First home buyer guide Australia — schemes, costs, calculators, then a broker plan

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Automated roll-up of published posts matching First home · Basics categories (newest first).

• Negative equity and 5% deposit buyers: what the headlines mean — and what to do (Australia 2026)

  First home

  Bank forecasts of Sydney and Melbourne price falls have put low-deposit first home buyers in the spotlight. Here is what negative equity actually means for your mortgage, when it matters, and the buffer moves that still make sense.

• The 5% deposit scheme six months in: what actually works (and what still trips buyers up)

  First home

  Since October 2025 the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme has had unlimited places and higher price caps — and enquiry volumes from younger first-home buyers have jumped. Here is the broker playbook: eligibility, lender reality checks, funds-to-complete maths, and a 30-day EOFY checklist.

• HECS-HELP and borrowing power in 2026: what actually changed for home loan applicants

  First home

  Study debt still matters on your home loan file — but APRA’s 2025 clarification and lender policy shifts can free meaningful borrowing power when you apply to the right bank with the right evidence.

• Joint home loans in Australia: co-borrowers, liability, and what to decide before you both sign

  Basics

  Most Australian couples apply jointly — but joint and several liability, credit-file coupling, and title vs loan naming are rarely explained upfront. Here is how co-borrower home loans actually work, when one name is smarter, and what changes if the relationship does.

• Credit checks in Australia: the complete home-loan guide (what, when, where, how)

  Basics

  Every home-loan application triggers a credit check — but not all checks are equal. Here is when lenders pull your file, what they see, how enquiries differ from scores, and how to prepare so the check helps you instead of hurting you.

• Budget 2026 for homebuyers: why the next 18 months may be the best buying window in a decade

  First home

  The Budget headlines went to negative gearing and CGT. The quieter — and more useful — story is what it means for ordinary Australian homebuyers. Treasury's own modelling has first home buyers as the net winners, the deposit-and-scheme settings have been quietly transformed since October 2025, and the combination of softer investor demand, a peaked rate cycle, and the most generous federal homebuyer schemes in a generation could make the next 18 months the most favourable buying window since 2013. Here is the full broker-grade walk-through.

• Your credit score, decoded: how Australia's credit bureaus actually grade you — and how to read your own file

  Basics

  Behind every Australian loan decision sits a number most borrowers never see until it costs them. Here is what your credit score actually measures, why two bureaus can put you in different bands, and how to read — and quietly improve — your own file before you apply.

• Mortgage broker fees in Australia: how brokers get paid, conflicts of interest, and questions worth asking

  Basics

  Evergreen explainer on lender commissions vs client fees, ASIC’s best-interests duty for brokers, and how to compare a broker pathway honestly against going direct — with official references.

• Genuine savings for Australian home loans: what counts, what doesn't, and how lenders check

  Basics

  Genuine savings is one of the quiet gatekeepers between ‘I have the deposit money’ and ‘the lender will advance at this LVR.’ Here is how banks and LMI providers typically think about it — with plain-English examples, verification habits, and links to official guidance.

• Mortgage serviceability in Australia explained — why the bank’s ‘yes’ isn’t your spreadsheet

  Basics

  A nationwide, evergreen guide to how Australian lenders test home loan serviceability: income, living expenses, buffers, credit limits, and investor shading — so you can plan with the same logic assessors use, in any state or territory.

• Help to Buy Australia (2026): the federal shared-equity scheme explained — eligibility, price caps, and the trade-offs no one mentions

  First home

  The federal Help to Buy shared-equity scheme opened on 5 December 2025, and the questions arriving in my inbox have shifted from 'is this real?' to 'is it actually a better deal than the First Home Guarantee?'. Here's the honest answer — current eligibility, every property price cap, a worked example on an $850,000 home, the trade-offs you'll only learn about when it's too late to change your mind, and when I'd point a client towards Help to Buy versus the First Home Guarantee.

• HECS-HELP and your home loan in Australia (2026): the new APRA rules, lender by lender

  First home

  If HECS-HELP debt has been holding your home loan back, 2025 quietly changed the rules. Here is what APRA, CBA and NAB actually did, how each lender is applying it in 2026, and how to sequence your application so the change works in your favour.