Tips on buying a house and getting a loan.

[XAGSV8]

Well I'm thinking of it because I am sick of renting so if anybody has any tips on what to watch out for and who they got the loan with (and why they went with them) it would be great.

[max^power]

What ever house you buy, make sure it's checked for termites by a decent company!
Let the Real estate agent work for their $$$, dont settle for the asking price, haggle.

Great time to buy! You should walk away with a great bargain if you're in VIC, my place is on the market and things are SLOW AS!

Good luck and hope you pickup a great investment.

[parawolf]

Originally Posted by GSWXA

Well I'm thinking of it because I am sick of renting so if anybody has any tips on what to watch out for and who they got the loan with (and why they went with them) it would be great.

First one, if you are comfortable with it, I cannot sanely recommend a mortgage broker. Admittably may have just been this one person or this one company, but he and his manager, and HIS manager were the most imcompetant bunch of no-hopers it wasn't funny. I don't think one of them would have had much of a qualification between them apart from a new seminars.

We got our best deal through ANZ, and we like it. Interest rate is low, all the features (redraw, 100% offset, credit card, etc). ANZ call center staff are knowledgable, friendly and prompt on the phone - never had to wait more than 2 minutes and the call center is 7x24. Prior to this home loan I was a Westpac/Bank of Melbourne customer. With homeloans it doesn't matter who you are with, or how long you have been with them, unless you have millions of dollars. Always negoitate like a pitball with a toy doll.

If you want to go through a broker, don't settle for one, they get their fee from the end bank that you sign with, so it doesn't cost you anything but time. If I was going to go with a broker, I think i'd start with Aussie Home Loan Mortgage Market or whatever it is.

Second point, Depending on your income, it could be VERY important to have your personal tax up to date, if you run your own business, the books balanced and accounted for as well. You will need paperwork showing dedicated savings (if you have an ING account - or similar - this is benefitial as these often show more deposits than withdrawls). You also need to show credit management, you will need credit card statements showing active paying of outstanding amounts, and not just the 'minimal amount'.

You are also likely to want 3 months worth of salary statements as well.

Third, inspection, inspection, inspection. Archicentre reports are good, however they are expensive ($200 a piece for the base report?). However if you get one or two done look at the points of interest and you might be able to review the 3rd house 'critically' yourself.

If you have a friend that is a builder, plumber, even a handy man ask them to assist. Look for things - look under the house, inspect floor boards in the corners of room, get up close on carpet too (steam cleaning can hide a lot), if you get the chance, move some of the more mobile furniture which may be covering up some faults (paintings, couches, desks). Check under the house if it is on stumps to check that they are straight and functional.

If you have pets, check to see how much work the back yard/front yard might become to make it secure.

What about off street parking? does it have it? can it accomodate it? what do other people in the area do?

Forth, Why is the vendor selling. Check out the neighbours and ask at council for any building plans in the street or neighbouring streets that may cause value to drop. Also check for things like sewage lines, are there things in the back/front yard that is stopping you from expansion later on? How new is the hot water service (10+ years they start to have faults), check the ceiling for insulation. Check the installation of big ticket items like central heating or central air.

There is massive amounts to checking out housing... this should get you started being critical about places you are inspecting.

It took my partner and I 14 months to find a place we could afford, that was immediately livable and in the suburb we wanted.

[Yummy Mummy]

I work as a mortgage manager. PM me if you want to discuss a loan. Will try to get you the best deal.

[lisa76]

We used a broker, but mostly because she was a good friend of my Dad's and we knew we could trust her.

As Parawolf said - inspect everything. Don't take the real estate agents word for anything. Do your own research and always have a building and pest report done. Depending on the age of the house, you can expect it to have a few age related problems. Check over all council, sewer and even RTA documents to make certain you aren't going to end up with a major highway in your front door or anything else like that. Check things like the age of the wiring - this can affect your insurance.

Try and talk to the neighbours - at least you'll get an idea what the neighbourhood is like and they might know some of the history of the house.

Have a good look at sewer diagrams and see whether there has been anything built over the top of the sewer line. If there is, you could be up for big dollars should anything ever go wrong with the sewer line.

Have a look around yourself aswell at mortgage products and familiarise yourself with what the major lenders are offering deal wise - some have honeymoon rates, others might offer you no application fees or account keeping fees and so on.

I would advise against getting into a loan where you put all of your earnings into a savings account and use a credit card to pay for everything until you get the credit card bill and then pay it off with your savings. This method uses the interest earned on your savings to pay your loan off marginally quicker, however if you aren't vigilant in your spending you can quickly get in way over your head and find yourself in serious strife.

It's not all bad though - good luck in the house hunt!

[tickford2001]

if anyone in melbourne is looking at buying a house, i work as a structural engineer and im happy to help out with independent advice / inspections for any forum members...

not really much use for financial advice, but more than happy to assist members with structure / land advice!

cheers
dave