is exactly what you think it is – a concession on the amount of stamp duty you are required to pay.
If the property you buy is valued at $600,000 or less then you don’t have to pay any stamp duty. That’s right. Nothing. Based on a property of $600,000 that’s a savings of up to $31,070. So it’s a pretty generous chunk of money the state government are forgoing to help you get into your first home.
If the property is worth $600,001 – $1,000,000 then you pay stamp duty on a sliding scale. Check out our handy calculator here to work what you would have to pay based on property in this bracket.
For more on how the discounts and savings work check out our previous article here.
First Home Buyer or Owner Grant (FHOG)
The First Home Owners Grant is different to the stamp duty concession in that the government actually gives you money – $10,000 worth!
With the introduction of the stamp duty concession, the First Home Owners Grant is only available to anyone who is building or buying a brand new property.
To be eligible to receive the $10,000 the First Home Owners Grant in 2018, you need to be buying a house (or unit, apartment, townhouse, etc.) valued up to $750,000 that has never been lived in OR be building a house (or unit, apartment, townhouse, etc.) valued up to $750,000.
If you are building in or buying a new house in a regional area, then the First Home Owners Grant increases to $20,000!
There are some other criteria too, check whether you are eligible online here by answering a few questions on the State Revenue Office site.
First Home Loan Deposit Scheme
The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme is a Federal Government scheme designed to support eligible First Home Buyers. Usually a deposit of 20% is required to buy your home, however the NHFIC are guaranteeing 15% of your deposit if you are eligible for the scheme. There are limits on the property value and the scheme is limited to 10,000 borrowers per financial year across 27 different lenders.
Download the fact sheet here.
HomeBuilder
HomeBuilder provides a one off payment of $25,000 for new builds, off-the-plan purchases or substantial renovations made to existing properties. Again, eligibility criteria applies including:
- Income cap of $125K for a single or $200K for a couple
- Must be a natural person, a citizen and 18 years old or over
- Must be in Victoria, fixed to land, suitable as a place of residence and be owned by you
- House and land value must not exceed $750K
- Must be a registered builder conducting the build or renovation
There are more terms and conditions depending on your individual scenario, for the full list click here.
First Home Buyer Super Saver Scheme
The First Home Super Saver Scheme lets you save money in your superannuation, allowing you to save faster than outside super thanks to concessional tax treatment within your super fund.
You can make extra contributions either before (concessional) or after tax (non-concessional) into your super fund and withdraw up to the cap of $15,000 in any one year and up to $30,000 across all years. This is an individual cap, so couples can save up to $60,000 total.
We would very strongly recommend speaking to an accountant before you decide to engage in the First Home Super Saver Scheme. It’s a pretty confusing area and there are quite a lot of rules and regulations that you’ll need to adhere to.
Get in touch if you’d like to chat to an accountant, we have some absolute super stars in our entourage who will help you wrap your head around what you can and can’t do through the FHSSS.
HomesVic for First Home Buyers
HomesVic is a shared equity scheme created by the Victorian State government. In a nutshell, the government has said they will chip in (interest free) up to 25% of the value of the property for you so you don’t have to take out as big a loan and require only a 5% deposit. However, this means they take up to 25% interest (or ownership) of the property. When it comes time to sell the property, you’ll need to pay them back up to 25% of what the property sells for.
Between the six offerings, there’s a lot of savings for you as a first home buyer to take advantage of – who knows, you may even be eligible to utilise all of these incentives!