Australia mortgages question

[Ausvisitor]

Australian banks are much more averse than UK banks. They also work very stringently to probationary periods (usually 6 months). When we looked to buy they would offer 350k as a mortgage, as soon as I got through the probation they were happy to go to $1.5m

Nothing changed except been in job 6 months 

 

 

[Ausvisitor]

51 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

That would be well above the 28/36 rule unless the borrower had absolutely no other debt, and wouldn't leave then much disposable income.

On the bright side, interest rates are more likely to fall than rise in the foreseeable future so at least their repayments should fall.

It was CBA that was offering that on their calculator - I mean I guess that is no guarantee they'd actually let you borrow that much though 

[DrDougster]

4 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

Australian banks are much more averse than UK banks. They also work very stringently to probationary periods (usually 6 months). When we looked to buy they would offer 350k as a mortgage, as soon as I got through the probation they were happy to go to $1.5m

Nothing changed except been in job 6 months 

 

 

We didn't have a probationary period. They were happy with just a couple of months payslips to demonstrate income.

[Simontucks]

7 minutes ago, DrDougster said:

We didn't have a probationary period. They were happy with just a couple of months payslips to demonstrate income.

Yes,apparently we only have to show a works contract due to having residency visas. I know it's wasted money but I'm siding toward renting for 6 months having thought about it and not rushing into buying as soon as possible.got to admit,it is a headache though trying to get our heads around it all lol

[Simontucks]

4 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

Australian banks are much more averse than UK banks. They also work very stringently to probationary periods (usually 6 months). When we looked to buy they would offer 350k as a mortgage, as soon as I got through the probation they were happy to go to $1.5m

Nothing changed except been in job 6 months 

 

 

Wow,what a difference.i think possibly it will be for the best then to rent for 6 months to build up some sort of credit record/history there.

[Ausvisitor]

2 hours ago, DrDougster said:

We didn't have a probationary period. They were happy with just a couple of months payslips to demonstrate income.

The bank (it was NAB) was happy with a contract and payslip for the smaller amount but once the 6 months, or the period mentioned in your contract of employment if different,(most Aussie corporates are 6 months) passed they became more generous

In the end we found something we liked and bought it in cash without a mortgage so didn't need to actually go through with the full application 

Edited November 25, 2023 by Ausvisitor

[DrDougster]

5 hours ago, Simontucks said:

Wow,what a difference.i think possibly it will be for the best then to rent for 6 months to build up some sort of credit record/history there.

Another thing to consider if you're in a rental: there isn't the same disincentive to buying as in UK as you can still negatively gear interest on a loan if you buy somewhere else that you let out. You have to have the "headroom" to get through the financial year but what you can put on your tax return for a property you own and let out is very generous compared to UK.

[InnerVoice]

17 hours ago, DrDougster said:

We didn't have a probationary period. They were happy with just a couple of months payslips to demonstrate income.

I recall it being 3 payslips in my case which only amounted to 6 weeks, but they also wanted to see my credit card statements for the last 3 months.

[InnerVoice]

17 hours ago, Simontucks said:

Yes,apparently we only have to show a works contract due to having residency visas. I know it's wasted money but I'm siding toward renting for 6 months having thought about it and not rushing into buying as soon as possible.got to admit,it is a headache though trying to get our heads around it all lol

 

17 hours ago, Simontucks said:

Wow,what a difference.i think possibly it will be for the best then to rent for 6 months to build up some sort of credit record/history there.

Renting for a short period is never wasted money, especially if it allows you to the opportunity to buy a more suitable property. I think you would be very wise to rent when you first arrive - not just for the credit history, but also to familiarise yourself with different areas and gain an understanding of how everything works here in Australia.

[Parley]

20 hours ago, DrDougster said:

We didn't have a probationary period. They were happy with just a couple of months payslips to demonstrate income.

When you start a brand new permanent job with any employer in Australia it is quite usual for your employment contract to include a 6 month probation period.

So if you turn out to be useless the employer can easily get rid of you.

So banks may well want you to have passed this point before they lend you a lot of money.

[Ken]

21 hours ago, Simontucks said:

Yes,apparently we only have to show a works contract due to having residency visas. I know it's wasted money but I'm siding toward renting for 6 months having thought about it and not rushing into buying as soon as possible.got to admit,it is a headache though trying to get our heads around it all lol

Finding somewhere to rent is probably going to be a big headache. Rental vacancies are at all-time lows.

[Simontucks]

8 hours ago, InnerVoice said:

 

Renting for a short period is never wasted money, especially if it allows you to the opportunity to buy a more suitable property. I think you would be very wise to rent when you first arrive - not just for the credit history, but also to familiarise yourself with different areas and gain an understanding of how everything works here in Australia.

Thanks for that. I do think this is the way we are heading now.just hope we can find a rental !. As you say it will allow us to settle,find an area we like whilst also building up some sort of credit/employment record

[InnerVoice]

35 minutes ago, Simontucks said:

Thanks for that. I do think this is the way we are heading now.just hope we can find a rental !. As you say it will allow us to settle,find an area we like whilst also building up some sort of credit/employment record

You'll be fine, just get an AirBnB booked for a month and take it from there. If you can avoid arriving outside the school holidays (9 Dec to 21 January) then you shouldn't have too many problems finding a place. Where will you be working?

[Simontucks]

1 hour ago, InnerVoice said:

You'll be fine, just get an AirBnB booked for a month and take it from there. If you can avoid arriving outside the school holidays (9 Dec to 21 January) then you shouldn't have too many problems finding a place. Where will you be working?

I hadn't thought about that!great idea.I work in construction and my wife will be working in the city my brother's family live in Brookfield sort of south western suburbs of Brisbane.we are heading out at the end of April,we are just waiting for our 2 dogs to get their permits

[DrDougster]

8 hours ago, Parley said:

When you start a brand new permanent job with any employer in Australia it is quite usual for your employment contract to include a 6 month probation period.

So if you turn out to be useless the employer can easily get rid of you.

So banks may well want you to have passed this point before they lend you a lot of money.

Indeed, although not my experience with the mortgage we took out this year.

The bank does get the house in the you turn out to be useless scenario you describe!

We had an Airbnb for six or seven weeks when we moved to Brisbane to give us time to find a rental we liked. Worked very well within a walk of work so we only needed one car.

[can1983]

12 hours ago, Simontucks said:

I hadn't thought about that!great idea.I work in construction and my wife will be working in the city my brother's family live in Brookfield sort of south western suburbs of Brisbane.we are heading out at the end of April,we are just waiting for our 2 dogs to get their permits

That explains the price difference the 1 million and 700k. I was referring to Brisbane itself 

[Ken]

4 hours ago, can1983 said:

That explains the price difference the 1 million and 700k. I was referring to Brisbane itself 

Brookfield is in Brisbane itself. Brisbane isn't like Melbourne or Sydney where only the CBD is in the city and the rest of the Metro area comprises other cities. Brisbane is one big city.

[can1983]

1 hour ago, Ken said:

Brookfield is in Brisbane itself. Brisbane isn't like Melbourne or Sydney where only the CBD is in the city and the rest of the Metro area comprises other cities. Brisbane is one big city.

sure I see that technically it is but its a rural area not urban or sub urban. I live in Hobart and as a smaller city we have the same the urban area ends and you are very quickly into rural living with horses in paddocks and large acreages. You get a lot more for your buck that's for sure, that's why my estimate was so far wrong.

 

[Simontucks]

7 hours ago, can1983 said:

That explains the price difference the 1 million and 700k. I was referring to Brisbane itself 

To be fair there are lots of properties in that bracket and well above also . obviously the further away from Brisbane we look the cheaper it gets

[InnerVoice]

4 hours ago, Ken said:

Brookfield is in Brisbane itself. Brisbane isn't like Melbourne or Sydney where only the CBD is in the city and the rest of the Metro area comprises other cities. Brisbane is one big city.

That's partly true in that Brookfield is in Brisbane, but places that people often refer to as 'Brisbane' are in other local government areas. For example, Arana Hills (10km from the CBD) is in Moreton Bay, and Cleveland in Redland City.

[InnerVoice]

2 hours ago, Simontucks said:

To be fair there are lots of properties in that bracket and well above also . obviously the further away from Brisbane we look the cheaper it gets

Yes, the further away you travel from the city the cheaper property gets but I'd doubt that you'll find anything for $700k in Brookfield or the surrounding areas, like Kenmore and Indooroopilly. Brisbanites have a saying that 'west is best', and apart from the inner city suburbs the western suburbs are the most sought after. You mentioned a figure of $700k earlier in the post so I did a search on realestate.com. I added houses with 3 bedrooms as a criteria because agents often list 1 and 2 bedroom apartments as houses so they'll appear in the search. As you can see, your best bet for affordable property is going to be on the east side of the city, which is technically Redland City not Brisbane (see previous post). It's quite a long commute, even on a good day, but there's a silver lining in that there's a decent rail link to the city which is rather pleasant from recollection.

Edited November 27, 2023 by InnerVoice

[Simontucks]

29 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

Yes, the further away you travel from the city the cheaper property gets but I'd doubt that you'll find anything for $700k in Brookfield or the surrounding areas, like Kenmore and Indooroopilly. Brisbanites have a saying that 'west is best', and apart from the inner city suburbs the western suburbs are the most sought after. You mentioned a figure of $700k earlier in the post so I did a search on realestate.com. I added houses with 3 bedrooms as a criteria because agents often list 1 and 2 bedroom apartments as houses so they'll appear in the search. As you can see, your best bet for affordable property is going to be on the east side of the city, which is technically Redland City not Brisbane (see previous post). It's quite a long commute, even on a good day, but there's a silver lining in that there's a decent rail link to the city which is rather pleasant from recollection.

 Ideally Kenmore would be great but we quite like bellbowrie and moggill a little further out and slightly cheaper but don't want to go as far as Goodna/redbank across the river

[InnerVoice]

12 hours ago, Simontucks said:

 Ideally Kenmore would be great but we quite like bellbowrie and moggill a little further out and slightly cheaper but don't want to go as far as Goodna/redbank across the river

You should be able to get something for around $700k if you're looking that far out, although be aware there are large areas down there that are particularly susceptible to flooding. Check out the Brisbane flood map...

https://fam.brisbane.qld.gov.au/?page=Map---Standard

Edited November 27, 2023 by InnerVoice

[Simontucks]

8 hours ago, InnerVoice said:

You should be able to get something for around $700k if you're looking that far out, although be aware there are large areas down there that are particularly susceptible to flooding. Check out the Brisbane flood map...

https://fam.brisbane.qld.gov.au/?page=Map---Standard

I remember the big floods a few years ago.that was so scary to see how far they reached.

Thanks so much for all the information you are giving me

[InnerVoice]

51 minutes ago, Simontucks said:

I remember the big floods a few years ago.that was so scary to see how far they reached.

Thanks so much for all the information you are giving me

I was living in Paddington in 2011 and fortunately our place was on a hill, but we knew plenty of people just a stone's throw away who got flooded - some of whom ended up in our lounge for a week! It's impossible to imagine it raining that hard for that long. It was nothing short of biblical.