If you are a first home buyer, who would have thought that some poor judgement or unscrupulous lending or both in the almighty USA would lead to a windfall for you as you plan your first home purchase here in Australia. As a potential first home buyer you stand to benefit significantly from the Federal Government’s recent changes to the First Home Owners Grant. As a result of these changes a first home buyer who purchases a new home will receive an additional “boost” of $14,000 taking the grant from $7000 to $21,000. If as a first home buyer you fall in love with an existing dwelling – don’t despair because you too will receive additional funds albeit not quite so much. The first home buyer that acquires an established residence will receive $14,000 under the Federal Government’s First Home Owners “Boost” package.

As a first home buyer you may be interested in why there is a discrepancy between what the first home buyer of an existing dwelling will receive as opposed to the first home buyer in the market for a newly constructed property. You will be aware from media and TV news that a global credit crisis has engulfed the world. Money is in short supply – well not really but investors and banks with money have been reluctant to lend it – even to a first home buyer – and when they do lend, they have been seeking a much higher rate of interest. This has made it very tough for everyone who wants to borrow including the first home buyer. Without being able to borrow (on a mortgage or credit card) or with higher interest repayments being required on their loans people have not been able to purchase property or even home goods so easily. This is particularly so for the first home buyer who is generally not on a very high income, only just establishing him or her self and when married, is often thinking of starting a family.

When consumers stop buying, manufacturers stop producing as much goods, they then don’t need as many staff and suddenly unemployment skyrockets. To avoid this spiral into unemployment it is important to instil confidence in the population so that everyone is happy to continue to spend. For the construction industry the first home buyer is critical in this process. If the first home buyer runs scared of the market and decides to wait a year or two, save a little more, then building and construction of homes will decline dramatically and you will soon find builders and tradesmen out of work.

These big increases in for the first home buyer are aimed at avoiding this sort of disaster. It is the only reason behind the government helping the first home buyer. The government wants to give them more assistance to purchase that new home so that the building industry can continue to thrive and employ.

There are certain criteria you must meet to qualify for the first home buyer grant – these are pretty straight forward – you should not have owned or had any interest in a property before, and you must live in the new property for at =least 6 months. If you are purchasing off the plan you must make sure you have moved into the property within 12 months of applying for the first home buyer grant. You should apply for the first home buyer bonus through an agent – these are listed on the different State websites.