Refinancing the house

[twitch]

We finished building our house in April this year, we moved in straight away when it was just a house on a block of sand. Part of our package was that the landscaping at the front would be done, which it has been and is fine. The problem now is that the rest of the house is surrounded in sand and weeds and is just horrible. We always thought we'd get the money together to do the backyard but of course it never happened, then DH got an $8000 bill from the ATO, so now any money we had is gone. I really want to get the backyard done before the baby arrives, plus the sand in the house is driving me crazy, and the only way we'll be able to afford it is if we refinance the house. I have no idea what this involves, how much our repayments go up... We'd need about $10,000 to do it, so is refinancing the best bet or a personal loan? Any advice on the best way to go about it would be appreciated.

[sugar n spice]

I have no idea about wethere or not refinancing or a personal loan would be better it would come down to the fee. youd end up with more to pay short term with a personal loan prob over 5 yrs and then your homeloan but if you increased your home loan youd be paying a lower interest rate more than likely but over 20 - 30yrs, so youd need to weigh up what you could afford. i would reccomend using an online calculator typing in how much your home loan would be with the increased amount and whatever rate your paying at and over how many yrs that would give you an idea of what youd be paying, and id also do a personal loan calculation over say 5 yrs and work out what that payment is and add it to what your currently paying then you have two choices.

the other thing, we have just built our house and just moved in and we dont have a landscaping package so i have sand out the front and back so i know its annoying but we are tight for money and i was talking to dh about the backyard and we are getting kerbing done front and back at a total of $300 and then dh said to get a bobcat to come in and remove the top spoil, new soil on top and then seeded lawn we are looking at about $400 then some plants so say its no where near $10 000 unless your looking at someone doing it for you and some elaborate garden.

sorry ive rambled on and on

[twitch]

Thanks heaps for that info, I really appreciate it. You're right about the $10,000 being excessive, DH has all these huge plans for what he wants to do, like building a shed and all this paving and a big patio, and I think that's why I am panicking a bit about it, I know he will spend so much more than is actually needed, and we have no money and baby #1 on the way. Thanks again for the info, I've done the loan calculator thing you suggested, and I think I am going to tell him to down size his plans!

[sugar n spice]

I hope it all goes well and you end up with a nice garden.

[Soon to be Dad]

Hopefully I can help out a little...

With regards to payment increasing and such. Check out this site http://www.infochoice.com.au/banking/calculate/flash/loan-repayments.asp

Info choice is an independant site which can provide info but not advice or recommendations. It is really helpful and I use it daily (i work for a bank). Personal loan is a great idea because it allows you to pay your yard off in a short period of time but the payments will be higher. If funds are currently tight, increasing the loan amount will allow smaller repayments but over a long time period.

You will also need to accurately assess the value of your house to the current loan amount. This will give you an LVR (loan to value ratio) most institutions won't go much over 90% for an increase although some will go to 97% but with a higher rate. You can get info on house prices at www.whatpricemyhouse.com (http://www.whatpricemyhouse.com).

Good luck with your decision but remember that interest rates are on the rise, so be careful with calculations (I always add 2% to the rate to make sure that I am comfortable on affordability) :D

[twitch]

Thanks Soon to Be Dad! That site is great, I really appreciate your help. I am a bit naive when it comes to how to go about getting finance and repayments and things, DH is even worse so we are worried about ending up in a huge amount of debt. Thanks again!

[talon]

just wondering if you have considered maybe getting the dirt laid down but only purchasing half the required turf you need. I have seen this numerous times around the place and it gets laid in a criss cross fashion so that it looks a bit like a checkerboard. That way the grass with grow into the gaps but won't cost you as much if you had to lay the full quota of turf?