Yeah that is a lot of LMI to make the investment work. Did he try getting a valuation on your home from another lender?

Yeah guys we are going the same direction as Genworth in other countries.

Check out Genworth's premium rate card for the USA and you will see what I mean.

Both mortgage insurers are having problems with capital allocation. They both want to limit the amount they are underwriting but they just can't do it when they have big banks on their books…[Read more]

Developments can be completed in stages with some sections registered before others. However with it being shops and units above them I really doubt that this would be the case. It would all be done in one go.

From what I've seen with my clients it tends to be the sophisticated investors that do very well from vendor finance. If you are good at negotiating and have a sound understanding of real estate and credit risk then it is a good strategy.

If you are time poor and inexperienced I would steer clear of it or find a good mentor.

Good luck!

I'd say any normal building inspector would be able to do this and complete a comprehensive report. I haven't come across too many building inspectors that do a terrible job.

Unfortunately many people have issues with building defects. It's really important to keep an eye on the builder during construction and to make sure that anything that is…[Read more]

Yeah it is a tough one as if banks stop payments that would take someone over the limit then this causes other problems. We often hear people complain that they had $10k in cash in their bank account and their bank declined  a $30 transaction on their credit card. Also a lot of customers get embarrassed when their card declines.

It would be great…[Read more]

It's fine as long as you discuss your future plans and you are on the same page. E.g.

How long to keep it?

What happens if one person wants to sell?

Who is paying what?

The most common situation that I have seen where there has been trouble is where one person wants to sell, the other wants to keep it… but doesn't want to buy out the other…[Read more]

My understanding is that the 6 yr absence rule would still apply and that yes you can buy another property… as long as you don't move into it.

That being said I'm not an accountant. Hopefully someone else here is and can confirm that for you.

We refer our clients to Lucas Lopez at Lucentor. He's good with small business, smsf & investment properties. We got him into our office recently to train all of our brokers in the tricky details on how tax works for investment properties, we were quite impressed.

Unless the loans are fixed it is best just to keep it simple and apply for a new loan on the new property. Trying to get the bank's backend system to allow it is more likely to be a challenge than their policy not allowing it.

We never give any recommendation without first having the entire picture and supporting docs. It is common sense.

You wouldn't go to a doctor and ask them to prescribe you something without first asking them to investigate your symptoms. We can't give accurate, quality advice without the entire story. It is counter productive and is a waste of…[Read more]

A couple of lenders can go up to 95% for company title however you must meet very strict criteria. Clear credit, 5% genuine savings minimum, 2 yrs + in job, must be a purchase, must be in a capital city and the valuer must like the property that you are buying. Otherwise 85% is the max

Technically they can go to $2.5m at 95% however good luck getting anything actually approved at that level! We have done a couple just under $2m at 85% or 90% however we haven't tried our luck for any higher LVRs around those loan amounts.

Hi Maree,

If you use one of the major valuers then you should have more lenders willing to accept the valuations. They need to be reassigned to the lender before the lender can accept them and those valuers must be on the lenders panels.

You can ask the valuer which panels they are on before you order a report. FYI that doesn't mean that those…[Read more]

CBA are not great for trusts anymore.

A few pointers for CBA trust loans:

They will take income from directors of the corporate trustee who are guarantors.

They will not take income from beneficiary guarantors, except in exceptional circumstances.

They no longer like to do the loan in the name of the directors and have the property in the…[Read more]

Last I heard of Broken Hill was that it's days were numbered. Personally I wouldn't invest somewhere that may be a ghost town in 10 – 30 yrs time.

Some banks specifically have restrictions on lending to Broken Hill, that tells me all I need to know.

If you are going to invest there then assume the value drops to $0 over 30 years and if your…[Read more]

I couldn't agree more with Shahin. Know where you are going and you are much more likely to get there.

Once you know where you want to go then talk to a mortgage broker to figure out what is possible and what you will need to do to get there.

There is one thing that you can start with that certainly will not hurt. Open a savings account and…[Read more]

As a general rule pay off any non-tax deductible debt first. I'm assuming you don't have any of this since you have $20k in offset.

Then pay off your most expensive debt. So if one of the loans has a higher rate then this would be the one that you offset with your funds.

Buying a PPOR is a personal decision. Of course you need to think about it…[Read more]

Macquarie pulled out of the mortgage market a few years ago however their existing customers were always on relatively good interest rates. The exception being their customers with low doc loans who did have their interest rates increased.

My dealings with Macquarie recently have been good and it really looks like they really want business and…[Read more]

If it is housing for people over 55 years old, it is torrens title / strata title (NOT LEASEHOLD) and is not part of a "retirement village" being a specialised community living style development then it can be financed with some lenders.

If it is leasehold then it cannot be done unfortunately. We managed to finance one leasehold property at 30%…[Read more]