Care to elaborate on your comment with some justification coasta?

Not sure about the CBA but I work for another major that offers their employees 90% loans with no LMI. This is likely to save you alot of money if you can access a similar deal.

I am always amazed at the standard of freeware and shareware in anything that I am looking for, there is always a good free or cheap alternative. Its just a matter of finding it through all the other stuff that comes up in search engines.

I have just been trying it but it seems like a kiddies drawing programme, not like a professional CAD design software.

I did see it, but got the impression it was designed to model existing buildings from google maps. Does it have greater functionality to build from scratch?

You seem to be confusing house size with land area. House size is increasing.

Here is the article I was referring to.

The real problem that is causing this is the price of land, If you have to pay 400k for a 600 sqm block on the outskirts of Sydney, you might as well build a 300-400 sqm home for 300k, rather than a 150-200 sqm home for 150k. The…[Read more]

I was getting a home built in Melbourne. My builder advised that they had alot of troubIe in the area with a couple of valuers under valuing. I found out which valuers were on the St George Panel in the area and asked my builder which he would choose. He selected the one he knew would come in at the right level and got them to do a valuation. When…[Read more]

Scott is correct, there was an article published recently that stated Australia had the largest average house size in the world, even larger than the yanks.

In our parents day they didn’t have 300 sqm homes as a first home, with a home theatre, spa bath, ensuite etc. They had a large block with a small house.

Hi Sean,The easiest way to do this:Lets say you have 40% equity in your NZ property. Arrange for the equity to be taken out and draw down the mortgage to have 20% equity instead. Use the funds for a deposit in Australia. Simple really.Even better, for the first time in living memory NZ interest rates are at least as good as OZ rates so the finance…[Read more]

What do people think of baths in ensuites?

I was looking through houses of 30-35 squares, and in the majority of the show homes they had a shower (sometimes a double shower) but no bath. Would you expect one in a home of this size?

I bought land in the new Wyndham Harbour marina development yesterday. I was concerned about the guy in front of me subdividing his 900 sqm block and building 2 houses, blocking my view. I was advised that he wasn’t allowed to. This certainly confirms that in a new development, even large blocks are unable to be subdivided. The covenants state one…[Read more]

I caught a taxi in Sydney yesterday and was talking with the driver. He was complaining how little cab drivers made from a 12 hour shift and that it wasn’t worth it. I asked him what he planned to do in the future then, he said that he only drove taxis 2 days a week and had a fulltime job as well. I asked him what he was saving for. It turned out…[Read more]

Have you looked into a personal loan from a bank? (May or may not be the bank you are planning to go with for the main loan)

I just managed to borrow 40k to see me through short term till an investment matures. As a rule of thumb it seems for every $1 you borrow as a personal loan, it decreases your borrowing capacity by $3. Check to see if that…[Read more]

You could look at the Villa 24 from Formula Homes, It is the least expensive 2 storey I have found in that size range (it is 24 squares). Base cost is 194k and they do a luxury package for an extra 7k. The are also very flexible on making changes to the…[Read more]

Is it possible to have 2 freestanding townhouses, rather than a duplex? People would pay more for freestanding. From what I have seen there is no difference in construction cost.

Alternatively is the house in a position on the block that you could build a second property at the front or back and renovate the existing property?

These may turn out…[Read more]

Is it possible to have 2 freestanding townhouses, rather than a duplex? People would pay more for freestanding. From what I have seen there is no difference in construction cost.

Alternatively is the house in a position on the block that you could build a second property at the front or back and renovate the existing property?

These may turn out…[Read more]

Hi TCL,

I have been a bit disappointed so far, was expecting there to be some form of community from paying to sign up for this, to discuss ideas with.

It seems that nothing is happening though and the forum hasnt eventuated.

This article advises us that the average mortgage in NSW just hit a new record of $414k. That isn’t the average house value, but the average mortgage!!

http://www.smh.com.au/business/westpac-rate-rise-pushes-customers-to-switch-banks-20100105-lsbd.html

Let’s combine that with median household income stats…

Median household income is only…[Read more]

You should read this thread….

http://www.propertytalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15810&goto=newpost

Spain is a third world property market, I wouldn’t touch it.

Don’t you get hammered with a huge land tax bill Richard, with so many properties in Queensland?