In Metropolitan Victoria (aka Melbourne), the Victorian government only offers FHOG up to $10,000 worth to buy or build a new home. In regional Victoria, you can qualify for an added bonus of $10,000 (meaning $20,000 FHOG in total). Your property should be valued at $750,000 or less — to qualify for FHOG in both regions.

FHOG applies to buying off the plan, buying a brand new home, or constructing a home from scratch. Your first purchase should be a new home — it can be a unit, house, townhouse, or apartment — but it must be less than five years old and must be sold as a home for the first time.

• Applicant(s) age must be over 18 at the date of the contract — and, the applicant(s) must have permanent Australian citizenship or residency status.
• You and Your spouse must not have previously received FHOG previously — and owned an investment property and lived as principal residents.
• Applicant(s) must occupy the purchased property as a principal resident e within 6-12 months.

If you are buying a house for $600,000 or less, you can avoid stamp duty completely — that’s a savings of almost $30,000 - $32,000. Buying within the range of $600,000 to $750,000 makes you eligible for some duty exemption. Victorians also get duty concessions while buying their first home on vacant land and buying off the plan.

The state and Federal government make it easy for the Victorians to buy their first home by introducing a different range of incentives, concessions, and grants such as:

• First Home Buyer Loan Deposit Scheme (5-15% initial deposit rather than 20%)
• First Home Buyer Super Savers Scheme (Provides Concessional tax treatment within your Superfund)
• Homebuyer Fund (govt. contribute up to 25% of a property purchase)

The Victorian government allows first homeowners to use FHOG as an initial deposit. You can proceed with your purchase by submitting 5-10% of the purchase price — including the FHOG. If you are building a new home, then your grant isn’t available until construction starts. You can use a guarantor to avoid using your savings and paying Lender Mortgage Insurance (LMI).