Home Buyers Guide 3: What Happens When Your Offer Is Accepted?

Congratulations, your offer on your new home has been accepted! But what happens now?

After making an offer to purchase and having it accepted, it’s often thought that this is the last step towards buying a home. But this isn’t where the process ends, in fact, the journey has just begun.


Unless you are one of the lucky few who are able to pay cash for your new home, it’s likely that you’ll need to approach a finance lender for a home loan. The situation right now – the house isn’t yours yet as no money has been exchanged. Most offers are subject to a bond approval; which means, now is the time to approach SA Home Loans in order to apply for your bond.

 

Step 1. Conduct a Credit Assessment

All financial lenders are required to lend money responsibly by ensuring applicants can afford the loan and don’t get into more debt than they can manage.

So, once our credit team conducts an assessment of all applicants, you’ll receive notification of approval for your bond application. This approval is subject to the completion of the valuation.

If your application is declined at this stage, you’re encouraged to ask your consultant for a detailed explanation so that you can address the relevant areas, within your control.

Step 2. Receive a Letter of Acceptance

If your credit check and property valuation goes off without a hitch, you’ll receive a letter of acceptance. This document contains all of the details involving costs, interest rates and predicted instalments.

Step 3: Transferring of Deed Titles

Also known as conveyancing, an attorney is assigned to prepare the necessary bond registration forms so they’re ready for you to sign on the dotted line.

Step 4: Lodgement

Lodging your bond registration at the Deeds Office is the next step, and will commence straight after you sign the required documentation at the attorneys. Once the loan is registered, the home is officially yours.

Remember, it’s important to maintain your good credit record throughout the process. Don’t take out additional loans and maintain all existing debt repayments. Your credit status will be checked again before the final registration is done, and you don’t want all your hard work and application submissions to be rejected because your record has deteriorated.

How Long is This All Going to Take?

Generally, you can expect the entire process from bond approval to the deed transfer to take eight to twelve weeks.
Now that you know what lies ahead, our next blog in the Home Buyer’s Guide series covers exactly what documentation you need to get the application process started.