The 2014 McGrath Report, released exclusively to The Australian, tips Brisbane’s middle-ring suburbs of Indooroopilly, Carindale and Hendra as likely to see the best price rises. Mr McGrath forecast housing prices in Brisbane would rise 20 per cent or more this cycle, over the next two years. “If you had $1 million, there is nowhere but southeast Queensland that could compete for growth over the next three years,’’ he said, noting that the hard-hit Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast markets were also beginning to rebound. Melbourne’s house price growth was likely to trail that of Sydney, but only by a small margin.

First-home buyers — currently at historically low levels — would return on the back of pent-up demand, record low interest rates and spiralling rents.

Contact us today to discuss getting into your Queensland property now to take advantage of the upcoming growth. With access to over 200 projects, My First Place is Queensland’s #1 sourcing agent.

The full article can be read on The Australian here.

The post Queensland picked to overtake Southern states in 2015 appeared first on My First Place.

Top 10 locations to buy currently within Queensland:

1. Brisbane Northside
2. Cairns
3. Hervey Bay
4. Ipswich
5. Kelvin Grove
6. Logan City
7. Redcliffe
8. Sunshine Coast
9. Toowoomba
10.  Townsville

Contact us today to talk about how we can help you find your property.

You can read the full article on Property Observer here.

The post Queensland top 10 locations appeared first on My First Place.

One broker in Victoria tells buyers they can raise a 5 per cent deposit with as little as $2500. The rest comes from a personal loan and a government first-home owners grant, which is worth $10,000 in Victoria. On a $400,000 property, that’s a debt gearing of 99.375 per cent (which is not a prudent move).

Twice this month the Reserve Bank of Australia has warned against high-risk home lending. On July 3, RBA governor Glenn Stevens told investors to take care, especially in the Sydney market, and urged lenders to maintain strong standards.

Buying a property, whether it’s your first home or an investment, should be viewed as a business decision with your risk and exposure to potential loss seriously considered.

Contact us to speak to a financial broker that will give you independent, honest advice about your circumstances.

The full article appeared in Australian Financial Review here.

The post Return of the high-risk mortgage appeared first on My First Place.

For NAB, CBA or Westpac customers with an average, 25-year term, first homebuyer loan of around $300,000, the interest rate cuts will save $124 a month or $7440 over five years.

Contact us today to discuss how this benefits you in your path to purchase.

The full article can be read on the Australia here.

The post Home Loan Rate Cut appeared first on My First Place.

It is understood the Macgregor property owner recently discovered the house had been sold about four months earlier after contacting her property manager to query why she was not receiving rental payments.

The exact details of the Macgregor scam have not been publicly released and it is not known how much the property was sold for. Attorney-General Simon Corbell said the government was very concerned “a scam of this magnitude may have affected residents in the ACT”

Authorities believe it may be the first such scam in the ACT but there have been similar cases in WA including two successful sales and six attempted real estate frauds.

Always conduct your due diligence when buying. To discuss what this involves, contact us today.

The full article from the Sydney Morning Herald can be found here.

The post Property Scam appeared first on My First Place.

DEMAND for property in Newmarket is soaring, with new data showing the inner-city Brisbane suburb is one of the state’s hottest property spots. 

While Holland Park has once again taken out the top spot on realestate.com.au’s quarterly Top Sellers’ Markets list, figures show Newmarket is the second most sought-after Queensland suburb for buyers. Ashgrove has also joined the Top 10 ranking of suburbs that have the most people looking, per listing.

Queensland’s top selling suburbs are:

1. Holland Park

2. Newmarket

3. Wilston

4. Camp Hill

5. Stafford Heights

6. Grange

7. Spring Hill

8. Mansfield

9. Ashgrove

10. Holland Park West

Contact My First Place today to find out where you can afford to buy your first place.

You can read the full article in the Herald Sun here.

The post Brisbane’s top spots appeared first on My First Place.

What is Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) exactly? and why do you take it out on your loan?

The number of property buyers taking out lenders’ mortgage insurance is soaring, but just who does that insure? ABC reported recently that an alarming number of borrowers do not understand that after the bank gets paid out, they could still be left hundreds and thousands of dollars in debt to the insurer, should anything go wrong.

“Many of the people who take lenders’ mortgage insurance are not clear what precisely they are covered for,” said independent bank analyst Martin North, the principal of Digital Finance Analytics.

His survey of 26,000 borrowers found less than a third knew that the policy protects the bank in a default, not the borrower. Roughly the same again are unsure. Almost half wrongly believe it protects them, and that figure is even higher for first home buyers.

“Some of them could be living with a bit of a false sense of security and, of course, until things go wrong, it’s not really tested,” he added.

Before you consider putting an offer in, make sure your finance is in order, especially your understanding of your exposure to risk such as Lenders Mortgage Insurance. Contact us today to discuss your circumstances with a broker and whether LMI is right for you.

The full article can be found on ABC news here.

The post Mortgage Insurance covers the banks, not the buyers appeared first on My First Place.

1. Who should I speak to for advice? There are many professionals out there, and you’d be wise to engage with an accountant, mortgage broker and potentially even a buyer’s agent early on in the piece. Buyers agents are employed and paid by you (the buyer) to support you in your purchase. My First Place are sourcing agents; we support our buyers in finding their property and are paid by the seller, but are independent of the seller.
2. What time frame am I looking at? Are you looking to buy next month? next year? the time frame will enable you to plan your strategy and assist in what kind of purchase you can make (completed / off-plan etc.)
3. What deposit do I need to have? This is a question to be answered by your mortgage broker based off a specific figure to purchase. If you only have a small deposit, it’s time to read about LMI (Lenders Mortgage Insurance) and LVR (Loan Value Ratio)
4. How much can I borrow? An online calculator can quickly help with rough estimates around what you can borrow. A broker can further assist you with this.
5. How much can I afford? Use an online budgeting tool to work out what your weekly repayments are that you can afford. Remember; there is a difference between what a bank will lend, and what you can afford to service if you intend on maintaining your current lifestyle.
   
6. What type of property am I looking at? Are you looking for a run down property to renovate, or a new build? An apartment or a house? How many bedrooms? Get a clear picture in your mind about the type of property you’re after, and what you’ll need for your own situation.
   
7. What suburbs am I interested in? Look to the areas that you are keen to live in. Look at what is selling and the prices, and see whether what you can borrow matches up with the area and the type of property you need.
   
8. Which factors am I prepared to negotiate on? What can you live without? Could you move a couple of suburbs over to get what you want? Could you make do with a smaller property? If you can’t afford it, unfortunately you will have to compromise on something.
9. Do I need pre-approval? It’s best to get pre-approval before you are seriously searching. Without it, you may spend months looking in the wrong direction.
   
10. Have I thought about the risks? Taking on any amount of debt comes at a risk to you, and with a substantial amount of debt comes a substantial amount of risk. While you may have heard the term “safe as houses”, buying a property leaves you open to the mercy of the market.
11. What grants and assistance are available to me? Look into what is currently available to you in terms of first home buyer grants and stamp duty exemptions. My First Place have extensive information for all First Home Buyers and grants. Contact us today to discuss.
    

Here at My First Place, we’re happy to help you through the process of answering this for yourself.

Contact us today to start your own path to purchasing your first home.

You can find the full article on Property Observer.

The post First Home Questions appeared first on My First Place.

Contact us today to talk to one of our brokers.

The full article is available on Property Observer here.

The post RBA Rate Hold… again appeared first on My First Place.

Contact us today to talk to one of our sourcing agents about your situation.

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