Buying 1st Home

[bangers]

I am finally in the process of buying my first home. It is the most nerve racking and stressful thing. I got knocked back for a mortgage from one bank because of the interest hikes they didn't want to take a risk especially considering the POSTCODE! Then i had to wait for assessment from another bank and i just got approved, only to find out the house is in the guys dead wifes name so the bank won't hand over the money until that's sorted out.

Anyone else have bad experiences?

Also to anyone thinking they can't afford to buy a home...... Be willing to move. I sacrificed some good friends to provide for my family and i don't regret it one bit. You make new friends.

I'm currently renting a house 2 minutes walk from my depot but the new house is 30 minutes drive. Sacrifices have to be made.

Considering i'll be paying less repayments than i am rent. The house is a doer-upper. 2 storey house with a verandah on the top floor looking out over mountains. A self contained flat downstairs. Needs paint on every ceiling and wall (inside and out). Needs new tiles in the entry foyer and on the verandah and more modern railings on the verandah too. But apart from that we can move straight in. It has a new kitchen and a really good bathroom. A huge laundry. New hot water system. Lock-up garage under the house. Ceiling fans, aircon. Decent size backyard. School up the road.

I am just waiting for the builders and pest report but my father and i couldn't find anything major that is wrong with it.

The best part is the price......................... $100,000.

[minux]

Congrats mate, feels better knowing you are not paying for someone elses dream eh?

Best of all you can now spend your own money on making it how you want.

All the best in the future!!

[MasterOfReality]

Good stuff.

I myself don't subscribe to the over capitalising that most people do, hence the reason I can afford up to 13% interest rates.

I could have had a $500k house, but chose a $355k house instead. It needs paint and a general tidy up but will be well worth it. Large 3 bedroom house on a 787m2 block of land, with a 9 x 5 m new shed with power in the back, 25km from Brisbane CBD and still in a good area. Reason why it was 50k cheaper than the rest of the houses in the suburb is that it needs new paint, a new kitchen and a few issues like some drainage and repointing the roof sorted out. Big deal. Its a $10-$15k repair bill to increase the value by at least 40k. Worth it in my opinion!!

Think of it this way, you won't lose out. The value of it will rise, unlike those poor sods that overcapitalised in Kellyville! And its always better paying off your own house than someone elses.

I also prefer to sink my cash into brick and mortar than anything else.

[minux]

Good stuff.

I myself don't subscribe to the over capitalising that most people do, hence the reason I can afford up to 13% interest rates.

I could have had a $500k house, but chose a $355k house instead. It needs paint and a general tidy up but will be well worth it. Large 3 bedroom house on a 787m2 block of land, with a 9 x 5 m new shed with power in the back, 25km from Brisbane CBD and still in a good area. Reason why it was 50k cheaper than the rest of the houses in the suburb is that it needs new paint, a new kitchen and a few issues like some drainage and repointing the roof sorted out. Big deal. Its a $10-$15k repair bill to increase the value by at least 40k. Worth it in my opinion!!

Think of it this way, you won't lose out. The value of it will rise, unlike those poor sods that overcapitalised in Kellyville! And its always better paying off your own house than someone elses.

I also prefer to sink my cash into brick and mortar than anything else.

I believe Mark twain said it first when it was said "Buy land, their not making it any more"

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Can that be said for the 380 too?

Buying a house is a big deal, especially if you are young. $100k, that is a good price. Very unusual for a bank to knock back that small a loan though. (In todays terms, it is a small mortgage). Start small and work your way up, if you're that way inclined. Spend some time doing it up and you will be miles ahead.

[ProphetVX]

$100,000 for a house in NSW. You must be many a mile away from Sydney...


I'm planning to buy a house in the next 3 years, holding out to see how the interest rates pan out as there is a good chance that it will see a large decline in the value market, but even then cheapest I'd be looking at would be at least $250k for a small ass unit.

[Troy711]

im in the process at the moment. or rather, have been for the last 18 months. my girlfriend and i bought a unit off the plan. i got a call yesterday to tell me that is only about a month to 6 weeks away!

the intention is to live in it for a year or 2 then rent it out and buy a house.

[vlv8vic]

I believe Mark twain said it first when it was said "Buy land, their not making it any more"

almost.

Good theory though. Buying a house to tidy up is a good thing. that's how we entered and it was well worth it. 100k sounds pretty good!

[Troy711]

i would build before i renovated. its personal preference

[Lumps of cheese]

i would build before i renovated. its personal preference

Your right, i'd never build again.

[Troy711]

lol

id build only because i know alot of tradies through work and i know how it all works (to a degree).

what went wrong with your house?

[AttaBoy]

I'm too scared to buy a house, I have saved up almost $68K hence why I still got a crappy car (VS) or else I could have got a nice HSV or at least VE SSV.

But I think house is more important than buying a nice car especially that I'm only 22 and that is seems sensible to spend my savings for a house including a loan of course Interest rates right now is what scaring me off. I guess I'll just keep saving, but buying a HSV is quite tempting. LOL....

[Lumps of cheese]

lol

id build only because i know alot of tradies through work and i know how it all works (to a degree).

what went wrong with your house?

Well, mostly it was pretty good the house itself.I had huge problems with the retaining walls, basically the bastards fell over on me!
I shouldn't say i'd never build again, if i did i'd make sure everything was done before i moved in i.e landscaping etc.

[Lumps of cheese]

I'm too scared to buy a house, I have saved up almost $68K hence why I still got a crappy car (VS) or else I could have got a nice HSV or at least VE SSV.

But I think house is more important than buying a nice car especially that I'm only 22 and that is seems sensible to spend my savings for a house including a loan of course Interest rates right now is what scaring me off. I guess I'll just keep saving, but buying a HSV is quite tempting. LOL....

You could buy land, what are the prices like where you are?

[AttaBoy]

You could buy land, what are the prices like where you are?

Not cheap, I'm in Bayswater (Vic).

One question though.. Is it cheaper to have a house built than buying an already established house??

[bangers]

$100,000 for a house in NSW. You must be many a mile away from Sydney...

umm yeah. about 4 hours away.

[Lumps of cheese]

Not cheap, I'm in Bayswater (Vic).

One question though.. Is it cheaper to have a house built than buying an already established house??

Depends, i owned my land when i built, and the prices then were pretty good (6 years ago)
I think it was something like $6500 per square or something, i'd have to dig out the contract and have a look.

[Reaper]

The cost of building a house is largely dependant on the quality and type of your fitout and fixtures. Per square, new is a lot cheaper and easier than making additions. Buying an existing house has the advantage of certainty - you know what you are getting and how much it will cost.

Building has no end of risks. Word of mouth is probably the best tool in selecting a builder/tradesman. Cost is probably the worst. I supply to the building industry and of the hundreds of builders on the books, there are only a handfull that I would let anywhere near my house. Unfortunatly the small minority of competant builders are let down by the greater majority of dick heads.

Congrats on whoever bought the house btw.

Reaper

[commsirac]

Not cheap, I'm in Bayswater (Vic).

One question though.. Is it cheaper to have a house built than buying an already established house??

In a new area, possibly not. If it means knocking something down first, yes.

Also factor in that you have to live somewhere while your new place is getting built.....which could be up to a year from start to finish....getting quotes, plans approvals etc.

[AttaBoy]

In a new area, possibly not. If it means knocking something down first, yes.

Also factor in that you have to live somewhere while your new place is getting built.....which could be up to a year from start to finish....getting quotes, plans approvals etc.

Living with parents at the moment so that would not be a problem. Still... its kind scary going into this buying a house thing. I'll wait till I finish Uni.

[excalibur]

well done bangers on buying your first house hopefully another 12 months or so i might be able to do the same

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Living with parents at the moment so that would not be a problem. Still... its kind scary going into this buying a house thing. I'll wait till I finish Uni.

After building two houses, I would still build again. If you can do most of the other work not involved in the actual building of the house, it does work out cheaper. I was lucky in that the blocks that I bought had a fencing and front landscaping package built in. I know I paid for it in the price of the block, but it was just another expense that I didn't have to come up with the cash afterwards.

Things like floors, window treatments, back landscaping, paving of the cross over, patio. I even bought and hung all my own doors. Saved about $500 there.

If you have to pay someone to finish off the house, then it works out about the same or possibly a bit more than buying an established home.

Interest rates are something everyone has to deal with. Work on a maximum figure that you can afford to go to and borrow about 70-75% of that. It will leave room for interest rate fluctuations.

As an example, you have 68k saved, if you can afford $250 a week then 75% is $187.50, added to your $68k you can borrow around $110k based on 8% interest. Thats a house for around $180k. Doesn't sound like much but if you can afford a higher weekly repayment, you can borrow more. People who borrow to 95% or even 100% of their capacity are the ones that get into trouble when rates rise.

One thing to remember, houses aren't going to get cheaper, prices fluctuate but they will continue to rise, if your savings rate is on a par with the property value increase, you will never be in any better position than you are now. If you can save faster than the rise in values, good for you.

At 22 time is on your side, the quicker you can get into a property the better off you will be.

This is what I think anyway.

[MasterOfReality]

As above, do as much as your own work as you can.

I recently helped my old man renovate 2 of his investment apartments. Painting, tiling, bathroom, new skirting boards and door frames, and hanging doors (13 of them in one apartment as we decided to convert all the sliding wardrobe doors into swinging doors, ugh!).

The only thing we had done professionally was the rewiring, kitchen and down lights. Saved at least 10k in labor costs for each apartment.

I am planning on doing the same to my home. A new kitchen, new doors (17!), repaint, new skirting boards, new cornices. Don't need a new bathroom as its got a 2 year old bathroom. Again, the only thing will get done professionally is the kitchen and down lights.

[bangers]

i'm the same. i have a new kitchen and the bathroom just needs a little face lift which i'll do myself, new vanity and toilet cistern and new shower screens. I'm doing all internal work such as cornices and painting. and i'm doing all rendering myself. plus paving, tiling, and landscaping too. All i'm paying someone to do is the 2nd floor external painting on 2 walls as there's not enough room for a ladder and scaffolding need to be brought in, unless i can hire it cheap enough.