Frequently Asked Questions
For our first intake of clients, there is no cost whilst we build out the program and learn how we best deliver the value to you, our clients.
If you engage any of our preferred partners, they will quote their fees and charges which will be transparent and up font.
We have been working with 100’s of first home buyers throughout our careers and one thing that is consistent is that most first home buyers need someone on their side to help guide them through the process.
The value isn’t just in the loan you get, but the guidance along the way with education on the process, assistance finding the right home and guidance on how to make a winning offer.
Education Education Education –We will guide you through the whole process, as well as find the right lending solution for you. Better yet, we’ll explain what makes it is the ‘right’ option.
Need guidance on making a successful offer? We can help. Need help understanding the process? That’s what we do here.
Your bank can only offer its own products and assesses you against its own rules. GSC Finance compares loans across a panel of lenders, each of which calculates borrowing capacity and assesses the government schemes differently — so the right lender for a first home buyer is rarely obvious from the outside.
As a Geelong-based brokerage, GSC also knows the local market, the regional price caps, and how the schemes apply on the ground here. You get a strategy built around your situation, not a single bank’s product set.
Work out your borrowing capacity and your true upfront budget before you look at a single property.
Knowing what you can borrow, what your deposit needs to be, and which schemes you qualify for turns house-hunting from guesswork into a plan. It also positions you for pre-approval, so you can act quickly when the right place comes up. Most first home buyer stress comes from doing this in the wrong order.
Use our free calculator to generate your budgeting roadmap to home ownership.
Pre-approval is a lender’s conditional indication of how much they’ll lend; full approval comes once you have a specific property and it’s been assessed, including a valuation.
Pre-approval lets you bid and make offers with confidence, but it’s not a guarantee and usually expires after about 90 days, so timing matters. It’s the document that tells an agent you’re a serious, ready buyer.
From getting your finances in order to settlement, typically a few months — though it varies widely. Pre-approval can be arranged in days to a couple of weeks.
Finding the right property is the unpredictable part. Once you sign a contract, settlement is commonly 30 to 90 days. Schemes like the First Home Super Saver add their own lead times, since the ATO release can take a few weeks. Starting the finance conversation early is the single biggest thing that keeps the timeline smooth.
Yes. They handle the legal transfer, review the contract and vendor’s statement, run title searches, and manage settlement. They also apply your stamp duty exemption on your behalf.
Engage one before you sign anything, so the contract can be reviewed while you still have room to negotiate. The cost is modest relative to the protection it provides.
For most established homes, yes. An inspection of around $400–$700 can reveal structural issues, damp or termite activity that aren’t visible on a walk-through. Spending a few hundred dollars to avoid a problem that could cost tens of thousands is one of the easiest decisions in the process — especially on the older properties common across parts of Geelong and the Bellarine.
Settlement is the day ownership officially transfers to you and the money changes hands. Your lender advances the loan, your conveyancer pays the balance to the seller, the title transfers into your name, and rates and water are adjusted between you and the seller. Most settlements now happen electronically through PEXA rather than in person. Once it’s done, you get the keys.
First home buyers in Victoria can potentially access five forms of support in 2026: the federal First Home Guarantee (5% deposit, no LMI); the Victorian stamp duty exemption or concession (up to $750,000); the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant (new homes only); the First Home Super Saver Scheme (saving a deposit through super); and the Help to Buy shared equity scheme (as little as 2% deposit). Several can be combined. Used together, the right stack can cut your upfront cash requirement by tens of thousands of dollars.
It lets eligible buyers purchase with a 5% deposit and pay no LMI, because the government guarantees up to 15% of the property value to the lender. To qualify you must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident aged 18 or over, buying as an owner-occupier, and you must not have owned property in Australia in the past 10 years. The property must sit under the price cap for your area. You apply through a participating lender, not directly to the government.
No. From 1 October 2025 the First Home Guarantee removed both its income caps and its annual limit on places. Previously you needed taxable income under $125,000 (single) or $200,000 (couple), and there was a fixed number of spots each year. Both restrictions are gone — so any eligible first home buyer who’s saved a 5% deposit can now apply, regardless of income. Property price caps still apply by location.
It lets you make voluntary contributions into your super and later withdraw them — plus deemed earnings — towards your deposit. You can count up to $15,000 of voluntary contributions per financial year, up to a $50,000 lifetime maximum. Couples can each use their own entitlement, for up to $100,000 combined. Because contributions are taxed at 15% inside super rather than your marginal rate, most eligible buyers end up with more for their deposit than saving the same money in a regular account. You must request a determination from the ATO before you sign a contract, so timing matters.
A federal shared equity scheme, launched December 2025, where the government contributes up to 40% of the price for a new home or 30% for an existing home in exchange for an equity share. You can buy with as little as a 2% deposit and pay no LMI — but the trade-off is that the government owns part of your home and is repaid its share when you sell or buy it back. Income caps are $100,000 (individuals) and $160,000 (couples and single parents), and the Victorian price cap, including Geelong, is $950,000. It has replaced the now-closed Victorian Homebuyer Fund.
No — they’re alternatives, not a combination. You choose one or the other. The 5% Deposit Scheme keeps you as the full owner of your home with a slightly larger loan. Help to Buy gives you a smaller loan and lower deposit, but the government shares ownership and any future capital gain. Which suits you depends on your income, deposit, and how you feel about sharing equity. It’s one of the bigger strategic decisions a first home buyer makes — worth modelling both before you commit.
Only if you’re buying or building a brand-new home. The Victorian First Home Owner Grant is $10,000, and it applies to new homes with a contract price up to $750,000. Established homes do not qualify — no matter how it’s marketed. If you’re buying an existing house, you can still access the stamp duty exemption or concession and the federal schemes, just not the grant itself.
Sometimes, yes. Most first home buyer support requires that you’ve never owned residential property in Australia. But the federal First Home Guarantee — the 5% Deposit Scheme — is open to anyone who hasn’t owned property in Australia in the past 10 years. So a previousowner who’s been out of the market for a decade can qualify for the guarantee, even though they wouldn’t count as a first home buyer for the Victorian stamp duty exemption or the First Home Owner Grant. The rules differ scheme by scheme, which is exactly where most people trip up.
As little as 2% to 5%, depending on the scheme you qualify for. The standard rule is 20% to avoid Lenders Mortgage Insurance — but most first home buyers don’t wait that long. Under the federal 5% Deposit Scheme you can buy with 5% and pay no LMI. Under Help to Buy you may need as little as 2%. Without a scheme, lenders will usually accept 5% to 10%, but you’ll pay LMI on top. The right number depends on the property price, your income and which scheme fits.
LMI is a one-off insurance premium that protects the lender — not you — when you borrow more than 80% of a property’s value. On a $700,000 purchase with a 5% deposit, LMI can run to around $30,000, though the figure varies by lender, loan size and deposit. It can usually be added to your loan rather than paid upfront. The whole point of the First Home Guarantee is that it removes LMI entirely for eligible buyers — which is where the real saving sits.
Your borrowing capacity is driven by your income, your living expenses, and existing debts — car loans, credit card limits, HELP/HECS. Lenders also assess you at a buffer rate, typically around 3% above the actual rate, to check you’d cope if rates rose. Two people on the same salary can have very different capacity depending on their debts and spending. A broker can run your numbers across multiple lenders — because each one calculates this differently.
Ready to buy your first home? Meet your coach.
Matt Turner has years of experience helping first home buyers understand the process from beginning to end.