Hi Skippy

It all depends on the available equity.

Lenders do take 2nd mortgages but as their risk is greater the normally limit the maximum combined exposure.

No when calculating your over equity lenders do not take intom consideration funds in your offset account as these could be withdrawn at any stage.

Yes i find it funny your Broker has placed your loan with a Building Society who are known for being the most conservative as well not the cheapest in overall pricing and product range. Must admit we take many an enquiry from clients wanting to get away from Building Societies not the other way round.

Each to their own i guess but it is not for most investors.

Cheers

Yours in Finance

Db thats exactly the sort of rate you should be paying for a balance transfer – well done.

Keep us informed of your debt reduction progress and good luck.

Cheers

Yours in Finance

Hi Michael

Totally agree thats why i love this forum it is like open debate and you can learn so much from others.

Guess my arguement was that if Matthew was with a Retail Fund and fed up of seeing his Superannaution go backwards month to month the amount he had to invest could be rolled over, With specialist advice he could dip his toe into acquiring an investment property and still be able to have the balance of funds in cash meaning with fairly limited risk he could diversify and still be moving forward towards creating a long term nest egg for himself.

Cheers

Yours in Finance

Hi Housing F

Firstly welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy your time with us.

Jamie from Passgo who is a regular forum contributor is Canberra based and would be a great place to start.

He could answer every question you could throw at him in regards to any aspect of lending and is a property investor himself (unlike many mortgage brokers) so can also give you local advice on property management etc.

Good luck and lets us know how you go.

Cheers

Yours in Finance

Ahve to agree with Derek if we look at the numbers

Assume value of $420K x 90% = $378K (less LMI) – Existing loan of $350K gives you realistically useable equity of around $25,000.

Now assume you found a property for $250K and could borrow 95% = $237,500 the other $12,500 is going to be more than swallowed up with your acqusition costs. At $200K you are still about break even.

Remember a small room renovation may look nicer to you but doesnt necessarily tip the balance in the favour of the valuer.

Personally i would forget expensive seminars, organisations that charge you for selling you a property or telling you that buy one a year and your problems be over but nuckle down and start paying down some debt.

Look to maybe roll the cars over to Nil or Low interest card with interest free period, cut up the other cards and then establish a realistic budget and pay down as much as you can over the next 3-6 months. Dont worry about making additional repayments on your home loan at this stage but focus on debt reduction.

Once you have eliminated these then you can possibly think about an IP.

Cheers

Yours in Finance

I am sure your Broker had some reason for suggesting a P & I investment loan when you have no PPOR loan but i guess he had his reasons.

Maybe you dont ever intend to purchase a PPOR.

Even if this was the case i think i would have suggested Interest only with 100% offset but everyone to their own.

As Michael has mentioned if you are happy with your current lender stay put but if you want some independant advice why not contact Michael as he answered many of your concerns in his earlier post and knows the industry inside out.

A second opinion never goes astray especially when it is free.

Cheers

Yours in Finance

Hi Dreaming Big

Certainly having large amounts of unsecured debt is not ideal but it all boils down to your serviceability and whether holding such cards will effect your borrowing capacity.

Maximum lvr on a standalone IP loan would be 95% + LMI so you would need to be able to access at least 5% + acqustion costs from your PPOR. When you mentioned the equity is this figure actual equity or useable equity as there is a big difference.

Regretfully without more hard data it is difficult to advise you further.

Once we got your house in order to enable you to go forward we could look at structures and how to proceed.

Yours in Finance

Not only is it not a recommended way to go to reduce your interest on your home loan it is also a dangerous way of structuring a loan if you ever consider that you may want to rent the property out in the future because you have now contaminated the interest.

If you end up staying with St George be careful of their so called offset product.

Cheers

Yours in Finance

My initial post still stands.

What is right for one client wont be right for everyone.

Cheers

Yours in Finance

Again to correct

1. Anz will only do 95% lvr for existing customers who have had a retail lending product with the Bank for more than 6 months. (as per page 63 of the Anz Operations Lending Manual).

2. Anz will use 100% of family payment, parenting allowance and sole parent pension including disability support pension and disability wage supplement etc etc (as per page 51 of the Anz Operations Lending Manual).

Cheers

Yours in Finance