Fish Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Been in Australia since June 2008 and still have not been able to afford to buy a house. Can't see that chaging anytime soon. How people save up for a 5%-10% deposit on an average $600,000 house whilst still renting and trying to survive each day is beyond me. I have many times thought that surely I must be missing something....... Wish that someone would share their secrets on how they managed to scrape that huge deposit together.In Brisbane most wouldn't try to start in a $600,000 house...that would often be a house for later in life when they had built up equity in a starter (and subsequent) house/s and worked up from there over the years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 In Brisbane most wouldn't try to start in a $600,000 house...that would often be a house for later in life when they had built up equity in a starter (and subsequent) house/s and worked up from there over the years. Unfortunately, $600,000 is the average house price in our area (one of Sydney's suburbs), which I believe is almost getting to the bottom end of the market nowadays with house prices rising almost daily. Buying a house in South Africa seemed so much less complicated. We bought 5 houses in a period of 18 years and I found the process fairly painless. Now I get to Australia and I hear terms like "negative gearing" and suddenly realise I am absolutely clueless... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunnyskies Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Negative gearing is the ability to offset the difference between your costs on a house and the rent you earn as a tax deduction. The beauty with it is that you don't have to claim that you are in the business of renting houses (as I think would be the case in SA) you just claim as a loss on your investment for that year. Also bear in mind that all investment properties attract CGT but there is no CGT on your home when you sell it. I agree that we would be hard pressed to find something in Melbourne for less than $600k. Friends of ours bought in Box Hill North 8 years ago, paid $150k, now their house is worth $650k, and it not a swanky house at all. I spoke to a taxi driver in Sydney who bought his house for $500k about 12 years ago, and he said it's now worth $1,500k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronwyn&Co Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 How about this? http://m.domain.com.au/listing/2010868135You can still get a house in the $400's within 10kms of Brisbane but it will be a 'handyman's dream.' $600k will get you something quite nice & livable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 How about this?http://m.domain.com.au/listing/2010868135You can still get a house in the $400's within 10kms of Brisbane but it will be a 'handyman's dream.' $600k will get you something quite nice & livable.Not sure if your post was directed at me Bronwyn but if it was, this will unfortunately not work for us because we are in Sydney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 (edited) Unfortunately, $600,000 is the average house price in our area (one of Sydney's suburbs), which I believe is almost getting to the bottom end of the market nowadays with house prices rising almost daily.Buying a house in South Africa seemed so much less complicated. We bought 5 houses in a period of 18 years and I found the process fairly painless. Now I get to Australia and I hear terms like "negative gearing" and suddenly realise I am absolutely clueless...Yeah, unfortunately the starter suburbs in Sydney with the cheaper houses are a long way out leaving you with a massive commute. I think that has been a long standing issue with Sydney for many Australians and the reason many say they will not live there. I think they do have cheaper houses in some of the western suburbs but I'm guessing you don't want to move out there. Without trying to rub it in as I know it is no use to you, in the smaller cities you can get family houses in the 400's a reasonable distant away. Here's a few examples in case anyone else is interested:30 minute train commute to Brisbane:http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-ferny+grove-116477239http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-ferny+grove-11629660340 min bus commute:http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-sunnybank+hills-11665109525 min bus commute:http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-carina-116613795 Edited April 9, 2014 by Fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronwyn&Co Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 (edited) Not sure if your post was directed at me Bronwyn but if it was, this will unfortunately not work for us because we are in Sydney.No it's all good Heymanse I was just saying in general. Actually my brother lives near Manly, Sydney and they are also getting a bit despondent after renting for 5 years. Edited April 9, 2014 by Bronwyn&Co 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AusVisagie Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Hi Everyone responding or reading this post,I am a Mortgage and Finance Broker dealing with all Bank and non Bank lenders. If you have any specific questions in regard to purchasing property and financing please do not hesitate to ask or contact me.We have moved to Perth in 2007 and if I can not help or answer your questions I will be able to point you in the right direction.Regarding the question of how long it will take.From signing an Offer to purchase it normally takes up to 21 days to get finance approval and then another 21 to 28 days for settlement. Depending on circumstances it can be as quick as four weeks but on average 6 to 8 weeks. Kind regards,Dewald Visagieaka Devdev@pembertown.com.au+61466208043 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DXB2OZ Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 We have actually just bought and found the services of a mortgage broker invaluable - could possibly have done it on our own, but I don't think we would have got such good results. Had pre-approval, so knew our budget and worked out what payments could be supported. The paperwork was complex but thorough. Our mortgage broker also pointed us towards solicitor, bidding agent, etc which was extremely helpful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara1 Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 We have actually just bought and found the services of a mortgage broker invaluable - could possibly have done it on our own, but I don't think we would have got such good results. Had pre-approval, so knew our budget and worked out what payments could be supported. The paperwork was complex but thorough. Our mortgage broker also pointed us towards solicitor, bidding agent, etc which was extremely helpful.Hi DXB2OZ,Sent you a PM, looking for some advice on purchasing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbop Posted April 22, 2014 Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 Been in Australia since June 2008 and still have not been able to afford to buy a house. Can't see that chaging anytime soon. How people save up for a 5%-10% deposit on an average $600,000 house whilst still renting and trying to survive each day is beyond me. I have many times thought that surely I must be missing something....... Wish that someone would share their secrets on how they managed to scrape that huge deposit together.www.mortgagehouse.com.au offer 100% loans. You pay a much higher interest rate (7%), if you are like us and have absolutely no deposit. The rate will come down to the normal rate once the 'deposit amount' has been paid off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted April 22, 2014 Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 Been in Australia since June 2008 and still have not been able to afford to buy a house. Can't see that chaging anytime soon. How people save up for a 5%-10% deposit on an average $600,000 house whilst still renting and trying to survive each day is beyond me. I have many times thought that surely I must be missing something....... Wish that someone would share their secrets on how they managed to scrape that huge deposit together.Yep, unfortunately it's hard for those who either missed the boat in the 2000s when house prices exploded (a lot of Aussies have equity now because of house price increases) and those who come to Aus with little to no assets. In the bigger cities you are indeed limited to the outer, more affordable areas, but as you pointed out - the commute is a killer. That's what we did. Built in 2008 in a new suburb, put up with the commute for a few years, sold, made a bit of money and put that and our equity down on a house 40km closer to the city in an area we wanted to live in. It helped that when we arrived, I had restarted at the bottom of my career ladder but have risen fairly quickly. I guess there are only two things you can do - put up with a long commute, or earn more - neither are that easy. I do feel for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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