First home super saver scheme (FHSS scheme)

The FHSS scheme is about using your super fund as tool to save for your first home purchase. Those savings can be used for any part of the home loan purchase and mortgage (i.e. deposit, purchase costs, repayments etc.—you decide).

The scheme works by making extra payments into your super fund (regulated) through a salary sacrifice arrangement with your employer or making voluntary contributions.

The FHSS scheme is used for purchasing a residential property in Australia and you must occupy it for at least six months (of the first 12 months after settlement) as soon as it’s practical to move in. The amount of money you can save for the FHSS scheme purposes is capped at $15,000/financial year and $50,000 total. Many factors apply to if you’re eligible and the practical aspects of how to withdraw the funds in the property purchase process.

There’s lots to know about the FHSS scheme. Let us decode it for you.

First home owner grant (FHOG)

This grant is a one-off $30,000 payment available from the Queensland Government for a first-home owner to pay towards the costs of a new home. Other states have a similar grant program.

A new home means one in Queensland and can be for any type of residential home like a house, townhouse, duplex, granny flat, unit, or apartment. Importantly, there’s a range of criteria on the type of home (new, existing, renovations etc.) and the property’s value.

Like the FHSS scheme, you must move into that residence as your home within 12 months of settlement and live there for a continuous six-month period (minimum).

The Get Real Finance team will walk you through the first home owner grant’s T&Cs.

Having a relationship with a mortgage broker

People often go straight to their family’s broker. Speaking to us at Get Real Finance means we’ll educate you on all the factors and resources you should consider, and we’ll expertly assess which home loan would work best for you from the many lenders we have in our portfolio. We’ll only make a credit enquiry by contacting a lender with a hypothetical loan, which factors into your credit score, at exactly the right time.

This gives you the competitive edge when choosing a home loan and gives you someone to lean on while on the journey of buying your first home.

Benefits include:

• Making you feel protected by offering you choices beyond your biases or knowledge gaps.
• Getting you a competitive edge, this means more money back in your pocket and being empowered to make repayments that meets your goals.
• Motivating you and inspiring you through technical knowledge and intuitive answers you need to buy and be strategic in your financial position.
• Sharing our expect knowledge, insights, and professional contacts. Think of us as your Friends with Expert Benefits.

Many Get Real Finance clients are generational clients—families refer their children to our brokers to get our expert help and support.

Lifestyle & budget

Income informs budget but lifestyle informs how life is budgeted.

‍Lifestyle and budget is symbiotic—they feed each other—and rarely can be effectively separated and managed. Yes, we need to know the budget numbers so that we can assess your borrowing capacity and do our due diligence as your broker. We’ll always dot our I’s and cross our T’s. But we’re much more interested in supporting you as a first-home owner with real talk about how your lifestyle relates to your budget and how small tweaks to your lifestyle choices can improve your budget. By us building a relationship with you (and not just enabling transactions on your behalf) helps you to realise what could be possible.

We’ll help you understand how mortgage repayments will impact your lifestyle. This applies to the early years where interest will compound on the loan, and therefore the balance will not reduce in any real way (…a frustrating reality for us all). And we’ll show you how to prepare for when high interest rates impact your repayments on a variable home loan.