Hi,
I need a bit of help from a knowledgeable mortgage broker.
I've been looking for a 1-bedder to buy in Sydney to live in for about 5 months now and I'm still having no luck. (I know this is an investment site but I couldnt find any other decent forums to ask)
The problem is I only have 10% deposit and was having trouble getting pre-approval for a loan. I finally got approval with Bankwest which was a relief. But because I need ILM the mobile banker that visited me said the mortagage insurer they use has strict criteria on what type of place you can go for.
The criteria is this;
I can't go for anything in a 2000 – 2011 postcode (rules out CBD suburbs)
The building can only be 3 storeys or less.
If it's in an apartment complex there can't be more than 30 units in the building.
It must be over 50 sqm. Must have a seperate bedroom. No studio apartments.This criteria ruled out all the apartments I'd previously looked at.
Those first 3 criteria are making it almost impossible to find anywhere decent. I'm looking around Alexandria, Mascot, Rosebery, Glebe, Newtown, Camperdown and a few other suburbs. The problem is most of the apartments in my price range (up to 350K) are in complexes which are 5 storeys high. Especially in Alexandria, which is the main suburb I'm looking at.
SO, the question is… does anyone know a bank which uses a mortgage insurer which has far more flexibile criteria. I've tried ING all ready as well. ING approved me on an off-the-plans apartment but their mortgage insurer wouldn't. So I had to scrap that idea and get my holding deposit back.
I think I might need to meet up with another mortgage broker but I'm reluctant. The first mortgage broker I used didnt seem to know anything about the mortgage insurers criteria. I put in two applications through him and they all got rejected by the mortgage insurer and he didn't seem to know why. Or he wouldn't tell me anyway.
I am considering a buyer's agent for my search but it's expensive, and it might be just too difficult for them so thought i'd ask on here first.
Any info would be great. Cheers!
Hi Damon
Not in Sydney but maybe able to answer your question.
Problem is that there isnt too many insurers to chose from so often you will get the same answer from a vairity of different lenders.
Can you tell me a bit more about property you are looking at. If it is a studio will it have a separate laundry ?
What sort of size is it. Appreciate it is less than 50 sq m but the actual internal size if very important.Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender
Thanks for your reply Richard.
In reguards to your questions… those criteria are not mine. That it what I was told by the Bankwest mobile manager. He said unless the unit adheres to those criteria (see above) you won't get approved. Everyone I've told that, has been very surprised. It seems very strict.
So I can't actually find anything that matches that strict criteria laid out by the mortgage insurer. Most of the apartments i've found which I could live in are in apartment complexes which are higher than 3 storeys.
I can't go for studio apartments, that's there criteria, not mine but I dont want a studio apartment anyway.
I can't go for anything smaller than 50 sq m. This one is not a problem either as I'm looking for something between 55 – 80 sq m anyway. But the rest of the criteria are real deal breakers.Maybe a better question is, do you know which banks have internal mortgage insurance? I'd have a better chance at getting something approved if i went with a bank with its own insurance department. I know RAMS do but I applied for pre-approval with them a while back and after 7 weeks without a response I withdrew my application and went to Bankwest.
Hi Damon
The policy is a PMI policy which is not uncommon however i believe we can get around that as long as the unit it over 40 sq M.
Away from the security property there is a few other qualifying criteria but happy to report back to you regards the height issue if you want to drop me a line with some other details.
Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender
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