This is how home ownership goes...

We made our offer!!! For the interest of those who read my blog, I am writing out a list of every little detail that I learnt last night, so here it goes... For record's sake, we're able to buy thanks to the government's Keystart Scheme, so the list will reflect this...

THE PROCESS OF OWNING A HOUSE, THE KEYSTART WAY:

1. You visit a lot of houses - never settle for the first or second one you see, you need to know what's out there (We visited 2 in Gosnells, then 6 in Parmelia)
2. When you find that special place, you visit it 2-3 times, with parents in tow (this is for you first-home-owners). Parents know more than you do about houses. Also, the agent won't like the idea of you making an offer after only having seen the place once.
3. After gaining parent approval, you and your partner go away and discuss it for 24 hours. It doesn't matter if you have, prior to visiting the house for the 3rd time, worked out a secret code to tell each other you want to make an offer right there on the spot. So don't bother.
4. You make an offer and wait to see if it's accepted.
5. If the offer is not accepted, discuss between the two of you, then return to point 4. If the offer is accepted, you wait for the government to approve. This can take anywhere from 1.5 weeks to 1 month.
6. If the government don't like the house, return to point 1. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. If the government do like the house, then and only then is your offer safe. Until the government sign off on their bit, anyone can make an offer on 'your house' and even if their offer is less than yours, if it's accepted by the vendor, case closed. Go back to point 1.
7. If the government signs off, and if nobody else makes an offer (whew!) you have a month to get your finance sorted out. If you don't at least try to get your finance sorted out YOU CAN BE SUED BY THE VENDOR. So making an offer is no joke!!
8. Once finance is settled, an inspection is carried out. All electrical appliances must be in working order, and a white ant/termite certificate must be provided. If the termite inspection finds termites or termite damage, the vendor must pay for it all to be fixed. If they can't afford it, guess what? Return to point 1, again!
9. Congratulations if you make it to point 9. This is settlement. I think settlement is roughly a month.
10. Now, and ONLY NOW, is the house yours to move into.

So, by golly gosh, it's a process and a half. I'm so glad we got going when we did, especially if there are any problems. Currently we're at point 4... hoping to progress to point 5 sometime in the next day or so.... So yeah, there's a long road ahead. Whew!!