Choosing my first home loan

[pkj24]

Hi guys, 6 months down the track and I am now in the same boat as Hypnotic.

After running around and doing my research, I am more confused than ever!

I see a few people have recommended Members Equity but there rates are well and truly above some of the other players in the market at this point in time (BankWest, CBA etc).

I have stumbled accross a lender called "LoanAustralia Corp" http://www.loanaustralia.com.au/ and they seem to be the best I can find (low interest, no fees etc).

Has anyone heard of this company before? They have only been around 3 years and there is not much on them anywhere...

 

[trading_rookie]

Anyone catch the new mortage loan scheme on offer that's guarenteed to get you into your home 'quicker'?

Well it works like this; you save up 10% of the deposit and the bank will loan you the rest. You pay off no interest whatsover to the bank...they're (for the time being at least) only interested in the priniciple. Here's the catch, when you go and sell they want 40%...

 

[pkj24]

Ouch, 40%! That effectively makes it harder to buy a house next time than it is now!

 

[YOUNG_TRADER]

Hmm just saw this thread,

Here's my 2cents, get a finance broker and a good one!

Mines helped me heaps currently into my 2nd property (value about $750k)

Looking at my third.

I'm pretty savvy when it comes to finance but know that those in the business are better suited than I am to finding the best product

 

[marklar]

I'd love to buy a place now, but I can't... none of the damn Melbourne realestate agents will return a phonecall or email. One guy (director of the agency) I've been chasing about a particular property for 5 weeks!

When I do eventually get on to someone they tell me it's sold, this has even happened when walking into an agents' office with the property listed for sale on its' window.

No wonder I have such a low opinion of realestate agents...:bonk: :screwy:

m.

 

[pkj24]

I'd love to buy a place now, but I can't... none of the damn Melbourne realestate agents will return a phonecall or email. One guy (director of the agency) I've been chasing about a particular property for 5 weeks!

When I do eventually get on to someone they tell me it's sold, this has even happened when walking into an agents' office with the property listed for sale on its' window.

No wonder I have such a low opinion of realestate agents...:bonk: :screwy:

m.

I'm in Melbourne too, and unfortunately that is just the state of the market at the moment. The houses all sell themselves, all the agents have to do is sit there and take the commission.

And don't get me started on under-quoting, I went to one auction the other weekend where it was quoted at $325+ and went for $447!

 

[trading_rookie]

Here's my 2cents, get a finance broker and a good one!

Unless you get burnt it's very hard to know if you have a good one. Nothing worse than having someone push a product from a lender that's earns them a commission.

I'd go further and add you can't even trust friends when it comes to money. A friend of mine is a mortage broker and needed some cash fast so asked if I was interested in partnering up in one of his investment properties. Everything was fine until it came to the type of loan - he wanted redraw line-of-credit style and I wanted a vanilla flavoured variable loan with no redraw facilities...needless to say I jumped.

 

[Flying Fish]

I'm in Melbourne too, and unfortunately that is just the state of the market at the moment. The houses all sell themselves, all the agents have to do is sit there and take the commission.

And don't get me started on under-quoting, I went to one auction the other weekend where it was quoted at $325+ and went for $447!

Wow It must have been in a really good suburb like Footscray. ?

 

[The Y-man]

I'm in Melbourne too, and unfortunately that is just the state of the market at the moment. The houses all sell themselves....

Hmmm..... sounds like it is high time to put my properties up for sale....

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[macca]

I have never used them, but on Somersoft Property forum this guy is quite popular with Melbourne people and has good feed back

http://www.rjafinance.com.au/

His name is Rolf

hope it helps

 

[DB008]

I'm with RAMS at the moment. l don't really like them myself (but others could be diff). I was doing an extra repayment one nite, had a few too many drinks and had a slow internet connection. I hit the submit button twice out of frustration, guess what, not enough funds in the account. Got slugged like $200 all up (one from RAMS the other from my bank). RAMS came up with all sorts of excuses why they couldn't retract it. l'm not sure whom l'm going to go with my next one. Settlement isn't due for another year, so l've got heaps of time. I'm trying to get a 3rd between now and then anyways.

 

[pkj24]

After a bit more research I have come accross a company called "Advantage Finance" http://www.advantagefinance.com.au/ and they seem to be one of the best on the market.

Really low interest rate, and you can choose to have application fees upfront (and therefore a lower rate for the life of the loan) or have the application fees waived (and therefore pay a slightly higher rate for the life of the loan). Even their slightly higher rate is under 7% pa, which is well and truly below the best the banks have to offer at the moment...

 

[The Y-man]

I have never used them, but on Somersoft Property forum this guy is quite popular with Melbourne people and has good feed back

http://www.rjafinance.com.au/

His name is Rolf

hope it helps

I've used Rolf for a number of loans - highly recommeneded (uuuuurgg.... hope it's not considered ramping.... )

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[constable]

Hi guys, 6 months down the track and I am now in the same boat as Hypnotic.

After running around and doing my research, I am more confused than ever!

I see a few people have recommended Members Equity but there rates are well and truly above some of the other players in the market at this point in time (BankWest, CBA etc).

I have stumbled accross a lender called "LoanAustralia Corp" http://www.loanaustralia.com.au/ and they seem to be the best I can find (low interest, no fees etc).

Has anyone heard of this company before? They have only been around 3 years and there is not much on them anywhere...

Im a bit surprised by that , we have had 4 housing loans with members equity and found them very compeditive, helpful and offer all the condiments that come with loans now. Not questioning your judgement but i hope your comparing apples with apples and not getting sucked in by honeymoon period rates!
Regards C

 

[pkj24]

Im a bit surprised by that , we have had 4 housing loans with members equity and found them very compeditive, helpful and offer all the condiments that come with loans now. Not questioning your judgement but i hope your comparing apples with apples and not getting sucked in by honeymoon period rates!
Regards C

No, no honeymoon rates, thanks for the heads up though.

ME = 7.49% to 7.74% pa

Loan Australia Corp = 6.99% to 7.20%

Advantage Finance = 6.73% to 7.05%

 

[The Y-man]

Im a bit surprised by that , we have had 4 housing loans with members equity and found them very compeditive, helpful and offer all the condiments that come with loans now. Not questioning your judgement but i hope your comparing apples with apples and not getting sucked in by honeymoon period rates!
Regards C

Also used ME for a while, but then we refin'd to Wesuc... I mean Westpac.
Keep in mind interest rates are negotaible (as are fees) - and make sure you go for a pro package.

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[constable]

No, no honeymoon rates, thanks for the heads up though.

ME = 7.49% to 7.74% pa

Loan Australia Corp = 6.99% to 7.20%

Advantage Finance = 6.73% to 7.05%

Also used ME for a while, but then we refin'd to Wesuc... I mean Westpac.
Keep in mind interest rates are negotaible (as are fees) - and make sure you go for a pro package

What sought of reduction were you able to negotiate out of interest? (we do bank with pacdup)
To pkj, these sound like really great rates im just wondering if they also provide redraw facilities,offset a/cs etc and charge any service or app fees?
If all's good then sounds like your on a good thing! Taking the first step....once you do that youll be asking yourself in 12 months time why didnt i do that sooner!

 

[pkj24]

Also used ME for a while, but then we refin'd to Wesuc... I mean Westpac.
Keep in mind interest rates are negotaible (as are fees) - and make sure you go for a pro package

What sought of reduction were you able to negotiate out of interest? (we do bank with pacdup)
To pkj, these sound like really great rates im just wondering if they also provide redraw facilities,offset a/cs etc and charge any service or app fees?
If all's good then sounds like your on a good thing! Taking the first step....once you do that youll be asking yourself in 12 months time why didnt i do that sooner!

Redraw and contributions available with no fee. Have internet banking / telephone access. No offset account (both) or direct salary crediting (advantage) but I feel I am disciplined enough with my money to transfer in and out of the loan account when I need it. I have found that you often pay a higher interest rate for an offset account, so unless you have a significant amount of money in the account ($10k + ) it won't cover the basis point difference between the loans.

 

[The Y-man]

What sought of reduction were you able to negotiate out of interest?

It's been a while, but .5% to 1% should be pretty easy - but we also got a everyday account, fee free up to 20 transaction or something.... Basically go in saying "Well the other bank is offering....what can you do?"


Cheers,

The Y-man