Hi House Call,NAB appear to be the most popular as a lot of the others, especially for enquiries made via 'branch land' put it in the too hard basket. I understand St'George also are OK. Bear in mind whoever you go with it is a lot more involved than buying a house – or in fact any property as an individual. You will indeed need to allow anything…[Read more]

Hi Mrs C,This does seem to happen, but as Jamie said, this info should be available from your outgoing lender on your final statement – the new lender pays what the old one asks. Bear in mind, some of this could be interest – as it is charged in arrears, and you could have almost a full months interest added onto what the actual loan balance was…[Read more]

Hi,In answer to one of your original questions, you will generally find the % listed on the property title search once you have purchased the property too – so anyone who did a search on the property would see this also, as it shows the ownership structure in this information.Cheers

Hi Yulia,To add a bit of balance, if your husband works for a lender that waives LMI up to a certain LVR, or altogether, this can save ou thousands of dollars. This will also allow you to use a smaller deposit, which in turn you can the use to get into the next property, or pay down your non tax deductible debt instead. While many will disagree,…[Read more]

HI – Havent posted for a while, but after reading this I'm not sure whether I am up too late, have lost my touch, or had one to many glasses of 'Tenet Cabernet Savignon' to chase done the Heinekin's after a hard day at work – could be a combination of all but too deep for me this time of night!Cheers

Hi Johann,It does work – so good idea.I just reached another of mine last week – but I need to add, while not changing your goals, assuming they are still current, don't be afraid to advance the date by which you plan to achieve them, or how you plan to do so.  I've advanced my 'lose 10kg' goal 3 times before realising I need to change my…[Read more]

As already mentioned, the offset option wins hands down every time. And unless your property is almost geared neutral, or you have an obscene amount of cash to offset, you'll still get tax/gearing benefits………………..and as I always say, is paying tax a bad thing? Must mean you're actually making money Cheers

Hi Energy4. As has been mentioned, the rental history is a pretty good indicator that she is stable, and as long as you have it managed a nd a proper leas in place and insurance you can't do much more. I will disagree a little with some of the comments re 'not subsidizing' tennants. One house I have, that I was getting market rent in (and…[Read more]

Hi Lee,Generally the 3 options for this are a lease, a commercial hire purchase, or a Chattel Mortgage. Nearly all asset finance I do is now a Chattel mortgage, which seems to suit the majority, and most accountants seem to prefer too. The machinery is bought in your name, and the bank/lender takes a mortgage over it. You pay it out, and it is…[Read more]

Hi Christina,Depends on your state too. I'm guessing NSW? If so, your solicitor would not 'exchange' contracts until they have confirmation that the finance is in fact unconditional (ie after having the valuation done, you have singed their formal offer – which is the executred loan contract) . As far as no conditions, subject to finance is always…[Read more]

Hi Ben,As has been mentioned by the others, and regardless of how your loan is structured, as stand alone or crossed, while the rate is not everything, on a loan that size from major bank (a good one) you should not be paying a rate that starts with a 7 in the %.You could walk into the NAB or ANZ (ironically, probably the CBA too!) as a new…[Read more]

Hey Skye,Great to see you out on your own now. Hope everything is going well too.Re your post though, I think the lack of communication sometimes, and the 'generic' cut'n paste type inspections would be the biggest gripe I have. Keep it personal. If I was buying over in sunny SA I'd give you a shot!Cheers

Why not?  It should be a good time, but depending on your budget / price range I think. I am genuinely not sure where all the good deals are though. It still seems like the actual asking prices in the eastern states anyway, (excluding capital cities that are out of my range now) don't seem to be getting any cheaper. The figures in the latest API…[Read more]

Hi Meg,There are plenty around, but I could not single one out – but I could advise against one. If it is a solicitor doing the conveyancing, and their first of their two word name rhymes with 'speck' run a mile. I have used a company in Horsham on two occassions I would be more than happy to recommend. They charged $550 plus the usual cost last…[Read more]

Thanks. I got an email saying my thread had been replied to – she's an old one……2008! Friend didnt end up using them anyway, but I see the agency does appear to be going strong, and by coincidence noticed that the head guy as mentioned above Frank is in this months API mag, and sounds like he has grown his own portfolio & business…[Read more]

No worries – that makes a bit more sense now!If it helps, essentially once the bank has issued you a loan contract – that is their letter of offer. If they messed you around after this ……that's pretty bad and definitely something I would be expecting some sort of action over.Unfortunately anything that happens before then (ie – yep, it's all…[Read more]

Hi,

Wouldn't be too upset.

We bought our PPOR with a 2 mtr easement along the back fence – could'nt care less. We had to build the shed 2 mtrs from the fence, but other than the threat of 'if they ever have to get to the pipes (it is a Water pipes easement that runs along the fence of all the properties in our area of the street) they will cut…[Read more]

Hi,Wouldn't be too upset.We bought our PPOR with a 2 mtr easement along the back fence – could'nt care less. We had to build the shed 2 mtrs from the fence, but other than the threat of 'if they ever have to get to the pipes (it is a Water pipes easement that runs along the fence of all the properties in our area of the street) they will cut…[Read more]

Then again, what about states like VIC that have not had concessions for FHB like NSW has – they get reamed the full amount of S/D just like the rest of us in VIC, and things still plug along. Buying a house in NSW as a FHB has been an opportunity and a half that really anyone in the market should have/be taking advantage of by now!

You've lost me a bit there I'm afraid.Are you saying you started building a house and then tried to arrange finance afterwards, before you gave your lender any of the plans, etc or did your application? WHile there is not much detail there, that is a situation that can be an absolute nightmare…..especially if an 'owner builder.' And then you say…[Read more]