If you’re a police member who has been steadily saving for a first home deposit, you’ve likely been making significant sacrifices to reach this goal. Saving for one of life’s biggest purchases is tough, and usually means spending dedicated hours working and refraining from luxuries like holidays, dinners out, and new clothes.
Moving from “saving for a deposit” to “ready to buy” may seem far away, but it could be closer than you think. Here are some tips to help you get into your first home sooner.
How much deposit do you need?
While many lenders require a 20% house deposit to avoid paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), as a police member with BankVic, you only need a 10% deposit to get into a new home in Australian metro areas. Please refer to a BankVic lender to determine if the property you’re looking to buy fits this definition. This lower deposit requirement makes home ownership more accessible and may help reduce the financial burden on police members.
The hardest part of any property-buying journey is often saving for the initial deposit. Fortunately, BankVic policies allow police members to purchase with less up-front hassle, whether you’re a first-time homebuyer or looking to upgrade. By lowering the deposit requirement, BankVic helps ease the path to owning a home.
This advantage means you can retain more in your savings, enabling you to explore further financial opportunities. You can leverage your new home as an equity investment or take advantage of an offset account. Find out more about an offset home loan.
How your police overtime could increase your borrowing power
Calculating your borrowing power is crucial when preparing to buy your first home. Your borrowing power is what’s remaining after you subtract all your expenses from your income. This is the capacity you have to service your loan.
BankVic is the bank for police. Which means we understand police pay streams and can help you get the most out of your home loan, from loan application to settlement.
For police members earning regular overtime, it’s essential that this extra income is fully considered in loan assessments. Some lenders without an intricate understanding of police pay streams may only consider a portion of your overtime. At BankVic, we consider up to 100% of police overtime and penalty rates, which means your borrowing capacity can be considered greater. Read more at: police put your overtime into overdrive with these 4 tips.
Consider salary packaging for your superannuation
The property market has had a range of outcomes for Australian investors, with some experiencing positive returns over the years.
Salary packaging of your superannuation (also called salary sacrificing) can be a smart tax effective way to pay for certain things in some circumstances from your pre-tax income #. However, you may also contribute to your superannuation fund through salary packaging and potentially withdraw your money to help buy your first home. This withdrawal may be tax exempt, but you will need to consult with your superannuation provider. If you have been diligently contributing some of your overtime pay into your superannuation fund you could have enough excess to make this possible.
You may also wish to consider available Federal and State Government allowances for first home buyers such as the Federal Government First Home-Owners Grant and State Government stamp duty concessions. Please check the relevant government websites for further details.
# Subject to concessional caps and eligibility criteria.
If you want to find out how close you are to buying your first home, get in touch with a bank that understands the police.
Contact BankVic to chat about home loans. Talk to one of our lenders by calling 13 63 73 or book a time with a mobile lending manager to find out how our first home buyer lending products are tailored to meet the unique needs of the police.
BankVic is proud to serve our members working in police, emergency services, and health.
