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Tips For Unmarried Couples Looking to Purchase Their First Home

These days a lot of people are very comfortable in de facto relationships and living together.

More Australians are delaying marriage until later in life, and as much as four out of five married couples live together before marrying. Regardless, purchasing a home with your partner can be like a good way to get onto the property market.

Unmarried Couples Purchase First Home
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For the past two decades, the average age of first-home buyers has remained at a constant 32 years old.  In 2015, the median age was 31.8 for men and 29.8 for women, in comparison to 29.5 for men and 27.6 for women back in 2005, the data was derived from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Your finances will likely have already merged to some degree if you are already living with your partner, which makes buying property together cross your mind time and again. As you know, it’s easier to secure a home loan with two incomes rather than one.

But considering that buying a home is one of the largest purchases you will ever make, there is much more at stake financially than signing a lease on a rental property, especially if the relationship comes to an end.

You can check that right now if you go to Newcastle Permanent’s home loan home page and contact their agents.While you may think that marriage makes it easier to acquire a loan, or offer you more security if you get separated, the reality is that most banks and courts treat de facto couples the same as they would treat married couples.

Arranging your Finances and Laying Ground Rules:

Unmarried couples who have healthy finances aren’t any less likely to be able to secure finance for a joint purchase than a married couple. In fact, if you have been living together for around three months, banks can begin to treat you as ade facto couple.

Ask help from a financial planner so you’ll have someone who can best structure your loan.

It’s necessary to discuss beforehand how the property will be divided if the relationship ends. Yes, it can be an awkward and less-than-romantic conversation, but this is better than attempting to figure it out during the heat of the moment.

Have a frank and open discussion about potential scenarios, such as whether you’ll be allowed to sell the home to pay the loan or if one partner can buy the other out. You must also discuss how the proceeds of a sale would be split if contributions made to the depositor repayments are unequal. If the couple can’t agree on how assets must be divided after a break-up, the family court can handle the dispute, but it’s usually a costly and stressful process.

End Note:

Today, it’s normal for couples to buy property when they are financially ready, rather going for the more traditional model of marriage first, home second.

Many couples are now technology savvy as well, which lets them find the right home in the right location. This, along with the right home loan type from providers like Newcastle Permanent makes home ownership even easier and less stressful.Check out Newcastle Permanent’s home loan home page to know more about loan types and learn more about homeownership as ade facto couple.

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Jyotsna Ramani is a passionate writer and an avid globetrotter. She had a knack for writing since her early years, though that was mostly letters to her penpals and jotting her thoughts down in her "Dear Diary". Over the years, she realized how her hobby could turn into a full time career and she started writing web content, books and pieces for local magazines. There has been no looking back ever since. Follow Jyotsna Ramani at Google+

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