It might be a buyers' market but that doesn't mean it's easy

MACKAY has been described as a buyers’ market, but getting the green light for your first home loan is a hurdle many baulk at.

Loan Market owner Kevin Paine shares his tips for successfully saving for a home loan deposit. Picture: Pamela Frost

MACKAY has been described as a buyers' market, but getting the green light for your first home loan is a hurdle many baulk at.

Raising about 10% of the purchase price for your first property can seem daunting and overwhelming.

However, Loan Market owner Kevin Paine, who has a background as a financial planner and a mortgage broker, said there were a few steps people could take to accumulate a deposit.

Banks were looking for evidence of consistent saving, he said, and offered these some of his tips to get started:

Write down your spending:

"Keeping a record over a couple of weeks of everything you spend," he said.

"That will help you pick up what your bad habits are and allow you to work out where you are wasting your money."

Two accounts:

"Put your pay into one, and once you have worked out what your budget is, say if its $300 per week, then that goes into your spending account.

"Because if you try to save what you have left over (if you only had one account) you won't save."

Two banks:

"If you are a person who has trouble with impulse spending, have the accounts with two separate banks," Mr Paine said.

"If you are walking through Harvey Norman and you see a big wide-screen TV, and you have accounts with the same bank you can transfer money over on your mobile instantly.

"If the accounts are with different banks, you have to go back the following day to buy it.

"And if you are part of a couple, you will have to explain to your partner overnight why you transferred the money through."

Save less:

"Open a new account for your savings for the house deposit.

"If you think you can save $200 per week, put $150 per week in every week.

"If you put in a little bit less in, you are building up a buffer in your own savings account so if something goes wrong in a couple months time you will have a spare $150 to throw in."

Get cash:

"This sounds really old-fashioned, but when using cards, whether they are a debit or credit cards, you can lose track of your spending.

"I get out 'x' amount of dollars each week in my budget, so if I run out I know I can't spend any more."

Originally published as It might be a buyers' market but that doesn't mean it's easy