First Home Buyer Loans in Geelong & Armstrong Creek
What is a First-Home Buyer Loan?
This is a type of home loan specifically suited for people purchasing their very first property. These loans often come with government incentives such as the First Home Owner Grant, stamp duty concessions, or low deposit schemes to make entry into the market more affordable.
How Lend Dreams Can Help You
We guide first-home buyers through the entire process, from assessing your budget to securing pre-approval and choosing the right lender. We also ensure you’re accessing any eligible government grants and explain everything in simple, jargon-free terms to make your first home journey stress-free.
Things to consider
Eligibility for Government Schemes
You may be eligible for grants and schemes like the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG), First Home Guarantee (FHBG), or stamp duty concessions. These can reduce your upfront costs significantly. Eligibility depends on factors like property value, location, and whether you’ve owned property before.
Deposit Requirements
While a 20% deposit is ideal, many lenders offer low deposit options (even 5%) for first-home buyers. However, if your deposit is under 20%, you may need to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), unless you’re eligible for a government-backed scheme that waives it.
Loan Fees & Costs
Beyond the deposit, you’ll need to budget for other upfront costs such as stamp duty, application fees, legal charges, and moving expenses. These can add thousands to your initial budget, so it’s important to plan ahead.
Loan Type & Repayment Strategy
You’ll have to choose between fixed, variable, or split interest rates. Each option has pros and cons depending on your financial stability and risk appetite. Fixed gives repayment certainty; variable offers more flexibility.
The deposit is the hard part. It is also smaller than you think.
Most first home buyers in Geelong and Armstrong Creek assume they need a 20% deposit. On a $650,000 home that is $130,000 before costs, and at that rate the deposit grows slower than the market. The result: years of renting while you save toward a moving target.
Here is what many buyers do not know: you may be able to buy with a 5% deposit and pay no Lenders Mortgage Insurance at all under the Australian Government’s First Home Guarantee, and since 1 October 2025 the scheme has no income caps and no limit on the number of places. Combined with Victoria’s stamp duty exemption for first home buyers, the real cash needed to get the keys can be a fraction of what you have been saving toward.
What Lend Dreams does for first home buyers
- Work out your real buying power: across our panel of banks and lenders, not just the one your salary goes into.
- Check every scheme you qualify for: First Home Guarantee, Victorian stamp duty exemption or concession, and the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant for new builds.
- Structure the deposit properly: including gifted deposits and guarantor options where they make sense.
- Get you pre-approved before you bid: so an auction weekend is exciting, not terrifying.
- Handle lender paperwork to settlement: we chase the bank so you do not have to.
Scheme settings current at August 2026 and subject to change, we confirm your eligibility against the current rules before you commit to anything.
First home buyer questions, answered
Potentially 5% of the purchase price. Under the First Home Guarantee, eligible buyers can purchase with a 5% deposit and no Lenders Mortgage Insurance, because Housing Australia guarantees part of the loan. Outside the scheme, most lenders want 10–20%, and below 20% you usually pay LMI. Budget roughly another 2–4% for legal and moving costs either way.
A federal government scheme that lets eligible first home buyers purchase with as little as 5% deposit without paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance. Since 1 October 2025 there are no income caps and no cap on annual places. Property price caps apply by location. You apply through a participating lender, which is exactly the kind of thing we arrange.
Often, no. Victoria exempts first home buyers from stamp duty on homes up to $600,000, with a sliding concession between $600,001 and $750,000, provided you live in the property. On a $590,000 purchase that is roughly $30,000 you keep.
Yes. Pre-approval tells you your exact ceiling, signals to agents that you are a serious buyer, and lets you bid at auction with confidence. It typically lasts around three months and can usually be renewed. It is free to arrange through us.
Frequently, yes. They are separate programs with separate rules: the First Home Owner Grant is $10,000 for eligible new builds up to $750,000 in Victoria, and it can stack with the First Home Guarantee and stamp duty relief if you meet each program’s criteria. We check all three for you in one sitting.
Our service is free to you in almost all cases, the lender pays us a commission when your loan settles, and we disclose it in writing. You pay the same rate, or often better, than going to the bank directly, because we compare across the whole panel.
Ready to stop scrolling listings and start bidding?
A free 15-minute chat will tell you what you can borrow, which schemes you qualify for, and what to do next. No obligation, no jargon.