Guide to Buying your First Home

17 ASSISTANCE To be eligible for the Scheme you must be: • Australian citizens who are at least 18 years of age. • Single with a taxable income of up to $125,000 per annum or a couple with a joint taxable income of up to $200,000 per annum. Incomes will be assessed for the financial year preceding the financial year in which the loan is entered into. • A couple that is either married or in a de-facto relationship. (Other persons buying together, including siblings, parents/ child or friend, are not eligible for the Scheme) • Able to demonstrate you have saved a deposit of between 5 and 20 percent of the purchase price of your new home. • Intend to move into and live in the property as their principal place of residence (i.e. you must be an owner occupier) • A first home buyer who has not previously owned or had an interest in a residential property owned or had an interest in a residential property either separately or jointly with someone else (this includes residential strata and company title properties, regardless of whether it was an investment or owner-occupied property and whether it was ever lived in) Price thresholds apply to the home you are intending to build. This means there is a limit on the amount of money the property costs. If the property is higher than the price allocated for that location, then you will not be eligible for the NHFIC. For example, the threshold price for Melbourne metropolitan area and Victorian regional centres is $600,000. To check the threshold amount in any other locations you can look up the suburb or postcode on the NHFIC website to see what it is. www.nhfic.gov.au/what-we-do/f hlds/eligibility/ Applications can be lodged through a panel of lenders. These lenders are accessible through the NHFIC website – www.nhfic.gov.au