Tick, tock... the NSW first home buyer’s clock!

Are you a first home buyer in NSW?  If so, remember a major benefit ends at the end of 2011.  That’s just 8 weeks away.  After you factor in the usual Christmas/New Year closures or winding down of staff in the offices of many lawyers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, conveyancers, property inspectors, and banks, not to mention your own holidays, there’s even much less time to act.

In addition to the Commonwealth’s $7,000 grant, in NSW since 2004, eligible first home buyers have been entitled to some additional very valuable stamp duty benefits under the First Home Plus Scheme.

These included exemption from paying any stamp duty on homes up to $500,000, and a sliding scale of discounts on stamp duty for homes from $500,000 to $600,000.   Even for vacant land on which you intended to build a home, stamp duty exemptions applied to such land up to $300,000 and the concessions on land between $300,000.00 and $450,000.00.

On a $500,000 house, that’s a saving on nearly $18,000.  Even for a $350,000 house, the saving is more than $11,240.

This about to change in a major way.

For contracts made from 1 January 2012 in NSW, all that will be replaced by the First Home – New Home Scheme.

Essentially, eligible first home buyers will only be entitled to the stamp duty exemption and concession benefits when buying a first home that is a new home, or a vacant block of land intended to be the site of a first home.  The benefit will no longer be available when purchasing an existing home.

If you’re a first home buyer, or soon will be, consider not only the above, but also whether the clock ticking away, as well as the recent official interest rate reduction, could combine to add a little heat in this market over the next few weeks. If you're under a little under pressure, unsure about different advices you're getting from many people, think about seeing your solicitor.