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 The property market can look a little daunting to many home buyers and investors today. They know they want to “get a foothold”, but the prices are so high. So they and their friends, who are in the same boat, grumble and moan until...eureka! Each one of them alone can't get a foothold, but if they join forces....

It is becoming more common for groups of friends and investors to jointly purchase properties, and lenders are putting out a large range of products to cater for them. These products may allow you to buy property when you couldn't before. But there are important issues to consider, such as the effect on your borrowing power and possible legal entanglements..

Let's imagine two friends, Andrea and Peter. Each of them is renting, but they wish they were buying instead. Both of them have savings, but not enough for a deposit, and their incomes aren't quite big enough to cover a mortgage near the places they want to live and work. Andrea and Peter decide to pool their resources with a co-ownership product. Together they have enough for a deposit on a two bedroom apartment, and their combined income is enough to cover the loan repayments. They now own their piece of property.

Andrea and Peter are close friends, but they're not that close. They want to keep their finances separate. So they made sure they found a product that allows them to pay their loan automatically out of different bank accounts. They're in each other's house, but they don't need to be in each other's accounts. They also have different opinions on financial matters. Peter is pessimistic about where interest rates are going and wants a fixed interest rate. Andrea isn't concerned however, fortunately their loan can also cater for their different choices in matters like this. Peter can fix his part of the loan, and Andrea can leave her rate variable.

Co-ownership products provide a way for people to buy property who were previously locked out of the market, and they increasingly allow the partners to keep much of their independence and make choice according to their individual preferences. There are some very important issues to keep in mind however, and some important downsides.

The first, minor, issue, is that whilst both of them are buying their first home, they have to share a single First Home Owner's Grant. There's only one grant to a property purchase, and they'll never get it again. Much more importantly, Andrea and Peter may be getting a piece of property pie, but each of them is liable for the whole debt on the property. This can be a blow to their borrowing power in the future. Lenders will see the whole debt liability, but only part of an asset and a terrible income debt ratio.  Even if the property becomes an investment the entire loan is considered a liability while only half of the rental income is accepted.  As a result lenders will be much more wary of lending them money than they usually would be.

Now say that Peter finds the love of life and wants to get a house all of his own.  He can only use the equity he has in the half share  if he stays with the same lender and even then only with Andrea's permission and probably with her as a guarantor.   If he wants to go to another lender  he would have to convince Andrea to agree to a refinance or simply forget the equity he has.  Even so he may struggle to secure a new loan because of the existing debt against his name, so he wants to sell out his part of the property. But who is he going to sell it to? Andrea may not be willing or able to buy him out. They could try to find a replacement for him, but there's not much of a market for halves of apartments, and Andrea may not be comfortable in a financial relationship with someone else.

What if Andrea falls behind on her payments? Is their agreement prepared for this? Can Peter carry the debt, after all the bank still expects to be paid.   If these agreements go wrong - and over the life of a mortgage many unexpected things can happen - it is a recipe for litigation nightmares.

The products becoming available have agreements designed to cover many of the issues that can arise, such as defaulting or a partner wanting to sell out, but they can't account for every problem. It also needs to be well sorted out in advance. This requires rigorous legal advice and consultation with your broker. It may seem a hassle, and perhaps a strain on a relationship, but lawsuits are even worse - and a lot more expensive!

Co-ownership products may be a good option for you if you want to buy a home or invest, but consider all these issues before you get in. They provide a lot of opportunities that wouldn't otherwise be there, but a lot of potential problems as well.

Often first home-buyers (even some second home-buyers!) are overwhelmed and daunted at the complexities of applying for a home loan from a bank or other lender. So if you've not had much experience in home lending, this could be a good place to start. In this overview, I provide borrowers with an outline of the lending process pretty much from the ground up - the way it works and why. Of course, the idea is that it should all make the borrowing experience a little easier.

A word about lenders

Just as you would be if you were lending your money to a total stranger, lenders are very cautious. Remember, even if your house soars in value, there's no big upside for your lender in backing you (except in Shared Equity - see below). They will only ever get their money back plus a competitive interest rate. Lenders never want to lose their money - but the tighter their margins, the less they can afford a bad loan and even less the bad publicity of a foreclosure. So that's why they err on the side of reducing their risk that loans won't be repaid. The way they minimise the risk is to impose strict lending criteria. 

SATISFYING LENDERS' CRITERIA

There are three main criteria that lenders require first-time loan applicants to meet. These are effectively three "hurdles" all of which must be jumped before a loan application can proceed.

1. To be satisfied that you can meet regular mortgage repayments, lenders want to know that your income stream is adequate. (A very rough guideline is that your income is seen as adequate if your repayments can be met from 35% of your income, but lenders will look at things more closely than this). If your lender is satisfied that you can afford the calculated repayment level, then you've crossed the first "hurdle" towards a successful loan application.

2. The second hurdle is to prove that your income level is secure. This can be demonstrated by a borrower's continuity of employment history. If you've recently changed to a similar job after a long stint in a previous position, that's fine. But if you're on probation or have undergone a major career change (from brain surgery to carpentry), lenders may want to wait a few months. If you're self-employed or on a contract, lenders take confidence in your future by looking at your past 2 to 3 years. Most lenders apply the rule of thumb of averaging the income you declared to the tax office over the past two financial years.

3. If the bank is confident that you can service the loan, there's still one more hurdle. They consider the unlikely situation of you becoming unemployed, injured or on long-term benefits. The lender needs to be satisfied in this worst-case scenario that they can sell your property for a sufficient amount to recover their loan. They obviously don't want to wait for 12 months for the market to improve and as such, they are usually comfortable with lending up to 80% of the value of a normal residential property. This is known as a loan-to-value ratio (LVR). It is possible to increase the borrowed proportion up to 95% LVR for an owner-occupier if the lender takes out lenders' mortgage insurance, at a cost of between 1% and 3% of the loan amount and paid for by you - see below for more on LMI.

4. There's actually a fourth criterion. Mortgage insurers want to know if you're prudent with money or whether you tend to spend everything you get. For that reason, they prefer all borrowers who wish to borrow more than 80% of the value of their property to have saved at least 3% of the value of their property purchasee.

Genuine savings is where you can provide supporting documents that confirm that you have accumulated a minimum of 5% of the purchase price (3% for some
lenders) by way of progressive and regular savings over a period of not less
than 3 months. Any lump sum deposits are excluded unless they can be
clearly shown via documentary evidence to come from the sale of an appreciating
asset (e.g. shares or real estate). Gifts from any source are excluded from
genuine savings (although if they sit in your savings account for 3 months they will probably go un-noticed). Whilst the FHOG remains as an acceptable source of borrower’s
contribution, it does not qualify as genuine savings.


Other exclusions from genuine savings:

• Advances on wages/commission from an employer (this may include bonuses);
  


• Inheritance
  


• Financing of a deposit (borrowed funds eg: credit card)
  


• Builder discount/finance ( some builders offer cash rebates)
  


• Vendor discount/finance
  


• Proceeds from sale of motor vehicles
  


• Windfall gains (eg:lottery or gambling)
  


• One-off government payments (e.g. baby bonus)

If genuine savings cannot be demonstrated as per the above, the LVR must be
usually less than 85% .

  - Return to top

WHY PEOPLE ARE DISQUALIFIED FROM LOANS

There are a number of common reasons why lenders decline loan applications from potential borrowers. Being aware of these 'causes of disqualification' before the application process can be valuable for applicants - remember every loan application appears on your CRA.

1. Lenders have learned that they must be guided by a borrower's track record, not by promises of an employment promotion or better business earnings. Usually, this makes sense. However, it can also be unfair on applicants such as those who have been out of the workforce to raise children. Even when employers provide evidence that a job will be held open for the borrower, lenders will often turn them down. Lenders will also often decline those on probation in a job. In each of these above cases, some lenders are more lenient than others, so it is important to consult with someone who knows the market well.

2. People are often disqualified from a loan even if they can afford it, as they cannot demonstrate a track record of saving. That is because the money they've been using for their home has been given or lent to them. Lenders and mortgage insurers prefer to see a proven record of thrift to demonstrate the ability for repayment.

3. The other main reason for a loan application being declined is due to a borrower's credit record. From the lender's perspective that's understandable - if you've defaulted on a past loan, what's to say you won't default on a new one? However, there are traps for everyone here - we've had a loan held up for a client (who had been a public servant for 25 years and was only seeking to borrow 56% of the property value) because of a disputed bill with a telephone company. He ended up paying the bill just to get his credit record clean so that the loan could proceed. Another borrower was defaulted because he'd lived in a shared house and had gone overseas thinking a bill was being looked after. So be careful. Small blemishes even if they're not your fault can make lenders shy away - and they stay on your credit record for 5 years. - Return to top

OPTIONS IF YOUR LOAN APPLICATION IS DECLINED

If a lender declines your application for a home loan, it is worth seeing a broker about your prospects of success with other lenders, or to explore other means of proceeding towards obtaining a home loan.

Also, see if you can see why the lender has declined your application. Can you meet their concerns?

Consider if any parents or family can help with assistance to service a loan. But only ask if you're comfortable in doing so and are confident that you're not exposing them to any risk.

Another option is to explore "non-conforming" lenders like Pepper, Bluestone and Liberty. However, they have higher interest rates and costs.

If your loan application is rejected, it may be best just to wait for a few months until you can better satisfy lenders' criteria. Having a little longer to build up savings and employment stability may lead to success in the loan application with your preferred lender the next time around. - Return to top

WHAT LENDERS SEE AS A GOOD BORROWER

Lenders see you as a perfect borrower if the following criteria are met:

• You can show a record of steady employment;


• If self-employed, you can show a tax declaration of sound income over the past two financial years;


• You are a permanent resident or citizen of Australia


• You have no blemishes on your credit record


• If this is your first home loan, you can show a good track record of saving - at least 3% of the property's value.


• Existing loans all current with no late payments - Return to top

TIPS ON IMPROVING YOUR CHANCES FOR LOAN APPROVAL

Your chances of obtaining a loan are maximised if you can meet the lenders' criteria as closely as possible. As each loan application you make is likely to be logged on your credit record, try to make your first application as strong as possible.

• If you think there's doubt about whether you can get a loan, see a broker before you apply for a loan to gauge your chance of success before any inquiry appears on your CRA;


• Wait a few months if necessary to improve your match with lenders' criteria;


• Be absolutely honest in your loan application - any discrepancies will soon show up, so be totally upfront with your broker or lender from the start;


• If you're a first time borrower and want to borrow more than 90% of the value of the property, you may have to demonstrate your savings record. Remember, it seems a bit silly, but lenders want to see a growing positive balance in your savings account and won't usually count what is also evidence of saving - declining credit card debt balances. So, although it might be less efficient to do so, delay paying off debts that can wait in order to build up your positive savings record;


• Make sure your credit rating is good by ensuring all bills are paid on time.  If in doubt, chase up the credit reporting agency Baycorp Advantage and get a copy of your credit record;


• If you are facing any credit problems, contact providers to try to come to an arrangement with them that keeps your credit record clean. - Return to top

LENDERS MORTGAGE INSURANCE (LMI)

There are two big traps in lenders mortgage insurance or LMI as it's known in the industry.  

The first is to think that it gives you protection against defaulting on your loan - for instance as a result of redundancy.  It doesn't!  It is, as it calls itself, lenders mortgage insurance and exists to protect the lender against your default.  If you do default and your mortgage has lenders mortgage insurance, then not only will the bank chase you for repayments, but the insurer may do so as well on its own and the bank's behalf.  A corollary of this is that the choice of insurer for LMI is not yours but the lender's.  (Mortgage Protection Insurance is a policy that covers you for your mortgage repayments if you are sick, disabled or unemployed.  Let us know if you are interested in getting this kind of insurance as we may be able to help.)

The second trap is that, where lenders require mortgage insurance - generally if your loan to valuation ratio exceeds 80% - it is common practice for the lender to issue an 'approval in principle' before LMI has been obtained. Accordingly where approval in principle has been given but LMI is subsequently declined, the approval in principle cannot proceed to unconditional approval and is then revoked.  So if you require LMI don't take the lender's 'approval in principle' as anything more than one hurdle on your way to unconditional approval.  Even if your valuation comes in OK, you can still be declined if LMI is declined.  So be aware of this trap.  

Note: There are only two major LMI providers in Australia. LMI agreements with each of them vary only very slightly from one lender to another but the conditions each provider requires do vary somewhat. So if you are knocked back by the LMI with one lender you may have a chance with another lender that uses the other provider.  As brokers, we are aware of which insurers each lender on our panel uses and so may be able to assist you decide which LMI provider, and so which lenders would consider your application most favourably.

The fee for Lenders' Mortgage Insurance is paid by the borrower as a once only fee at loan settlement and varies depending on the value of the property being purchased and the size of the borrower's deposit. This is a graduated scale increasing on both property value and percentage borrowed so you might pay 0.7% for an 83% LVR on a $300,000 value ie:$2100 whereas you could pay 2% or more on a 95% LVR at $500,000 ie:$10,000. LMI is more difficult to obtain and more expensive for loans of $500,000.

The insurers place various conditions on applications and among these are length of employment, income tests and deposit conditions. For example if your deposit is from the sale of a house, you will be expected to show evidence of this. If it is from savings, you will again be expected to establish that you have saved that amount (or at least 3% or 5% of loan amount depending on insurer) over a minimum three months. They also restrict maximum lending (LVR) into various locations. For example, regional centres are typically 90 to 95%, while smaller centres may be 85%, and inner city may be 65%. It is important to keep the LMI policy in mind, as this almost always over-rides the individual lender's policy. - Return to top

TYPES OF INTEREST RATES

Loans come in a variety of guises. However the loan types shouldn't be confused with the Interest type.  Interest types are;

• principal and interest (P&I) - here your loan payment covers the interest charge plus some of the original loan amount.  Thus reducing the loan balance over the life of the loan;  


• interest only (IO)  - whereby you agree to pay only the interest charge for a specified period, typically 5 years.  Most loans (except most lines of credit) revert to P&I after some period,


• variable home loans - whereby the interest rate charged moves up and down in line with certain indicators, typically the Reserve Bank Cash Rate.  So if the Cash Rate increases .25% then you can expect your home loan rate to increase by approximately the same amount .25% (though from time to time lenders do take changes in rates to disguise their own increase in margins - or highlight their reduction in margins.).  Some rates are based on other indicators and you should understand the implications of this;


• fixed rate loans - which lock you into a given rate for a specified period, typically between 1 & 5 years - though if you want longer periods (up to ten years) we can arrange them for you.  So even if the variable rate increases by 5% you are protected and pay the rate you agreed at the outset until the end of the fixed rate period.  However you are locked in, even if the variable rate decreases by 5% and in these situations it can be very expensive to 'break' your fixed loan.

So it is possible to have a mixture of the above eg: Fixed for 3 years with  Interest Only or 25 years variable with Principal & Interest and almost any combination even part fixed and part variable (sometime referred to as a split). - Return to top

TYPES OF LOANS

Competition in the market place has not only seen lower margins for lenders, but a greater diversity of features and additional benefits being offered to attract your business.  Superficially this would appear to be beneficial for you the borrower.  However the features, discounted rates and variations in fee structures often simply make it much more difficult to do direct comparisons between products.

Claims such "pay your loan off quicker" are common place and often they are quite incorrect, especially if you are paying higher interest rates or ongoing fees to obtain the so-called benefit.  For example, on a $100,000 home loan a $300 annual fee (typical to most professional packages) is  the equivalent of .30% in additional interest rate.  So a 6.70% rate with a $300 annual fee is actually 7.0% on a $100,000 loan.

A line of credit (LOC) is essentially a perpetual interest only loan - although by its very nature there is nothing to restrict you reducing the principal at any time either by lump sum or just monthly salary deposits. Thus if you have a line of credit for $300,000 on which you owe $250,000, you only pay interest on the $250,000 you have drawn. When linked to a cheque and credit card facility and with salary crediting, your line of credit provides the same kind of flexibility as an offset account. 

In fact it is generally more flexible. Provided that the line of credit allows you to capitalise interest, you don't even have to make repayments. Instead, when interest is charged to your account it is added to the balance of your loan. Thus for instance using the example above, if you need to pay $1,500 for interest on the $250,000, instead of being required to pay that amount into the loan, at the time that you would otherwise be required to pay interest, your balance simply becomes $251,500 for you to pay back when you like. But of course if your credit limit is $300,000 and you've already borrowed to that limit, the lender is going to want to see some payments into your account to service the interest.

As you can see, lines of credit are one of the most convenient forms of credit. They are also as effective and simpler than offset accounts. Often lenders will tell you that an offset account will save you thousands off your loan – because you're not charged interest on money you don’t need to borrow. But precisely the same thing is possible – usually more simply – using a line of credit. 

Remember some people have trouble not spending money when its there.  If that sounds like you, its best that you avoid a line of credit and submit yourself to the discipline of having to make regular payments of a size you have previously planned to make.  Also keep in mind that if the borrowing on your line of credit is for investment purposes, interest on it will, in the normal course of events be tax deductible. In this case, you should be wary of attaching your credit card to the line of credit as some of the borrowing will then no longer be for investment purposes.  This will complicate the calculation of your tax deductions for interest as some of the loan will remain investment related, but some will be related to personal expenditure. Where there's a mix of investment and non-investment borrowing it's usually preferable to have separate accounts for each kind of borrowing. 

An 'offset' account is a sophisticated way of 'fine tuning' your lending requirements to your earnings and your daily spending. In addition to your home loan, you have a transaction account with the same financial institution. You deposit your income into the transaction account and use it for all your daily expenses, usually through a linked card or cheque account. Any money in this account is offset against the amount owing on your home loan and you only pay interest on the outstanding balance. So say, for example, that you have a home loan of $250,000 and you have a balance of $10,000 in your transaction account, you only pay interest on $240,000. Interest is calculated on a daily basis. 

Offset accounts come in many guises and you should be wary of 'partial offsets' as opposed to 100% offsets. Partial as it's name implies, means that you don't get the full interest benefit and in some circumstances the benefit is less than what you would gain from a standard interest bearing transaction account. Even a 100% offset account can be a trap if it comes at a higher interest rate than what is otherwise available to you. See our first newsletter. 

Particularly where the expenditure on your offset account is personal and it is offset against an investment loan, there are specific taxation implications upon which we recommend you seek professional advice.

All-in-one accounts are usually a single home loan account that allows direct salary deposits and some withdrawal functions - these are often limited to a few ATM or transfers per month and a linked credit card account. The potential savings are similar to the above however be aware that some accounts are so limited you may need a standard transaction account - and fees if applicable must be taken into account when comparing products.

There are some basic loans being offered that provide free unlimited redraw and unlimited principal reductions. So theoretically you could pay your salary into the loan account and withdraw as you require the funds or by using your credit card for monthly expenses then make an end of month payment into your credit card. So a loan like this can act very much like an all-in-one account, although you have to consider possible credit card and transaction account costs.

Finally, remember that many of these accounts require you to exercise discipline in their use, if your long term ambition is to repay your loan principal. - Return to top


I hope this has been of assistance.

In our work with borrowers we come across a lot of ‘urban myths’ about borrowing – things which drive people’s behaviour which are fundamentally misinformed. So as the first in a series which I’ll put out in subsequent newsletters, here are some urban myths exposed.

Don’t mortgage your own home.

Perhaps the most frequent myth is the idea people have that if your own house isn’t mortgaged, it’s safe from any financial action. Wrong!

The law is that if you owe money to someone, they can come after you and sell any assets you own until they get their money. So if you have a house, it’s effectively on the line any time you enter a contract – for instance for dry cleaning or telephone services. Of course, most small debtors won’t go to the trouble of selling your home up – it’s not worth it to them for such a small debt.

Having said that, if you can keep your own house unencumbered that’s a nice thing to do, other things being equal. But given what I've said above, it’s throwing good money after bad if you need to bear additional costs to keep your own house free of a mortgage. People often have to pay mortgage insurance – no small amount of money – to keep their own house unencumbered.

Take the following example. The Smiths have an unmortgaged house worth $500,000 that they live in and want to purchase an investment property worth $300,000. They have $60,000 as a deposit for a house in Sydney. But buying the house without encumbering their own house will cost them more than $3,000 in mortgage insurance. But what if they can’t meet their bill? Say a terrorist act blows up their house, that the house cannot be insured against terrorist acts, that it’s now unrentable and they cannot meet their repayments. The lender can – and probably will – sell up not just their investment property. Since its value is well below what they owe, the lender can then – and probably will sell their home. Remember the law is that generally a debtor can sell your assets till your debt to them is fully repaid.

Now you could argue that not mortgaging the house could at least affect the order in which the assets were sold. Thus, not encumbering your own house improves the likelihood that your investment property would be sold first. As a legal observation, this is true enough. But it seems to me very likely that if the investment property would clearly yield enough money to repay the mortgage, a lender would happily allow you to sell that in place of your home: That is, it would let you behave as if your investment property was the one with the mortgage.

Why would it do so? Firstly because, provided that this can raise the money it needs, it’s no skin off the lender’s nose. Secondly there is in fact something in it for the lender. Lenders don’t like selling people’s homes because every now and again it ends them up on a TV current affairs program playing the role of evil villain. Part of the reason banks are conservative about people being able to service their loans (even when their loan to valuation ratio is very low) is that they hate those current affairs stories. Lenders hate throwing people out of their homes. Of course there is the chance that you run into a really unreasonable lender, but I’d be very loath to pay thousands of dollars of mortgage insurance to have so little effect on the final outcome.

In this example, in most cases the best approach would generally have been to mortgage the home and leave the investment property unencumbered – leaving it available for the raising of more finance if that was desired at some later time.

If you really do want to keep creditors’ hands off your family home then you need to consult an accountant and have the property title put in a different name to your own. Thus generally speaking (though there can be exceptions) a spouse owning a home can hold onto it even if her husband is bankrupted (and of course vice versa). And if you hold your own house in the name of a company or trust this may protect it also (though of course creditors may be able to access the asset through the company if you own shares in the company).

You shouldn't do any of these things without getting the advice of a professional you trust. Another option is ‘non- recourse’ lending where the lender has recourse to the security backing the loan – they can sell the house that is mortgaged – but their rights end upon doing so. You can get access to this kind of lending, which is standard in the United States because of government regulation. But you shouldn't be surprised to find that it costs more – because it’s higher risk for the lender.

If you want to reduce the amountof interest you pay on your home loan, one option is an "offset" facility.

The way that this works is that, in addition to your home loan, you have a transaction account with the same financial institution. You deposit your income into the transaction account and use it for all your day to day expenses. Any money in this account is offset against the amount owing on your home loan and you only pay interest on the outstanding balance. So say, for example, that you have a home loan of $150,000 and you have a balance of $5,000 in your transaction account, you only pay interest on $145,000. Interest is calculated on a daily basis. It sounds like a great idea, a way that you can pay off your mortgage early and still have access to all your funds.

There’s no doubt that, providing you’re not paying any fee for the offset facility, its better to have than not have. The only problem is that, unless you can get access to all the features at a discount price (as you can under professional packages) offset accounts are only available at higher interest rates than home loans without this feature. If you look at what that higher rate is costing you, then it usually turns out that on any sizeable home loan you pay more for the higher interest rate on the bulk of your home loan than you save on the slight reduction in the home loan balance that the offset facility allows you.

I’ve attached a calculation I did for someone that compares two products, a basic variable rate product and a home loan from one of the major banks. As the calculations show, in this person’s case the offset account reduced the home loan balance by about $3,000 (actually this assumption was pretty generous to the offset account). That amounts to an interest saving of $178.50 per year. By contrast in the first year of the home loan the simpler product would save nearly $1,000 in fees and charges leaving a healthy net saving of $818. This saving would rise over time if re-invested in the home loan.

The other great advantage of an offset account is that you can pay your home loan off faster than the repayment schedule demands when you want to and then get your money back later on. But there’s another way to do that - a redraw. If the offset is a Mercedes Benz, a redraw is a Holden Commodore.

Competition in banking has meant that, although ‘basic variable’ rate products used to be very inflexible, if you know where to look you can now have the most important flexibility features. The basic variable rate product which I mentioned to the client enabled him to pay his home loan off as fast as he liked without penalty and it also enabled him to ‘redraw’ any excess he’d paid off from his home loan.

It is more cumbersome than writing a cheque. It requires a fax to the bank and the payment of a small fee of between $0 and $50 depending on the amount redrawn and the institution. But it’s a perfect standby if the client wants to get his house painted, or add an extension to his house, or put a deposit down on another house sometime in the future. You can even write the cheque at the auction. And when you get home or back to work you can fax the money into your account! No-one knows you don’t have an offset account, except your lender and you.

Please note: These calculations are based on the best information provided to Peach in January and February 2002. They are provided as strictly indicative calculations. It is possible that rates for any of the costs charged differ from those provided in this calculation. This could be a result of human error, use of specific mortgage insurers other than those which may be encountered in a transaction , or changes in stamp duty and or other charges by governments of which Peach is unaware. Further some states may impose charges other than the ones outlined here. Generally these figures will be checked by your lender prior to approval and by your conveyancer prior to settlement. No responsibility is taken by Peach Home Loans for the accuracy of the figures provided.  Readers of this newsletter should not rely on any of its contents before checking first with Peach Home Loans or some other professional.  We deny to the extent possible by law all legal liability to any person who does not discuss with us their plans.   Borrowers should never assume that they qualify for a home loan will before receiving an unconditional loan offer from a reputable lender.