Recommendations for my next investment lend

I'll shortly be setting property #6 which is an OTP apartment with contract signed 2.5 years ago.

- 7 apartment boutique development in the Melbourne suburbs
- Purchased direct from developer/acquaintance for a discount so he could get finance
- Negotiated the addition of an ensuite and other upgrades at no additional cost
- Similar apartments are now selling 70-100K more today.

I'm heavy with BoM and could definitely get a good deal with them, but am thinking of trying a different lender to spread the risk. Our servicing is strong.

Any recommendations where I should be looking
- Lender with good history of valuations based on current market rather than contract price
- 80% LVR lend of that valuation
- Ideally I/O, but not a deal breaker
- Great rate
- Lender that doesn't bait and switch, increasing rates later
- Not keen on fixing as I like flexibility, but it can be a basic product as I'm already covered with offsets, transactions accounts, credit cards etc.

CBA springs to mind if they are still doing the 1.5% discount like in Feb. UBank @ 4.14% PI is tempting, but I have no experience with them and are not sure if they will meet my other criteria.

Appreciate your suggestions.

 

You really need specific advice but I'm going to take a stab at some of the high level questions. I do think its great that you are considering diversifying lenders as having everything with one lender alone is going to end in tears.

Re valuations - this isn't lender specific and not even specific to the valuation company. It really depends on which specific valuer you are going to get on any given day. You may just get a valuer that found his partner in bed with another man (or woman) earlier in the day and has come to value your property. Its really going to come down to what the individual is thinking at that moment. Its very hard to control valuations.

Re IO - I would avoid lenders that have had excellent IO terms as they will take drastic measures to rebalance their books.

Re bait and switch - this is a hard one as most lenders are outdoing each other to win quality business. I really like the smaller guys like Homeloans Ltd as they have lesser chance of bait and witch rates. Nothing is a certainly but I'm talking statistics.

Re fixing - im not a fan traditionally but some of the rates on offer are pretty damn good.

Re 80% LVR - don't know your circumstances but reconsider your strategy of going 80%. Do the numbers and see if a higher LVR is going to give you a better outcome. You may be pleasantly surprised.

 

Thanks for the advice. I understand I can't get valuations until the certificate of occupancy is issued, so I'll need to be quick to do any valuer shopping before settlement

 

Just line up a broker, it takes about 5 minutes to order 3 vals and if you word up the estate agent to make some time available you could have them thru one after the other on the same day.