Muzza04

This is the crucial bit. You may get a mortgage on Temp visa, but FHOG is only available to PR holders and thus effects the stamp duty concessions on property up to 250k. This is for WA. So thus save 7k plus on S duty and get 7k grant from the government. So 14k taken out of the total costs.

JayDeee

I am coming round to this idea more and more, what the hell do I need to buy a house for, just so I can owe a bank a load of money for the next 30 yrs then the government can take a load of money out of it if I kick the bucket. Moving here has made me realise that part of growing up does not mean you have to own a house, it can mean what ever you want and if I wanna just up sticks and leave to go somewhere else I can if I dont have to worry about selling house or sorting out renting it.

Not getting at peple who do own houses, If I were in a better financial possition I would buy as an investment but I am not in a great financial position so just dont see the pint in strugling to buy a house.

And as far as throwing money down the drain Polly, if you think about it having a mortgage is also chucking a lot of money down the drain

Say you borrow $200000 pay over 25 yrs @ 7.25%
over the 25 yrs you will pay $116842.06 interest, you can get a hell of a lot of rent for that $116k

Kala

ssinnige

I am on a temporary spouse and my wife is Australian. We recently bought a house in Brisbane and used a mortgage broker. I had an additional difficulty that I had started my own business only six months ago which limited the total available mortgages significantly because we had to go for a low-doc mortgage. That is a mortgage which does not require a lot of documents. The mortgage we have now is completely on my salary (which fluctuates per month), we received the first home owners grant (because in Qld only ONE of the applicants should be a permanent!) without many problems.

I would advice to go for a mortgage broker because it saves you a lot of time going to all the banks yourselves. We had a very good one via mortgagechoice.

MrsDagboy

Yes, but at the end of the 25 years, or however long it takes you to pay it off, you own something (thats usually worth a hell of alot more than you paid for it over that length of time).

I agree that for some people renting is a much better option for various reasons & it can quite often be cheaper to rent, but it certainly cant compensate for the capital investment you get when you buy a house & keep it long term .

MrsDagboy

BTW, meant to ask, what money is the govt going to take out when you die? Does WA have death duties or something?

bondipom

Depends on if you invest the difference between rent and the mortgage in something that gives as good a return. Money can be made in other ways and luckily the stock market has been giving me returns.

JayDeee

None cos I haven't got a house

No idea about death duties in WA, haven't had to look into it, but things like my parents in the UK, When they die My sister and I get there houses, I dont want them, I dont see why they should work there butts off all there lives to pay off mortgages only to give it to their kids when they die and then the government do take a chunk, i think if over gbp250k which both of their houses are plus any extras of their estates.

Please dont get me wrong I'm all for people having houses if they want and you are correct they can be a great investment but until I moved here I really thought moving up the career ladder and buying a house was the most imprtant thing to me and I have now realized that it really isn't that important to me.

I hate being so much as $1 in debt so maybe the whole mortgage thing scares me and being here and the want to also try living in other places aswell has shown me that life can go on without owning a house.

Saying all of that, If I had the money to buy a house outright or even 70% I would probably buy one.



Kala

MrsDagboy

BP, if you invest the difference between your rent & what a mortgage would be, you are in a distinct minority. Very very few people do it.

The other thing to consider is the risk, property is usually considered low risk, the stock market isnt :scared: .


Kala, I know what you mean about being in debt, I never even had a credit card for years cos I figured if I couldnt afford to buy it with cash, then why should I borrow money to do it? Even now I baulk at borrowing money & we religiously pay off the credit card every month.

I think you're right, if you are young, have no family & are intending to travel etc then maybe owning a house shouldnt be such an all consuming issue, but for me, because we have a family & are much older Im glad I have the security of bricks & mortar .

andrew63

Different states have different rules.
In QLD, you can buy a house on temp visa and claim your FHOG if you become PR within 12 months of the closing date.

Andrew

bondipom

Anyone wanting to get on the property ladder has to get a deposit some way or another. Maybe our generation stuck renting is different to yours.

A well rounded share market portfolio has a similiar risk to property, can offer quicker returns as well as long term returns. As with property the stock can and does fall. The stock market also does not have the transaction costs associated with property. Managed funds and shares are also much more liquid than property.

With buying property here you have the risk of asbestos, dodgy building, unlicensed and un-approved building, neighbours subdividing etc. It is not a risk free adventure and the costs are huge.

$25 transactions costs to buy some shares, $30,000 for house buying.
I remember when I asked a year ago where I should whack some cash. A few people including yourself shouted property, property, property. Lucky I didn't otherwise I would be short by a lot of money. I do not need the discipline that a mortgage ties you into.

Depends on the individual but I am another that avoids unnecesary borrowing.

MrsDagboy

I agree, it does depend on the individual, Im not trying to say that as an [i]investment[i] property or shares are better or worse, simply that in owning your own home there is more scope for capital improvement without trying. As I said, I think you would find that very few people put that difference between rent & mortgage into anything.

Your last comment about having lost money in the last 12 months on property isnt very accurate & gives a fale impression - perhaps if you had bought an investment property in Sydney 1 year ago & were looking to sell for profit now that may have happened - but you forgot to mention that if you had bought somewhere that the market hadnt cooled off then you would have made money, or if you had bought the year before that or the year before that even you would have made a huge profit.

Theres more to real estate than just a house in Sydney .

As for the rest of your post, hmmmmm, I'll leave that alone. I think we started off talking about why paying a mortgage wasn't dead money. Apologies to the OP .

(BTW, we have both shares & property, I know which one has done better over the last 4 years, but that doesnt mean that it will continue)