Read Time: 5 minutes
Introduction: What Happens After Pre-Approval?
After securing pre-approval, the question every first home buyer asks is:
"What are my next steps?"
It's a crucial moment in their journey to home ownership. Following our initial Zoom call with first home buyers, we send them a tailored email. This personalised email lays out a clear plan, helping them move forward confidently. Our example email is at the bottom of this newsletter.
Traditional legal billing models create hesitation for first home buyers.
First home buyers are often reluctant to engage with a lawyer until the last possible moment.
But, why?
In 95% of cases, it's because they're worried about being charged hundreds of dollars for each hour, with fees racking up in 6-minute increments. It's understandable - they don't want unexpected costs before they've even made an offer.
The lawyer should be the project manager throughout the home-buying process.
The lawyer plays a critical role in three key areas:
1. Timing before making an offer - Ensuring all pre-purchase steps are covered.
2. Satisfying conditions - Helping buyers navigate conditions like finance, LIM reports, building reports and due diligence.
3. Settlement and moving - Coordinating the legal side of moving from a rental into their first home.
At each of these stages, large sums of money change hands, and any missteps can cause serious issues. Without careful planning around both time and finances, homebuyers risk delays, stress, and even financial loss.
Waiting until after signing a contract to consult a lawyer...
If first home buyers wait until they've signed a contract to speak with a lawyer, they risk entering agreements that don't fully protect them. Contracts signed without legal guidance can lead to avoidable problems, from unanticipated costs to difficulty backing out of a deal.
At HouseMe Legal, we eliminate the fear of upfront legal costs for first home buyers. We don't charge for pre-offer work. If you don't get a property under contract, you won't receive a bill.
Our fixed fee covers:
You'll only be invoiced at settlement or if you miss out on a property after getting a property under contract or going to auction. This way, first home buyers can focus on buying without worrying about unexpected legal fees.
In our Example Email, we provide:
Hi First Name & Partner's First Name
It was great to talk earlier. On behalf of HouseMe Legal, I am looking forward to guiding you through your property journey.
To help you figure out your next steps, we have prepared the below Executive Summary for you to focus on over the new few weeks and what needs to happen in the next 24-48 hours.
1. Auction: 5-23B Greenfield Street, Henderson, on Friday at 11 am.
2. Building Report: Results expected tomorrow. Emily to confirm with Angus by 2pm tomorrow if a legal review needs to be completed by Wednesday.
3. Settlement: Current date 12 Nov 2024. Emily needs to ask the agent if this can be moved out 1 month due to travelling overseas from 8 Nov. If the sellers won't vary the settlement date, we can sign your loan and settlement documents before you leave. We confirm you do not need to be in NZ on settlement day and we can take care of everything for you.
4. OIO: Mark and Emily qualify to purchase as NZ residents.
5. KiwiSaver: Only Mark's KiwiSaver is to be used.
6. Property Type: Cross-lease.
7. Capped Fee - Miss Out at Auction: If Mark and Emily do not win at the auction, I will reduce/cap our fee to $690 incl. GST + disbursements.
Please find attached our First Home Buyer Cheat Sheet. This has our Top 25 pieces of free content all in one location.
We pride ourselves on our transparency - click here to watch a video that explains all of our prices here. A step-by-step guide to our pricing can be found here.
Please tick these off as you complete them.
TASK
As a first home buyer, you need a trusted advisor to guide you through the buying process. At HouseMe Legal, we specialise in helping first-home buyers get on the property ladder. Using our B.U.Y. I.T. 5-Step Process, we will guide you from start to finish. Click here to find out more
Click here to understand how the conditions in the agreement work.
Click here to check out our refined checklist of what you need to do
We will work with you to do the following:
1. Finance - Helping you get pre-approval for a loan.
2. Investigation - Completing due diligence for you e.g. reviewing the title, agreement, LIM, etc.
3. Title - Transferring title into your name, together (F. I. T.)
Please note, we will not charge you anything until you are ready to make an offer and you need us to complete due diligence on a specific property. That means all of our work to get you FIT is included in our fixed prices and you will only receive an invoice once you own your home or if we have completed due diligence for you and you were unsuccessful with your offer.
Click here to access our KiwiSaver Checklist. This Checklist explains the process from start to finish. Follow the steps in the checklist.
Please note your Kiwisaver withdrawal will take:
1. up to 10 working days (if you have not lived overseas).
2. up to 15 working days (if you have lived overseas).
If you are in a relationship or end up in a relationship, at some point, your home will become relationship property. Even if you are single, we recommend you check out the following pieces of information:
1. Read HouseMe Legal's Summary of Relationship Property.
2. Read HouseMe Legal's Blog: Relationship Property - Paying For a Home - What are your options?
3. About - Agreeable - Our recommended Contracting Out Agreement provider (fixed fees).
4. Are you receiving money from your parents to buy a home and don't know how to record it?
Want to buy your first home like a pro? Click here to download the Top Tips we provide to our new clients. Each section provides you with some Background Info and an Action you can take. For any of the checklists/tables, we suggest you save a copy to your computer or Google Drive. We appreciate that you may have already progressed/completed some of the below recommendations, however, it is always worth checking that you have covered everything. Please review what suits your needs.
Our key values are:
1. Service
2. Integrity
3. Transparency
4. Education (together S.I.T.E.)
These are more than just words on the wall and HouseMe Legal strives to uphold these values throughout any transaction. If you want to know more, please click here to review HouseMe Legal's Client Charter which details how we will treat you and how we can work together.
We appreciate this is a big decision and that you want to have a lawyer by your side whom you can trust. We now have over 170+ 5-Star Reviews on Google from First Home Buyers.
Please click here to hear from some of our previous clients. You may even recognise a few of them!
Download our free open home checklist here.
Whenever you are ready, please complete our client info form and read our attached Terms of Engagement.
Kind regards
Angus
1. We offer pre-offer legal assistance at no cost. Click here to book a call
2. Fixed fees are only charged on settlement day or if you miss out on a property after making an offer.
3. Our approach ensures that first home buyers are fully prepared, with no surprise costs along the way.
4. Legal guidance is crucial before signing any contracts to avoid costly mistakes.
