im not sure if this changes depending on how much prop you have – but we were advised by our financial planner to have 1 month's worth of expenses saved up (all living expenses plus all loan repayments combined). it wouldnt be too hard to work it all out if you have a current applicable budget done up.
ours arent too bad, came to just over $5000. but considering we only have $1,500 saved up at the end of each pay fortnight we still have awhile to go!! so we are saving every penny we can.
im sure it all depends on your level of comfort though, as to how much you should save up.
yeah it was like that for us when we found out about the repairs. when we were reading the building report our heart sunk at all the work. we really had our sights set on this prop. but oh well. wasnt meant to be.
ever since i pulled out ive had a real feeling of peace about the whole situation so im very secure in the knowledge that Ive done the right thing for us at the moment
plus how could u be in a bad mood when 3 hours u drop out of the contract ur hubby to rings to let you know he's had promotion and payrise!! today is a great day!
ok i put on the panties and stepped up the mark. they refused to budge on the contract price at all and so we have sent written confirmation that we will be withdrawing from the contract due to unsatisfactory building inspection.
Im a bit disappointed because this Ceduna saga had been ongoing for weeks – with research, more research … and even more research … then finding the house and getting the contract going. I am out of only $1000 when combining the pest/building/solicitor expenses.
at least the valuation hadnt been done yet cos that was another $550 due to travel to the location!!!!
the losses could have been alot worse if we had bought the house because we really feel that it wasnt worth the price considering the expenses.
u watch …. i bet Ceduna rises in value and in 5 years time I look back and see that my $150k (plus $15k repair) house is now worth $300k+. LOL. But the purchase is just way out of my comfort zone for only my 2nd IP and its in a town I dont know. too much of a risk for me with it being Ceduna … Mine or no mine.
see thats the thing – its already the cheapest house for sale in ceduna. the valuation is getting done early this week so I will know exactly what its valued at then.
the only cheaper house in ceduna is 40 years older and its under contract – so no longer avail.
with a drop already of $30k from the original listing price of $180k (although I found it after it had already dropped to $159k) maybe its too much asking for even more off.
its just that when i was making my first offers i didnt realise there was that much work. so maybe in the vendors mind they have already dropped the price due to the renovations needing to take place.
i guess there is no hurt in asking? but if they say no, ive turned a $150k investment into a $165k investment and im not sure that I want to spend that much.
ill talk to the real estate agent on monday and forward them the cost of renos. It wont hurt to ask, they may even budge just a little bit on the price. hubby is saying he doesnt want to buy it unless its $140k ….. but i cant see them accepting that considering its a 25% drop from their first listing price
my first offer will be them covering the entire cost of the renos and see what they come back to me with
also – my financial planner is seeing me in another week with my completed financial plan. he said that in it he will be putting some recommendations of which bank/financial insitution I should be dealing with for my various accounts. the financial services company isnt linked to anywhere and isnt getting any commissions so ill be getting a unbias advice. i SO cant wait to recieve that plan … it cost me some $$$
thanks for your advice richard – ive sent them an email to see what is happening with that. are they allowed to do it without my authorisation/knowledge, or is it something i sign off on?
its CUA. we were going to threaten to move everything to someone else, but they came through anyway.
i was told that the postcode was considered high risk, so they didnt even really consider my loan. but then when i pointed out it was low risk thats when they read through it all i reckon. my husband and i think the whole situation wreaks of laziness on their part.
just letting you know that I appealed it and two days later they came back and said that they will allow the loan I basically told them what is happening in the area and indicated to them how low risk it is for them because I have $220k in equity on another property – and Im only wanting $150k.
and they said that pending a valuation done on the property I will get finance
so there were 80's style high fives all around after that phone call haha
thanks for your comments i am still looking every day at properties – havent made up my mind where to purchase tho. its so difficult sometimes!! i appreciate your comments and opinions.
Rates may go down to 2% but not likely to 1% unless our economy really "tanks". Even if rates did fall to 1% I don't think that mortgage rates will go down much more from our present levels. If interest rates drop by another 1% then our mortgage rates may drop another .5% as the banks keep complaining about their high funding costs.
thanks for explaining it so well i hadnt thought of that
thats what i was thinking. and i said to her that i would be extremely surprised if they went anywhere near that – and they were adamant that she had read it everywhere. so i dropped the subject.
its my husband's brother and his wife – so hubby wanted me to say something.
however – i found out today that he has had his hours cut back. he is now only working 15 hours a week! phew if that had happened a month from now he woulda been up the creak. i feel sorry for him though that he has only 15 hours. that would suck majorly.
at least he has avoided the crisis of paying a mortgage on a casual income.
it was referral based. i asked everyone i could think of that is interested in financing and most people mentioned this company.
and i like the way this company is run. I pay my annual fee (not commission based) to use their services and advice, and they dont sell their own product. so there is no conflict of interest.
they have a commission based service if u come to them with a lump sum of money and get them to invest it for you, but that didnt suit our needs. so we are paying a lump sum each year instead for their guidance.
we went and looked but too many renos needed. we would have looked more into it if we had more cash to burn. but who does?
one of the "units" didnt even have a lounge room. and the kitchen was half the size of what i would be happy to live with. who wants a 4 bedroom house with a teeny tiny 2 meter kitchen and no loungroom??? not me. i dont know how the current tenants live there – they have 3 young kids.
besides, i went to see my financial planner today (first appointment) and they are doing up a plan for us. its a bit exxy but its worth it. its a long term plan where we employ them for a certain dollar value and each year they are available at any time over phone or email to help us out, and then once a year our whole financial situation and reassessed and picked apart to see how our investments/finances are going and what steps we should take next.
he is getting back to us in 2 weeks with our completed plan for discussion, so we arent doing anything until we see what he recommends. when ur as "green" as i am u appreciate help from someone who has been there and done that he has over 30 investment properties and is labelled the best in the region. costs a pretty dime though! but i guess ill find out if he was worth it haha.