First Home Owners Grant and Its Criteria

(Newswire.net — February 11, 2019) Sydney, NEW SOUTH WALES — First home buyers often struggle with the overwhelming thought of scraping together the thousands of dollars needed to get onto the property ladder and into their first home.

Cutting back on expenses, working extra hours and going without in order to save every extra dollar you can to pull together the thousands of dollars you need as a deposit to buy your first home takes time, effort and a lot of will-power. All the while that you are scrimping and saving, house prices seem to steadily and continually rise, meaning the deposit amount required also rises.

The good news is that for eligible first home buyers there is a whopping $15,000 that the South Australian government gives you to put towards the purchase of your first home purchase.

First Home Owners Grant Criteria

Sounds too good to be true? Well, for many it’s not. Here are the criteria that you need to meet in order to receive this grant.

1. You must be an Australian citizen or have permanent residency in Australia. If you are buying with two or more people, at least one purchaser must have citizenship or permanent residency of Australia. New Zealand citizens holding a Special Category Visa who permanently resides in Australia may also be eligible.

2. You must be a first home buyer, meaning you cannot have previously owned a property in Australia prior to 1 July 2000. If applying for the First Home Owners Grant (FHOG) with another person, neither purchaser is allowed to have owned property on or after this date. To clarify, if you had never owned a property and met all FHOG criteria, but you were buying with a partner who had previously owned property prior to 1 July 2000, you would not be entitled to the home buyer grant.

3. Similar to the above criteria, you cannot have previously owned a property in Australia on or after 1 July 2000 and lived in that property continuously for six months or more. The same rule applies as in criteria point two regarding buying with a partner.

4. Applicants cannot be companies or trustees. They must be natural people who are 18 years of age or older.

5. The property’s market value must be no more than $575,000.

How Do I Apply for the FHOG?

If you are a first home buyer and think you might meet the eligibility criteria for receiving the First Home Owners Grant, then contact SA Home Buyer on 08-7200-1117 or visit sahomebuyer.com.au today. SA Home Buyer will point you in the right direction to help you on your way to getting onto the property ladder and into your first home.