Recent content by equity

I reckon you're mad if you don't have income protection. Mine costs around $150 a month but it's a great cover. I have a 30 day waiting period like most others, but mine has a special "day 1 accident" option that means I only have to be unable to work for 4 consecutive days. At the end of the...

I think Brisbane's only true blue chip suburbs would be Ascot, Hamilton and Clayfield. The other suburbs certainly have pockets of blue chip, but they aren't comparable to Brisbane's big three. Over many decades these three suburbs have always held the highest median prices and highest...

Most of them will go to 90% for existing clients, unless you have any poor loan conduct etc.

In many cases, if the renovations are going to be substantial enough, the bank will lend on the 'on-completion' value of the home. Often the bank will ask for a builders contract for this type of deal though. There's some more info here: http://www.equita.com.au/finance/home-renovation-loan.htm

Speak to your broker and find out which valuers are on your lender's panel, then you can arrange your own valuation for around $300. Tell the valuer you want a 'bank' style valuation, that will give you the figure most likely used by the lender. The lender may not necessarily accept the...

To all the brokers out there, are you planning becoming a licensee in your own right, or a credit representative through your aggregator?

Certainly nothing new, when I was a lending manager with one of the big banks, the branch manager and I would run a meeting each morning before opening time with the counter staff to run through the referral targets. The targets were very rarely met, but I think that was the idea. You know...

Oh the other thing I was going to say, and it's a point that I think some of the posters above have missed, is that if Perky waits until April, by which times rates are pretty much guaranteed to be lower, he/she will have to pay a high break cost, even though it's closer to the maturity date of...

Break costs on fixed rate loans are pretty complex, but basically the difference between your existing fixed rate and whatever current rate is will determine what the break cost it. It comes down to how much the bank is going to lose by you breaking the rate. Example 1: Your fixed rate is...

Apartments High density and high rise apartments have always been an issue, the best bet is to find a local broker who specialises in apartments. If the broker is good enough, they'll know which lenders to go to for which individual buildings. It's funny though, sometimes there will be a...

Lmi Pre-approvals generally aren't worth the paper they're writen on. The lenders rarely go the the LMI providers to check with them, so your pre-approval is subject to LMI approval, along with a hundred other things. The only pre-approvals I have found to be worthwhile are through mortgage...