bagspacked

I had been told that before any type of approval can happen for a mortgage, they need to get approval that they can purchase property from the FIRB in Canberra, AND have finished their 3 month probation period.

It seems mental to me but they cant lodge with the FIRB until they find the property that they want to purchase, and supposedly include the contract of sale in their application. They can only get a pre-approval from the FIRB if they have plans to purchase in auction. So according to some of the banks i have talked to, you have to arrive in oz. find employment, wait for 3 months to pass, look for a property that you want to grab, get your hands on a contract, wait for the application with the FIRB to be approved, AND THEN apply for financing. Does that seem right to you?

yanH

The FIRB approval is only required if you are not a permanent resident. We are on a 457 temporary visa and the FIRB approval took around 2 weeks to come through and was all done online.

In terms of mortgage if you are on a temporary visa you will only be able to borrow up to 80% of the purchase price.

bagspacked

so if you have the skilled visa you wont have to go through firb approval?

yanH

That's right. The FIRB FAQ's on property can be found here http://www.firb.gov.au/content/real_...esidential.asp

bcworld

..no you don't need 20% but if you dont put down 20% you will have to pay mortgage insurance - which will cost maybe $5k. Think its a ridiculous concept myself.....the bank makes a decision on whether to lend you money....that should be their risk....but instead they cover themselves at your expense (the insurance doesn't cover your payments if your are unable topay for whatever reason).

busterboy

Maybe they just fell for the questionable charms of Aston Man?

shiels

How did you manage this Ast as dont you need an ABN to do a low doc, and to get an ABN you need a TFN which can take upto 28 days!!! Did you buy your house as an investment property?

Are you a magician in disguise

Think low docs are mortgages/loans where you declare that you can afford the repayments, hence they dont ask for any proof of earnings.

C x

BullcreekBob

There's some good advice already given in this thread, but some of the posts are just missing some information. Excuse the length but I'll try to clarify a few things.

1) Stamp duty rules vary from state to state and the cost of stamp duty can be a very significant cost. Check the rules for the state you are going to be buying in. Most states give a generously discounted rate of stamp duty for first home buyers but ONLY for permanent visa holders. If you are on a temporary visa, you will pay the full stamp duty rate for the state you buy in and you will not get First Home Owners Grant of $7,000

2) If you are on a temporary visa, the most that all Australian banks can/will lend you is 80% of the value of a property. Some limit it to 70%, some lenders won't deal with temporary visa holders at all. So if you are on a temp visa you will need a deposit of at least 20% PLUS all the fees and stamp duty.

3) If you are on a permanent visa, you can borrow up to 100% of a property's value (as long as you can afford the repayments). The rules and conditions vary from lender to lender. Some banks have "qualifying" periods of six months, others are only 1 day.

4) If you want to borrow more than 80% of a property's value, the lender is obliged to take out Lenders Mortgage Insurance. The rules for LMI are tougher than the rules a bank may have, therefore borrowing with a 20% deposit is much easier than borrowing more than 80%. The LMI companies will not deal with ppl ontemporary visa's - hence rule #2. The cost of LMI goes up significantly as the borrowings go from 80% to 100%.

5) Some banks or lenders offer "lo Doc" or even "No Doc" loans where the customer is asked to provide a lower level of (or no) documentation about their employment and finances. Some companies restrict Lo Doc loans to people with an ABN, some allow normal salaried employees access. Some lenders require an ABN is held for two years or more, some lenders require an ABN to be only 1 day old.

6) The training, skill and knowledge of "mortgage brokers" or advisors varies from state to state. In some states, no training or knowlege is required. WA has the highest level of training and a WA broker can arrange loans anywhere in Australia whereas a Qld broker an not arrange or advise on loans in WA. A sign that a mortgage broker is accredited is to check that they are a member of the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia.

7) Mortgage brokers generally do not charge for their services. They are paid a commission by the bank or lender. These commissions do not make the loans more expensive, in fact many brokers can arrange loans cheaper than
what many people would get by going to their bank.

I hope this answers or clears up some of the ambiguities in the other posts.

HTH
Bob in Bull creek

luula

Thanks for the info Bullcreekbob, very helpful. So is it better to wait til you get in OZ or is there such a thing as a morgage pre-approval when you're in the UK, based on current employment history?

Jockstar

Is it true they are doubling it? 2 people have told me that. Any info anyone?

aston man

well ,i dont know if i am just damn lucky or what?
they looked how much money(which to be honest werent that much) we had in the bank, and gave us the nod after about 2 days..

the house was valued by themselves and that was it....i gave them the abn number towards the end of the loan...

i am sitting in our house now typing this ,unless this is just one really happy dreams,you know them ones where you wish you were still asleep..i had one once about pamila anderson.....it was a bit difficult explaining to my wife why her back was wet...

look if anyone wants to speak to my contact at westpak your more than welcome...

ast...

aston man

oh i forgot,i also got a free box of thorntons for being the best looking bloke to go into their branch this tax year....

Disco01

So am reading this correct... We have are is possession of an Ozzie residents visa (once activated upon arrival). Does that mean we are entitled to First Home buyers grant even though we do not have citizenship....

aston man

in a word..

yes..

Plug

This mornings news is not good for all us mortgaged up folk!!

I have been looking at refinancing recently to get a better rate and free up some equity to do some renovation work.

Does anyone know the answer to these q's:

1) We have already paid LMI with one lender. If we change to another to get the better rate, do we cancel previous LMI and use the refind to establish new LMI with new lender?

2) I applied for the first time buyers grant last time round, will my wife be eligble for it this time, or is it linked to the property....?

And how's this for a bit of cheek, my current lender has increased the fee for early loan settlement recently, after I requested a settlement summary - amazing timing eh!