Disco01

Hi Guys,

Looking at perhaps jumping on the Australian property ladder in the next few months or so.
Just wondering if anybody had any recommendations concerning obtaining a home loan?? I have spoken with a couple of finance companies both have agreed in principle to finance but with everything thats going on in the economy at the moment I'm a bit weary about jumping in with perhaps the wrong loan company/bank?

Any advice greatly received

ABCDiamond

Avoid St George...

comet555

Avoid Macquaire. Expensive and don't give a crap about keeping your business.

Switched to Westpac and I've been very happy.

bushy

You could have a chat with the girls at Vision Finance. We used them to find our mortgage when we bought our house last year and they were very helpful. They don't charge for their services and get business from recommendations.
Their number is 1300 36 36 77 and they're in Melbourne.

Mrs Jackaroo

We went with Bankwest and their 1% tracker...really happy with it:

http://bankwest.com.au/Personal/Home...ker/index.aspx

spottydog

What loan to value ratio are you thinking of? BankWest now require LMI on loans over 65% of the purchase price while Westpac only require it over 85% so this will make a difference.

If you really don't know what you want it probably is best to speak to an independent mortgage adviser as they will be able to help around fixed rates, discount rates or line of credit along with fully featured or basic types. They should also be able to find the best deal for you and generally at no cost to you as they get money from the mortgage companies for arranging you business.

As a minimum all the majors offer a 0.7% discount on their standard mortgage rate so I would certainly look at paying no more than that as an interest rate.

Don't forget to also check fees both up front and when closing an account (particularly the closure fees in the first few years)

ossigeno

A credit union. They treat you like a customer, all the staff are in Australia and they have no overpaid execs.

hollykimalan

There is a book, by an Australian called something like...
"How to pay off your mortgage in 5 years...by some who did it in 3"
Well something like that...

Those of you guys over 35 might remember the adoption by some UK lenders of what was essentially, coincidentally, an Australian idea of 'Daily Calculation of Mortgage interest'. This along with other things make just slight overpayments on your mortgage impact very beneficially on your mortgage term...and save you thousands of $ in 'unpaid' interest.

I got this book on Amazon and it tells you how to get the best mortgages...not just low rates but flexible ones too....

I have read it and plan to take when we go to Australia...
Now the hard bit...selling our house in the UK!!
Has anyone heard of a book called...
"How to sell your house in less than 2 years by....."
HKA
x

sj oldfield

[QUOTE=spottydog;7078303]What loan to value ratio are you thinking of? BankWest now require LMI on loans over 65% of the purchase price while Westpac only require it over 85% so this will make a difference.


You sure about that!!

The Johnstons

We used Home Loan Connexions in QLD to sort out all our mortgage details. Tracy & Roz there were fantastic, I couldn't recommend them highly enough. We heard about them through a recommendation on this forum. We are in Perth so location doesn't matter and they had a real challenge with our visa status changing, having no deposit etc. but they were on the ball with everything. Nothing was too much trouble. They got us a fantastic deal and the service was second to none.

Why not give them a call, it won't cost you anything. Contact details are:
Tracy Kearey 07 3821 5014, email [email protected].



Best of luck with buying your own place.
TJ

Disco01

Hey Guys can't thank you enough for your input. I shall get on the case right away, its a daunting thing to do having never bought a property over here before. Thanks again

hoofie2002

If it's 65% it's dropped a lot. I worked on their retail lending software [Lendnet] for a while and if I recall the LMI [Lenders Mortgage Insurance] triggers were based on the postcode and the type of property [basically units/apartments required a lower LTV than a house; country areas also. I'm sure there were some postcodes that were automatically rejected for lending but I can't remember where they were]. The main level floated around 90-95% then but I would imagine it has dropped now.

I would imagine all of the lenders will have dropped their LMI triggers - also, if you NEED to get LMI, I can guarantee you the insurers have tightened up their requirements also so many more people won't be able to get it, and therefore won't get a mortgage.

As as an aside, I just switched my BW mortgage from a Lite Variable to a tracker. Ok, it only lasts for two years but with the 1% discount that's a nice extra chunk of money I can pay towards my mortgage, especially since [through gritted teeth] I am managing to still pay it off at the rate I was at earlier in the year when rates were at their highest.

harrip

I used Aussie Home Loans. They compare your needs with a number of mortgage providers. Happy with the deal i got, rate still lower than with the bank 12 months on and they passed on the full 1% reduction last time RBA dropped the rates.

Alan Collett

Please send me an email or a PM if you would like the contact details of the home loan advisor we are working with in Melbourne.

Best regards.

spottydog

[QUOTE=sj oldfield;7078806] That is certainly what a friend was told when deciding who to get her first mortgage with a couple of weeks ago.