The intent of abolishing these “Deferred Establishment Fees” (or DEF’s), is to give  Aussie home owners the ability to refinance their mortgage with their existing lender without incurring any unnecessary “break” fees for doing so. Whilst this regulation won’t apply to all mortgage contracts (such as consumers under “fixed rate” agreements) it is likely to have a significant impact on the industry – with some current exit arrangements costing Australians the likes of up to $7000.

The regulation will apply to new loans commissioned after July 1, 2011. So you if you are looking to refinance or pay out your current loan– we still strongly recommend you know your exit terms by talking to your current lender.

• You are unable to service the requested loan amount
• You don’t have enough of a deposit to cover the loan
• Or a number of other reasons

This is why obtaining a pre-approval is a necessity!

It doesn’t cost you a cent, but on the flipside can provide the following:

• You to organise your loan structure beforehand
• Provide the confidence for the amount you can borrow
• Puts you only a step away from an unconditional approval
• Gives you the luxury of time

I always recommend my clients obtain a pre-approval (especially!) before making an offer on a property in writing. As said, it’s a necessity. Not only will it provide you confidence in your buying limit, but it safeguards you – maybe from making a hasty decision on that house you have been eyeing or the mistake of a “too high” bid at auction.

Obtaining a Tax Depreciation Schedule (TDS) can provide assistance in maintaining out of pocket expenses and even sometimes offset a negatively geared property enough to turn into a positively geared one.

One common misconception is that you only need to obtain depreciation schedule when you have a new property. Whilst it may be true that the younger the asset, the higher its depreciation ratio is, there is generally value in obtaining a schedule for properties aged even over 20 years of age (e.g. ovens, stoves, certain fixtures)

Whenever we have a new investment property buyer, one of the first things we recommend is that they obtain an independent party to arrange a depreciation schedule. The majority of the time, they will make the costs of the schedule back with their first tax return.

Nadine Horton, Kellyville NSW

The post settlement support was also great – John went out of his way to help me sort out an issue in dealing with my old lender, which saved me over 4k in unrealised and overcharged fees!

Thanks John!

Ramesh Bhardwaj, North St Mary’s NSW

Bryson Mohan, Merrylands NSW