Land And/or House Buying/building...

[CRoNic...]

I know this is a car forum and not a 'personal advice' forum... but hey, we're all family here and I've noticed more and more that alot of people are selling their car and investing in houses! So:

Alright, so I'm 21, still living at home with my Mum, have a car loan and am getting pretty ready to leave the nest and buy my first house.

I'm one who's against long-term renting... or renting at all in that aspect. I can't justify spending $250+ a week on rent for 5 years... as after 5 years, you have nothing to show for what you spent! When you could be putting that $250 towards a mortgage. Not to mention, I'd say it'd be quite hard to save while renting?

Anyway, so there's plenty of house and land packages cropping up down South. There's one around my corner in Huntfield Heights (the good part) and in Sellicks Beach. I'm aware that the boosted first home owners grant of $21,000 will expire on June 30th 2009... which gives me roughly 5 months to make a firm decision and sign my life away.

AV Jennings is offering land from around $130,000 with a $9k stamp duty refund while Devine is offering $293,000 for a house and land with NO deposit.

With Devine, the mortgage would be locked in over a 30 year period at a 7.7% variable interest rate for the first x amount of years. They've worked out the mortgage repayments would be roughly around the $300 mark a week, which is affordable on what I'm on at the moment. Also, I'd be living with another 3 people, but the mortgage would be in my name. So, there'd be 2 sources of income plus 2 sources of rent.

Has anyone built with either AV Jennings or Devine Pioneer Homes? I've heard mixed reactions about Devine, as I've had a few mates build with them but there's been various hickups along the way... but I guess you'd get that with any builder.

Also, would there be any recommendations on any banks to go see? I currently bank with Bank SA and have a car loan with Savings and Loans, and found that Savings and Loans are alot easier to deal with but that might be due to the fact that they're a credit union.

And has anyone got this first home owners grant? Was it difficult to get (eg. huge amount of criteria)?

Just wanted to hear anyone elses opinions on these offers, as I really want to take advantage of that first home owners grant while it's still active.

Cheers!

[rad100]

i went to see "what i could borrow"

found out with a personal loan it KILLS ur lending power...

so u might wanna consider paying that off, saying that thou u will not have and money to put towards the deposit...

i had about 15k in my bank then had the 21k grant and still could only manage to borrow $190,000 and thats earning 40-60k a year....

but that was with anz... basically got approved on the spot...

but yeh hope that helped? haha

[Nonie_13]

See on my wage which is very simular i got approve for $220k without deposit thru anz. I've heard bank S.A are now almost the only bank that will lend 100 % of the loan but dont quote my on that its just what i've heard.

I'd also love to find out as im in the exact same bracket as u, minus the car loan.

[Boof]

Ok...3 years ago (roughly) we built a home at Munno Para West with Devine in a house and land package...Happy with the house and yada yada for our first house its fine! Be looking at upgrading in a few years anyways. My only advice is to SAVE a deposit, we did the 107% home loan (so they paid the fee's and all that kinda junk) but at the time we paid a higher interest rate for it....Kinda had to due to a few reasons but yer all in all happy with the house, its slowly getting there and the only thing i'd change is saving money for a deposit first!

The FHOG is easy, they do all the paper work for you and it just comes in a cheque or it did with us!

[DSTROY]

has anyone got this first home owners grant? Was it difficult to get (eg. huge amount of criteria)?

I got the first home owners grant with my place. Its really easy to get you shouldn't have any problems.

Go to this site they have a eligibility checklist for it, Revenue SA

[Inline 6]

any 1 can get 1st home buyers, providing you havnt already bought a house. you get more cash for building (and i think buying a brand new home) it should be noted

[Murry33]

best going through a place like aussie home loans imo, i tried a few banks but really wouldn't give me what i wanted to loan for property, i went through aussie home loans and got a great interest rate and was able to borrow more.

speak to a place like them and you will get all your questions answered

Edited January 11, 2009 by Murry33

[CRoNic...]

Ah excellent. Sounds like I'll give Aussie a go!

I'm looking around the 200-odd mark, but I'll see if I can possibly roll my car loan into the mortgage loan.

But yeah, it's very hard to find a bank which will give you a 100% loan these days. But I might give Bank SA a go, too... although, with the car loan, they only approved me for $13k yet I walked down the street and Savings and Loans approved me for $22.5k on the exact same wage!

I guess it pays to shop around!

Edit: Can you put your first home owners grant as a deposit for the loan if you decide to build?

Edited January 11, 2009 by CRoNic...

[4door_Sleeper]

I don't know if they still exist and what the details are, but my first home was with Home-start. They only take a % of your wage, so if/when interest rates get really high you will always be able to make the repayments however your mortgage will go back wards.

If you can manage the same repayments a normal bank would charge you, you can pay the house off quite fast. The interest rates used to be average/competitive but the advantage was the knowledge that if interest rates went high again (in my case they were just coming down from around 20%) i wouldn't be without a home.

The earlier you get on the home ownership ladder the better as prices will continue to rise and your equity will go up as the prices go up.

[MsSkyline]

My recomendation is a Mortgage Broker. They sometimes will be able to get you a better rate and should know (hopefully) what banks lend upto what. If you do 100% they generally won't let you combine your personal loan. You will definately notice a great difference in what each bank will lend you. Lots of banks have recently changed to a max of 90% and make you have a good savings history.

If you could save 5% and show your genuine savings, you'll be better off. Costs for 100% ers are great.

With my FHOG it got paid straight to the bank and all I had to do was just fill out a form and they did it all.

You'll also need to decide on Fixed or Variable, so make sure you do your research. You can get a 3yr fixed for 5.49% which is heaps 'cheap'.

PM me if you want the name of a good Mortgage Broker - no it's not me

[Madaz]

why not build and rent it out as a source of income and stay at home till your ready to get married then you have a new house to move into

[Trav33]

I see a financial advisor who my gf put my onto. He's not a morgage broker as such - generally morgage brokers get paid on commission, so they'd rather you borrow $300k then $200k. This guy looks at your overall situation, prepares you for interest rate rises, and puts plans in place for the ability to redraw for a new car, etc etc.

The only thing i've heard about devine, is to be careful of their small print and their interest rates after the honeymoon period. Their tv adverts sound fantastic, but sometimes things are too good to be true.

[Inline 6]

none of my buisness, but some say its a better idea to rent with the gf 1st and see how you go living together. but im sure you'll be right anyway, only i seem to get the 1s you gota watch out for

Edited January 12, 2009 by Inline 6

[KISIN]

why not build and rent it out as a source of income and stay at home till your ready to get married then you have a new house to move into

Its a good idea and is what i want to do however he will lose his FHOG. There are ways around it though

[Damo_R34]

like pretending you are living in it for 6 months - direct all your bills to the address, have a bit of running water and light usage every now and again etc

[RubyRS4]

When it comes to builders, any builder for that matter, there are horror stories so you pretty much take your chances.

I built with Devine Pioneer and had no problems at all with them. Their package is a perfect start for first home owners. Go for it!

Enuf said.

Keep in mind you've got less than 5 months to get the ball rolling. Allow time for your application to be processed with Devine, allow time for the credit history check etc, and the application for the grant is separate from the house/land package application, so that will take time also. Give yourself 4 weeks to ensure you can get your applications in before the kill off date. There is alot of paperwork involved, but nothing beats the feeling of home ownership.

I hated losing my house which Devine built and then I lost some 6 years later due to divorce. I built it for $142K and sold it for $345K. It was well built, and I carried on with so many renovations and landscaping. But we've got two houses now; one which we rent to my mother, and one we live in and I'm currently extending. Our total house and land assets are worth big numbers now, and we're looking at another investment property later when we can refinance again.

[CRoNic...]

Wow! Sounds good, Ruby! Thanks for the advice, guys! I'll go down to bank SA to talk to them about the Home Start Finance scheme. I'll also speak directly with Devine to see what they can do for me!

[RubyRS4]

Wow! Sounds good, Ruby! Thanks for the advice, guys! I'll go down to bank SA to talk to them about the Home Start Finance scheme. I'll also speak directly with Devine to see what they can do for me!

Just be aware its not just one application for everything. There are many individual applications for house, land, grant, credit check etc etc, so give yourself a buffer to finalise the deal in time. Prepare to sign your life away ... many times

Edited January 12, 2009 by RubyRS4

[Damo_R34]

i have also been looking into getting an investment property, some excellent information here!

[CRoNic...]

Can you go into the Devine office in Adelaide to speak with someone? Or do you have to call that Sales line? I'd rather speak to someone in person, though!