Getting Started

Welcome to Getting Started. This is the place for first questions, however basic they feel. Everyone here started somewhere. Good posts here: your first budget, how deposits and loans work, what to...

Hannah B. · 3 Sep

Our broker got us a pre-approval last week. How long is it good for, and does it guarantee the loan when we find a place?

Chloe R. · 2 Oct · 3 replies · Last reply 2 Oct

For anyone just starting, the government's Moneysmart site has free calculators for borrowing power, repayments and comparing loans: moneysmart.gov.au No sales pitch, and it gave me realistic numbers...

Priya S. · 27 Sep · 2 replies · Last reply 28 Sep · moneysmart.gov.au

My mate is a buyer's agent and is giving away free strategy sessions this month. Message me and I'll set you up. He gets 20 percent returns for his clients.

Kev P. · 24 Sep

We're looking at older weatherboards like this one. Is a standard building and pest report enough, or do we need extra checks? What did your inspector miss, if anything?

Chloe R. · 22 Sep · 4 replies · Last reply 23 Sep

Everyone says 20 percent, but at today's prices that feels like a decade of saving for us. Did you wait for 20 percent, pay LMI, or use a government scheme? What would you do again?

Ben C. · 15 Sep · 5 replies · Last reply 17 Sep

I'll go first. Sarah, Melbourne's north, one investment unit bought in 2019 and now looking at a house for the second one. Tell us where you are, what you own (if anything) and what you want to learn...

Sarah M. · 6 Sep · 8 replies · Last reply 10 Sep