IMO housing prices in most suburbs are not going to see a drop in value anytime soon if any. I am sure prices will still increase more than what you can save for a deposit in the 6 months, buying now is most probably is a good time as any other unless someone in the industry thinks we are going to see a big crash in prices.

Also look into real estate sites which will have alot of useful info.
http://www.domain.com.au/
http://reiwa.com/
http://www.realestatewa.com.au/
http://www.realestate.com.au/

The institution i work for has recently changed it's policies to allow you to borrow for the costs (ie Stamp Duty) associated with the purchase as well as the property price if it is a guarantor loan. So you should be able to hold on to the funds in your account.

But i'd go the STI

I will make it clear that I have a vested interest in BEAT Home Loans. We are a lender that adopt the middle ground, that is, we provide service and and loan product adaptability like a broker, but like a bank, we source our own funds and don't rely on banks to pay us commission.

When comparing home loan rates, people get sucked in by honeymoon rates - ie 7.00% for 12 months, then after 12 months they jack up the rates and u end up paying a lot more interest. For this reason, use the 'comparison' rate to compare rates as this takes into account ongoing fees and takes into a weighted average interest rate over a standard number of yrs.

With the competitive market at the moment, you should be paying less than 7.00% comparison interest rate with no bank fees whatsover - no valuation fee, no ongoing fees, no setup fees, no account keeping fees. The only fees that are applicable are the standard govt ones that you can't get out of. If you can't find a product/lender that provides this, then you're not looking hard enough or your broker is trying to lead you to a product that gives him more commission. A 0.5% drop interest rate equates to $125 per month on a $300k loan, so it is wise to shop around !

Ideally, you should have enough deposit so that you don't need to pay lenders mortage insurance (LMI). This will save you a few $k, but if you can't make that deposit, then the LMI can be added to the loan amount. This deposit is usually around 20% of the value of the house + all the govt fees etc.

Look and learn about loan features u NEED and u DON'T NEED. Offset, redraw, fixed rates etc are features that a lot banks will charge you extra for, which you may not need in the first place.

If you have more specific questions, give us a shout.

The hardest bit is the conveyancing stamp duty (don't forget the loan stamp duty as well) which is why we chose to buy land and build so we only pay stamp duty on the land. Most banks only lend 95% of the property value, but if you have any nice parents get them to go guarantor for you and bring that figure down to 80% to avoid LMI. I work for a bank, in mortgages, so i had my LMI waived but had i had to pay it, it would have been 7-8K extra onto the loan for essentially nothing (I know my bank doesn't even use it as a risk management tool anymore, its just a capital tool for the books).

My advice, buy land, sit on it and then build. Remember houses (almost) never appreciate, its the land that does Oh and my bank has a fixed rate product of 6.99% for 5 years, not too shabby.

Not bad, cheaper than the bank i work for..

Buying land attracts Capital Gains Tax if you get into financial trouble or what not and are forced to sell it. Only buy land if you're confident you can build on it in the future. You can't live on your land either

A fixed rate of 6.99% is a nice figure, but what is the 'Comparison Rate' for that product? and what ongoing fees do they charge?. Comparison Rates give a TRUE figure of a loan of $150k over 25 yrs. Of course different amounts will vary the comparison rate, but it will vary it at the same ratio... so it is invaluable when comparing bank rates.

NAB - 5 yrs fixed 7.25% (7.82% comparison)
CBA - 5 yrs fixed 7.35% (7.87% comparison)
Wespac - 5 yrs fixed 7.25% (7.82% comparison)
Bankwest - 5 yrs fixed 6.99% (8.07% comparison)

As you can see the bank with the cheapest fixed rate, is actually the most expensive of the four !

If you can get a standard variable (comparison rate) for under 7.00% without having to fix, you're doing very well. Little chance rates will be go up this year and if anything, it will drop next year. Fixing it for 5 yrs is questionable when rates are this high.

Not hard to see who i work for then huh :P saying that you got to remember comparison rates take into affect the 'break costs' of exiting a fixed rate contract early so you can't purely rely on them. Best be aware of all fees and charges before signing on any dotted line

that's correct ... but early termination fees are pretty much negligible when compared to the entire amount you have paid in interest AND fees over 25 yrs. Most are $500-$1500 if you leave within your contract period (which many ppl do when weighing the costs once variable rates drop below their fixed rates).

Yearly fees, monthly fees and monthly ongoing fees is the real killer (along with actual rates). Try and negotiate that out of your loan.

The thing we used to suggest with ETF's was if you are not moving just want to pay your loan out leave less than $10 owing or even put it into credit. You only get charged the ETF when you close your loan account.

Brendon

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Losing is worse than death. You have to live with losing....

I'm with Sethor on this, even prices on land and property ease to 5% gain a year, based on 300K purchase price its an extra 15K the property will move in 1 year, can you save an additional 300 bucks week to cover that for the next year?
Al