New Charge for Foreign Owners for Empty Properties Foreign persons who apply for approval to purchase residential property after 9 May 2017 will face a new annual vacancy charge to be imposed if the property is not occupied for at least six months per year.The charge will be levied annually and will be equivalent to the purchase application fee imposed at the time the property was acquired by the foreign investor.Details of the new charge can be viewed HERE FIRB approval for sale of...
Confused about home loan pre-approvals? Here’s everything you need to know before you start house hunting. What information do you need? First, your broker will want to build a comprehensive picture of your finances. To do this, you’ll need to provide evidence of everything including: Pay slips and tax returns for your income. Title deeds for tangible assets (i.e. physical items such as buildings, machinery and inventory), and Portfolio statements for intangible assets (non-physical items such as copyrights and patents). Loan...
Favourable interest rates are a borrower’s best friend, but should you lock in a low rate or go with a variable rate? Here are five things to consider. 1. How low can rates go?Interest rates are at historically low levels and the current outlook suggests there may be further cuts in the medium-term future. If you lock in your rate now, you won’t reap the benefits of later decreases. The question is: how low do you think the rate will...
On 4 April 2016 a letter was distributed to industry bodies and Customer Information Bulletin (CIB) recipients. This letter notified Landgate’s intention to introduce changes to the lodgement process for mortgages and discharges of mortgages that will affect mortgagees, their conveyancers, lawyers and lodging agents by 1 August 2016.Industry bodies and CIB subscribers were invited to provide feedback on the changes. The timeframe for receiving feedback has now ended. This CIB is to notify that Landgate will be progressing activities...