They say its early repayement fee years 1-3 = 1%Discharge fee $295 (plus costs)So does that mean for eg loan 300k to get out in first 3 years its 3000+295+costs…..not sure what costs are?

Sorry, Can someone please explain to me.  RHG is the old RAMS that went bust isnt it? Westpac now own the brand RAMS?  So is RAMS anygood now or should i quickly be looking for another lender before for my house?Thanks,

Thanks guys, The special conditions were annexures of the contract but had seperate areas on the bottom to be signed and werent.  My solicitor informed their lawyer that they didn't agree the contract was in effect yet as the contracts not completely signed.  But the pages that were signed were enough for my finance agent to get the valuation a…[Read more]

thanks terry,when i was talking to rams to get pre approval they questioned hits from last year and made me write a document stating what they were to clarify, this is why i thought it might not be a good idea, will look into it, thanks very much for the advice.

thanks terry,
reasons for using RAMS is because they were one of the few lenderrs allowing me to do 95% LVR with LMI capped on the loan. I looked through a few different banks and though RAMS were quite competitive.

I wasnt going to pay down my principle, i was going to use the money that would have been spent on principle and put it into my…[Read more]

Thanks Terry and Richard, As you mention the redraw shouldnt matter to much and I didnt plan on using it, the idea was just to pay down the interest portion, move out in 2 years and rent the house or sell it depending on what it looks like out here.  My theory is the money i save on principle can be put into savings and value adding reno's. sorry…[Read more]

hey thanks for your reply guys, currently awaiting the contract back from the vendors solicitors.  The solicitor I am using seems to know her stuff back to front and particularly for the area.  Slowly learning all the technical jargon and we put quite a few clauses in there that allows me to walk away if the vendor does not come to the party, I w…[Read more]

Some loans are setup with an interest applicable period from 3-10 years so you could use this couldnt you?Im just going through the process now and have chosen this type of loan as i will live in my PPOR but in a year or 2 it will become an IP, i dont plan to own the house longer then 10 years.   It will take me longer to generate equity from p…[Read more]

Just secured a loan with RAMS 95% + LMI capped.Anyone have any issues with RAMS in the passed.  I have read reviews they were bad a few years ago but are now alot better since westpac took there reigns?

that helps alot, much appreciated.

thanks uncle knackers,
i know this is a huge guestimate, but doing an entire house what kind of dollars are we looking at if labour is done by myself. 3 bed, 1 bath, normal say around 110 sq.m living total. any indication would be much appreciated. The render is quite gritty still if you know what i mean, so if you look at it from a few metres…[Read more]

thanks for that.The house is solidblock but has been redered and painted inside already but the finish just seems to be slightly rough. Would you just get an orbital sander with a course grade sand paper and go over it, clean it and then repaint?What kind of dollars are you looking at to plasterboard over this render through an entire house -…[Read more]

Terry, thanks for your replly.
I have been carefully weighing all the options up and after putting some figures down on paper it becomes a bit clearer that buying here is probably not the best place to start…quite risky and probably not the best way to enter and get my feet wet. Looking at just increasing my deposit and buying an IP first.…[Read more]

so no one has any investments in ISA or everyones pulled them out already?

again thanks for that info.My process was to basically;- find a house i like (grew up here so know the areas well)- check the figures in an investment analyser to show potential worst case scenario and best case scenario- decide whether its going to be better suited for growth or rental investment- purchase the property under market value- add…[Read more]

thanks very much for this info.Can anyone recommend a program or excel template that is setup to give quick feedback on whether an investment is worthwhile.  Ive been umming and arring about buying a place in mt isa for my PPOR and later move but its all been done in theory in my head, I want to put in the numbers and Worst Case Scenarios down on…[Read more]

does that include the garage as the building area also?

Im also interested in this, how bad was the builders previous tiling Eco Builder?  I have a few friends that have done there own tiling with great results and I have seen some tiler apprentice work and its been terrible.  Do you guys believe tiling can be done by an informed renovator or best left to proffessionals.  I would have thought if you go…[Read more]

Thanks, Hmm, well its interesting i measured from the carpet to the ceiling upstairs and its 2395mm, so in theory upstairs is not legal.  Is there a timeframe where houses built before a certain date before these regulations were implemented and dont have to meet?Thanks,

Ok, took some more pictures but left the phone usb at home. However the measurements were 2340mm from cement to bottom of joists and 2460 to bottom of floor boards.  The joists are spaced 450mm each, so the majority of the roof if it is measured to underside of floor boards would be >2400mm = legal height, scott you said that if they are standard…[Read more]