the_nanny_uk2

This is basically for all those of you who are lucky enough to be out there already.

Once we are out there and have rented a place for a while we would like to buy a plot and build our house. Apart from the cost of the housebuild, what other costs are involved. i.e in the UK we have the Stamp Duty, Home Info Packs, etc etc.

Is the First Home Owners Grant for anyone for ever more or is it likely to be pulled. Also what are your interest rates like? Have they gone up or down recently and has the rest of the worlds credit crunch affected the Oz economy at all??

Sorry for the questions folks, we are trying to get a handle on what our life would be like out there.

Jo x

Petals

Visit http://www.realestate.com.au it has a calculator for loans and interest rates. I think they will go up because the banks are not going to take notice of the reserve bank and keep them down now with all that is going on in the financial world.

ANZ Bank predicted the other day that they will go over 10%. I think they are about 9% at the moment.

Conveyancing fees solicitor or conveyancer will be additional and it depends which State you are buying in how much, also Stamp Duty varies from State to State. Work on about 6% for Victoria.

the_nanny_uk2

Thank you so much for that hun, we are going to Perth and are looking at house and land packages at the mo, so we were wondering what was involved with the whole process.

I am aware of the interest rate being higher than the UK which is a little worrying to say the least especially if it goes up and up.

Lets hope hubby gets a decent job as an electrician and earns heaps hey! lol

Jo x

asprilla

well here in Qld you have:

taxes - stamp duty

mortgage - establishment fee
mortgage - stamp duty
mortgage - valuation of property

solicitors / conveyancing

a range of different inspection fees, minimum being building & pest

a range of different searches that you should undertake to ensure you have proper knowledge of the property and the area. (probably best to check that they're not going to resume the property in a couple of years for a busway...that kind of thing).

Dorothy

If you are looking at house and land packages you can add about $20-30k to the price of the house as advertised. You will need to add flooring, window coverings, any upgrades you may want (trust me, you will want them), landscaping, painting of the interior and anything else you see in the display. You also need to pay for the settlement agent - about $800.

Our home and land package was advertised at $375k, but we haven't even got titles yet and we're up to well over $400. Trust me when I say we have not chosen anything extravagant.

Yes, the first homeowner's grant is for every permanent resident or citizen who has never owned property in Australia and buys/builds to live in the home, i.e. not for investment purposes. Nobody can predict what will happen with it but I would say that it will be in effect for some time.

In WA there is no stamp duty for residential property under (I think) $500k.

ABCDiamond

Stamp Duty
First Home buyers are offered discounts on Stamp Duty for their first residential purchase, in most States.
Conditions and rates are different for each State, and are liable to changes
QLD for example is NIL for up to $500,000

An "indication" of standard Government Fees covering Stamp Duty, Mortgage Registration Fee, Transfer Fee, and Stamp Duty on Mortgage, as at Sept 2008, based on an example of a $300,000 property, with a $150,000 mortgage, is:

QLD - $ 4,397
NSW - $ 9,595
ACT - $ 9,660
TAS - $10,196
NT - $12,240
WA - $13,279
SA - $13,312
VIC - $14,488


Interest rates

The best Standard variable rate at the moment, (that I have found), is 8.35%. Rates dropped by .25% when the reserve bank dropped the main rate this month.
My view on that though, is that it would push house prices up again, so I doubt the RBA would dare go that far.
The same report goes on to say: If you are building a house, ask the builders about extra costs. When we looked into this, we saw the land price + the house build price and then found an extra $40-$50k for "essential extras" above those two base prices.

Vicky88

Don't forget that you have the option of fixing your mortgage rate for the term of your loan if you are worried about rate fluctuations.

alan_blue

the best rate i found is westpac at 8.19 on a 3 year fixed

Vicky88

Also remember that the advertised rate is not always the best the bank will do for you. We are going to be applying for a loan today and expect that we can knock .5% of what is advertised. If you belong to certain employment groups or employers they do special deals and you deal with a set group of advisers.

the_nanny_uk2

Go on what certain employment groups qualify for that the??

Was amazed at the price of mortgages out there, its certainly not financially beter off for us moving there. And we thought UK mortgages were bad!

Vicky88

You would have to check with the individual banks. My BIL works at Harvey Normans as a storeman and they have negotiated a discount rate for their employees with the ANZ. It may be professional groups such as engineers or accountants, nurses or teachers. You would need to ask the question of the banks.

What you have to remember though is whilst borrowing might be more expensive, when you actually get your head above water and have savings you will benefit by earning a greater interest rate.

jollyswagman

PLEASE EXCUSE ME FOR JUMPING IN ON YOUR THREAD! dOES HAVING SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS MAKE YOUR INCOME TAX SOAR UP?? i HAVE BEEN READING INFO ON ATO WEBSITE AND GET THE IMPRESSION THAT INTEREST EARNED IS ADDED TO YOUR INCOME BEFORE TAX IS CALCULATED ??

daddyofthree

Can you negotiate an even better interest rate if you are prepared to put 50% down as a deposit ?

Grayling

Correct.

......but this happens in the UK as well.

G

daddyofthree

Anyone recommend a good home builder to go through. My wife likes the price and designs 'Impressions' are displaying but many of these are about 370K but only 260M square - what about the garden / yard etc?

http://www.impressions.net.au/