Want to buy a new house. Should I do it now?

if you r in IT, most likely better pay jobs are in CBD. suburbs dont pay much unless you are a stud in cybersecurity etc.
I would suggest, buy what u can afford ..preferably close to public transport. ofcourse that does not mean buy a ppor in dandenong or noble park (although some may not mind doing that)
Everyone has challenges buying their first house - 2nd 3rd will be easier.

 

May be able to sneak into Narre Warren for under $400k which is closer than Officer / Clyde.

 

True that.

I'm not sure if there are new developments in that area for that price.

 

Na, sub 400k u r looking at Cranbourne (clarinda park estate) Clyde north (Clyde vale) but not land u have to get h&l from a builder and most likely 1 garage. Officer u can at cherrington,aspect or prominence estate..and ofcourse Pakenham....

 

Are you saying we cannot buy a land from the Clyde Vale anymore, and have to go for House and Land package from a builder? If that is what you meant, what are the disadvantages of it? We cannot choose our own builder? Or are there any other issues?

 

1. Speak with a mortgage broker about what options you have, Melbourne is in/just had a boom so not a huge rush I feel to get in the market.

2. I always start with the budget first then property that fits the budget, no point looking for stuff you cannot afford , speak with a mortgage broker.

3. Plenty of good mortgage brokers on here, have a read of their contributions and then call them to find one you can connect with. Talk to a couple and even find some through google, there is a difference between the random ones and the ones here.

4. Finding a good property is to me finding a property that can tick as many boxes as possible for the budget you have. The things that cost the most for a house in Melbourne is land, the closer to the city the more expensive it will be (generally speaking), there can be hundreds of thousands difference in going 5km further away from the city.

5. Due to your limited funds I would probably not look at getting a buyers agent but I am from the school of self teaching rather than paying someone. I would much rather learn myself and use the $10,000 to leverage into a further $50,000 purchase price (even up to 100k). If it was $1,000 my thoughts would be much different on them as I am a fan of property managers as I cannot deal with petty issues and I don't want to keep up with the latest legislation.

6. N/A

7. The others will need to be involved once you have selected a party and either before you put an offer in but most people wait until after they have a contract (please seek you own legal advice).

8. The mortgage broker can advise you on fees but typically 5% for purchasing cost but can be more with LMI and your deposit will vary.

9. Insurance and buffers, you have nearly all insurance but the most expensive one is trauma because it is the one that most people will claim on. For you death/tpd insurance a good plan is to clear debts and then provide an income for 25-30 years whilst you have dependents given that you have a second kid on the way I would be aiming for 30 years. To give you an example home loan 300k plus 50k p.a. for 30 years = 1.8M in coverage. Also with your insurance I would speak with an insurance broker who understands the market as some insurance companies underwriting isn't worth the piece of paper it is written on... You really want an upfront medical one not a no medical check one (as they may say the condition was there after you took out cover).

10. The mortgage broker will be able to advise.

Best of luck

 

Land is est close to 240 build cost 180 to 220 (for example The Capri from Burbank). You r over 400 plus costs. You can choose any builders there r plenty...

 

Hi nushydude,

I am a migrant as well, and when I arrived to Australia 10 years ago, I was in a similar situation, a good job in IT but not much savings for the deposit. It might be worth sharing with you what we did at that time...

• We took advantage of the FHOG, it was $15K and no Stamp Duty.
• We purchased an apartment 20+Kms from Sydney CBD, the alternative was a house 40+Kms from CBD but I was not keen on the daily commute.
• We didn't have car for 1 year, so we could increase our saving and have a buffer just in case.
• We did the max LVR loan at that time, 97.5%, to keep as much cash as possible available.
• All our savings went to the offset account.
• With time the property went up in value, we refinanced and use the surplus as the deposit for our first IP.

Everyone is different, so what we did might not be relevant to you.

Cheers,
Roberto.

 

But we cannot afford that much. I found some packages on Burbank website which probably fits our budget. I have no idea about the area yet.

 

Valuable info. Things have gotten a bit tougher over the last few years it seems.

I think we already have 10% deposit for the loan. (Depends on how much we can borrow though). Also going for the FHOG, which is only 10k nowadays in Vic. On top of that, we have to pay 50% of the stamp duty, which depends on the size of the land. But I think the FHOG should cover the costs if we go for a small land, which is good.

Would going for a 3 bedroom house reduce the value of the property substantially in the future? Because this probably will become an IP in few years.

 

Sorry missed the 'new' part of the <400k purchase criteria. Not available in Narre Warren.

 

alternatively u can wait and save more.
Or Wait till more land is released in officer south or Clyde. Watch out for advt price from builders use that as a guide, site cost Rock removals, landscaping, driveway blinds down lights mail box are usually not included and if ur land has a slope that will incr cost too.

 

Yes I can wait and save more. It is never a non-option.

Today in the evening, I have a meeting with a realestate group called Wise Group. This is my first one. They said they have few options that fit my budget. What should I ask them?

If I go for a house and land package (which is my preferred route due to lack of time), shouldn't the rock removal and fixing the slope be included in the quoted price?

 

1. If they recommend a new property find out if they are being paid from the developer/builder. No harm in it but that way you can understand who is feeding their hand when they recommend you something. If you are paying them and they are also receiving kickback from the developer, then to me there is a conflict of interest.

2. Prices you would think includes everything but sad part is there are always variations, you can negotiate a fixed price contract up front but end of the day someone needs to pay. Meaning upfront you might pay more if there are no issues or you could pay less if there are issues.

 

I met with the agent last night and they said they have a H&L package for 379K (if paid in steps) or $395K if paid after finishing of the house. It's in Clydevale (Clyde North).

It is a 4-2-1 house, not the 3-2-2 house I was thinking of going for. And the design cannot be altered but it is fine. We aren't too picky about the design as the layouts of all of these houses look way better the ones we have lived throughout our lived. It is not basic; site costs, heating, evaporative cooling, blinds, appliances, downlights, remote garage door, drive way, front and back landscaping etc. are included. Didn't see the house, but I was asked to come next Friday to see the same house already built.

The only issue is, the land is only 249sqm. And the land will only be released around April and the house be finished by November. It is not a big issue; we'll have more savings by that time anyway.

So do you think the land size is too small for that price? The house is slightly more expensive than the land. Like land:house = 180:195.

Should I be able to go for a 300sqm land with my budget?

I have an appointment with another realestate agent on Sunday. They have a much cheaper package in Eliston (Clyde North). Gonna go see it too.

Today I am going to see some display homes to get an idea about stuff with a friend. My friend insists that I go for a bigger land and build the house separately, which would allow me to use my funds efficiently. I just don't have the time.

 

I am with Roberto here
Buy an apartment/townhouse/unit, you should get something nice at your price point and a lot closer to work

In a year or two, when you have some equity and more savings you can look for a house (where you want the kids to go to school)

 

Ok,

Ok clydevale and st germain r the 2 cheapest estates. St germain coz of powerlines and due to possible flooding on their side of Thompsons rd. Find out why clydevalebis cheap. Ys if u go with builder than u pay for house on tiniest block they can sell u. U need at least 2 garage for future value and rentability...also just curious y r u seeing REA and not talking to developers directly. Would u consider booking a block of land now and build nxt year gives u more time save and research ? Also check belmond.

 

Valuable info. I'll avoid St. Germain and Clydevale. I couldn't find out while Clydevale is cheap. But it could be because there is no train station near there. It's smack in the middle of Cranbourne and Pakenham lines. Belmond also doesn't have a station, but probably it is more appealing because the Cranbourne East station is planned in the future.

The Wise Group was just from a contact. I didn't meet them as REAs. But it seems that package is not that suitable. Firstly, the land size is small. Secondly, it's in ClydeVale.

Today I met with a contact at Sienna Homes at the Tulliallan display. Their packages were a bit expensive. But the important information I got from her was that I probably should look at Arcadia, Timbertop and Cherrington estates in Officer. It might take a whole year for the new releases to get titled in Arcadia. But it seems it is a self-sustained estate. And also has better access. No idea about the other two. Any thoughts on them?

 

Yes Coleen from sienna, use these builders to get as much info as possible about suburb demand etc.
Be aware that if u buy h&l u will get smaller block. U basically pay more for the house but if u buy just land ..atleast 450sqm with 14/16 frontage then u can build on almost at the same price as what they offer as h&l..only drawback if u buy lot u have to wait till its titled...

 

I looked at my options, but apartments around here are so darn expensive, and small too. Wouldn't the value of apartments go down compared to a house because there is no "land"? Or am I interpreting this wrong?

I see. Initially I was going with the H&L package assuming we could service a larger loan. But now that I know it is not possible, I probably will have to go for separate land.

One issue I have with this though is that you have to pay 5% of the land value to "book" the land. This could be about $10000, which I believe is coming straight out of our deposit, which can affect how big of a loan we can go for, right? Or am I missing something?

Also, what should I look for when I choose a particular block? What makes one block more valuable that another block, other than the size of it? If I were to guess, I would say it is the shape (more rectangular the better), slope (lesser the better) and position in a lot (in which way, I am unclear). Are there more?