Like anything you need to know what you are doing when it comes to commercials properties. Finance is a different story as well. Hate to say it but I have a lot of investors in your situation and sooner or later they offload the high outgoings unit and upgrade/downgrade to a house. I am not saying you should do this but I bet your strata is hurting you. 

Re the last comment about platinum brokers – that's baloney. I have 'priority service' with 2 lenders but all that means is that the application gets look at faster. Its a level playing field for rates whether you put through 1 deal or 100 deals. Lenders look at your profile when pricing not how loyal the broker is. 

Re a pre-approval yes you should get it sooner than later as it will dictate your budget and ceiling and if servicing is tight even scenarios. For example, if I get a rental of x then I can borrow y and so on. Also don't forget to get a credit assessed pre-approval rather than a robot approval. 

….. and don't be surprised if your plan changes at least 10 times. 

Regards

Shahin

Ok so renting out a unit may seem like a suitable option but that is completely dependent on person circumstances noted above. The amount you can borrow isn't linked to your deposit per se. I think he/she has based the $370 on your income. I wonder how this will change based on whether you rent and rent the property you are purchasing out. You should be able to get some negative gearing added. 

Are you looking at units due to budget? low entry point? I would be aiming for a house if budget permits. 

Hi Jewel,

I cannot comment on point 1 but I will comment on the remainder. Points 2 and 4 are quite similar in that you have 2 options. First option is to sign the Contract of Sale and then do your building and inspection as well as have a conveyancer/solicitor review the COS during this cooling off period. The other option is to do this before you sign the COS. The benefit of going with the second option is that if there is an issue with the B and P or the contract then you will not lose you initial deposit. The disadvantage is that another buyer could potentially gazump you whilst you are doing this. Generally speaking I would recommend the latter if there isn't too much buyer interest in the property. I would recommend you have the solicitor ready to go with the review and the B and P as soon as you find something and try and do this within 3-4 working days. 

Also just remember that some conveyancers and solicitor will charge you each time that review a COS whether you proceed or dont proceed and some will not so clarify this upfront. 

Re RP Data and Residex – they are quite similar. We actually use APM which again is similar to both reports. One of the most important parts of the report is the 'recent sales'. This will give you valuable information when placing an offer and/or negotiating an offer (as you can provide a reason for your potentially lower offer). 

Good luck!

Regards

Shahin

There is no doubt that they are not 'standard' securities however as Scott has stated – they should not be mistaken with nursing homes or retirement villages.

Regards

Shahin

How much deposit do you currently have? That will in some ways dictate how much you can borrow and thus your budget. Can you renovate the property or considered subdivision? Or do you just want to passively invest? i.e. buy a place and hope there is a boom and you can get a decent CG? I think you are looking for someone to tell you which suburb to invest whereas I think you should think more broadly in the sense what can i do to the property to significantly increase my yield and/or CG.

Re the courses – what are they and what are they designed to teach you?

Regards

Shahin

Hi PI78,

You can ascertain a lot of information from this site. You need to set yourself a short and long term strategy. By this I mean what type of an investor are you? Renovator, starting out developer, passive investor, etc. Are you wanting capital growth? cashflow? From there you can determine what type of properties you want to buy and the areas. Start by attending as many open houses and auctions. Pick 2 areas and study them. Look at the demographic, trends, planned infrastructure, etc. 

What areas have you been looking thus far?

Regards

Shahin

Hi Kara,

You have saved a considerable amount saved up already. There is no problem in continuing to put money in the FHOG account but perhaps consider putting some money in a separate account (say $5,000) so that you can cover adhoc payments pre settlement such as building inspection, etc. If you are looking to purchase a property for $250,000 then you will require at least $21,000 in deposit plus building and pest inspection which should be around $500 and legal costs of $1,500 so in total that’s approx $23,000.

In terms of being self employed for over a year this is going to be a problem with the LVR you have. You will need to show the bank at least 2 years full financials.

Regards

Shahin

You have enough equity (assuming the vaules you have specified are correct) to unlink the securities and loans. You have $192k in equity against the higher IP. Minus that from the existing loan of $135k leaves you with $57k in equity. You can use this equity (make sure its a separate account to the existing loan of $135k) and bring you loan against the $88k which is at 80%.

There is a few lenders that will do over 55's but it depends on a few things one of which is the address of the property. I dont recommend you put this on the website though.

Regards

Shahin

Ok those 'hard costs' are part of the construction tender so therefore no issues going to 95%.