I'm sure there's still good deals to be found in Melbourne. However, the extraordinary rise in prices over the last 12-18 months does make it a less attractive place to invest at present (because you're buying in at the peak of the cycle).

Correct – if you anticipate turning it into an IP down the track, set up the loan as IO with an offset attached. You can continue to make the equivalent principle repayments into the offset account. Try to be disciplined and continue to make the principle repayments you would have normally been making (albeit into your offset).

Cheers

Jamie

They've just experienced 20% growth in one year. Off the plan can be quite effective when purchasing in a rising market. Not sure if this will be the case in Melb at present.

Cheers

Jamie

 
Hi Level3

Which bank is this? You can normally do a "top-up" to access some equity – some lenders will go to 90% of the properties value.

If this bank won't do it, he could always refinance to one that will.

Cheers

Jamie

Hi guys

Thought I'd bump this post up.

My story above was picked up by Your Investment Property magazine and features in this months issue.

It comes with with some dorky photos and funny comments from my wife (well she thinks they're funny!)

I guess it's one of those "how normal people manage to purchase multiple properties" type stories.

Cheers

Jamie 

Hi Darren

Personally, when purchasing OTP I look for an area that's rising in price and has a relatively long construction date (around 2 years). By the time construction is complete, I'm hoping that the OTP purchase is worth more than I originally exchanged on. There's obviously a bit of risk (what happens if prices drop) but that's part of investing.

Haha,  you can't see him joining you in the 7000+ posts club? I'm aiming to get there……might take a few years though

The commissions paid by lenders don't vary a great deal – you should ask your broker to show you a schedule of the commissions payable by each lender on his/her panel.

I'm sure the brokers on this forum focus on doing the best thing by their clients which generally results in positive word of mouth –  rather than placing them with a cr*p lender because they get a few extra dollars out of the deal.

Yep, steer clear of it – it can get real messy. Especially if you're looking to purchase more than a couple of properties.

god_of_money wrote:

You can get a lower interest rate if you managed to have LVR < 65%

True – but I'm not sure if a 0.1% discount with Choicelend (I'm assuming that's who you're talking about) in exchange for a 35% deposit is a good deal