I ended up suggesting $290k, more as a starting point than anything serious. But they gave a flat no, didn’t come back with a counter offer.

Oh well, will keep saving.

Rowan.

I was going to post a similar question to this one, but this thread gave me some interesting information.

There’s an under-construction property I like — an apartment in a new 6-story — and they have it listed at $360k. I assume that’s higher than they’d accept, but I don’t know how much higher.

Someone suggested I start by offering $100k…[Read more]

That looks very interesting, thanks for the link.

Rowan.

This is very interesting.

I found a place last week that I can’t afford right now, but will be able to afford by this time next year.

A short (1-2 year) IO loan that then becomes PL looks like it wouldn’t add too much to the eventual total (well, it’s not an insignificant amount, but it’s not an end-of-the-world sort of value).

Yet another…[Read more]

Thanks.

Rowan.

I’ve sort of got the impression that the vendors reserve is always higher than the list price, usually by 10%? If the reserve is higher than the list, they’re not going to pay much attention to offers below the list price are they?

Rowan.

I’m looking at a one or two bedroom apartment in Prahran or South Yarra for around $300k.

So the up front fees I’m looking at are:

$60k – deposit
(or)
$30k – deposit
$2k – mortgage insurance

$15k – stamp duty + legal fees
$3k – furniture + laundry equipment
$400 – loan manager fees
$100 – building inspection

Fees in my favour:

$10k – first…[Read more]

So there’s no standard rate increase for a Low Doc loan compared to a standard one, and no standard LMI fee for a loan of a given size?

They don’t make it easy to calculate if you can afford a big loan. And I keep seeing extra fees pop up that I hadn’t considered.

Doesn’t look like I’m there yet though, and with the interest rate likely to go up…[Read more]