Mortgage question. . .
 

Hi everyone, just got back to the uk after being in oz for 2 weeks :(

we're playing with the idea of buying a house or apartment over there before moving, and just had a couple of questions about mortgages. . .

we'd be first time buyers (I owned a house here a couple of years ago but we rent now)

1. Do we have to have residency to get a mortgage as it would be a holiday home at first?

2. Is there an average percentage for deposits?

3. Assumably there will be costs such as stamp duty - is there an estimate for these?

I know we're going to have to do thorough research but any info for the above would be fantastic :)

Many thanks,
Jenny

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

I'm no expert but I can't see an Australian bank lending you the money for a mortgage if you're not living *& working* in Australia - way too risky for them.

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

Stamp duty will be different in each of the Australian States.

Some examples are:
QLD - $ 4,397 ( Residence use only - investment property is higher)
VIC - $14,488
I can't recall the house price I used for those examples, but it was the same for each State.

Some links here: Buying a House : Stamp Duty

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

1) If you are not a permanent resident or citizen, you need FIRB approval to buy a house. No first home buyers etc grant either since you do not qualify.

2) No, it varies from lender to lender and postcode to postcode as well; but if you don't reside her you will need a whacking big deposit and in the current climate I would think your chances of getting a mortgage here are low to zero with your circumstances.

3) Stamp Duty, mortgage costs, settlement fees -varies from state to state but you could be in for a bill approx $15-20K off the top of my head.

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

Unless it's new build.

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

Depending on your financial situation you could consider borrowing the money in the uk if you have sufficent equity to borrow against. I agree with the other posters, the banks are not going to be that interested otherwise.

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

Hi guys, thanks for the posts.

We're not quite ready yet, but the last time I checked barclays did mortgages for abroad - would probably be worth checking with them rather than an aussie bank.
Does anyone know any other banks that might do them?

thanks
Jenny

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

i think lloyds tsb do, its on there web site anyway.

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

Thanks for the correction - I missed that bit.

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

The Government is currently offering $14,000 first home owners grant (or $21k if ne build) until July 2009.

Some states top that up with a bit more.

You can get the FHOG whether or not you owned a house in the UK, but you need to be a Permanent Resident (or citizen).

Many lenders will look for a 20% deposit, especially if you have no local employment history.

House prices are falling in Australia now (not as fast as the UK yet) with Brisabne reportedly down 5% in the last quarter.

You may be better advised to wait until you get here given you would be dealing with local banks and may get the FHOG.

Stamp duty is very different in each state. In most states you will not pay stamp duty on houses under $500k.

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

Yes, this doesn't stack up as good common sense in my opinion.

Losing all of the first home owner grants could be expensive - stamp duties are huge here, and can be $20-30k on top of the price that you pay for the house.

I don't think that the OP should be in such a rush to buy - if you are going to have to borrow to pay the additional duties, then in a falling market you could find yourself in a sticky situation quite quickly...


S

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

The big issue is where are you going to be when you repay most of the loan. Ideally you'd want to be earning money in the same currency in which the loan needs to be repaid. Otherwise you are going to find that a combination of national lending interest rates and FX rates makes things very complicated.

Banks will be happy to lend as long as you can obtain insurance. It's the insurance companies that you're going to have trouble with. The premiums on the type of arrangement you describe might be very expensive. They may not give you cover, and the banks will not give you a loan as a result.

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

Hi

If you have your PR visa then you are free to buy but if not...

Don't know if this helps but several years ago (it might have changed now) we were looking at buying an off-plan apartment in Manly before we got our visa.
As foreigners we were only allowed to buy a new build and had to have FIBR approval. If we sold the place we had to sell it to an Aussie (PR or citizen).

At the time St George were more than happy to give us a mortgage on our UK earnings - as said might be different in todays climate.

Downside - we didn't go ahead with it and could kick ourselves now!

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

To be clear, IRB does not require that non PR/non residents buy a new build; they also allow the purcahse of existing properties.

Re: Mortgage question. . .
 

Sorry, have to disagree with you there. Unless you are on a 457 in general you cannot buy an established house - see http://www.firb.gov.au/content/real_...d.asp?NavID=40. We looked into this and approached the FIRB and they were quite categorical that we would be wasting our time making an application. In the end we waited for PR.