Frugal living: the top cheap housing trends

Kate CowlingSep 9, 2016( 2 min read )

Home Loans

8 cities that are more affordable than Sydney

When you examine the average Australian house prices in December 2016 (according to the Domain Rental & House Pricing Report) the average price of a house in Sydney is $1,123,991.

Mar 17, 2017( 3 min read )

Home Loans

Housing affordability: Is a tree change the answer

Aug 22, 2016( 2 min read )

Home Loans

How can we fix the housing affordability crisis?

It seems as though there is no hotter topic than the housing affordability crisis and what needs to be done to solve it. From the endless news articles to the discussions had in homes around Australia, it’s a problem that strikes right at the heart of the Australian dream of property ownership.

Oct 25, 2016( 4 min read )

Home Loans

Australian cities amongst the most unaffordable in the world

If you have been looking to buy in one of Australia’s capital cities, then it would come as little shock to you that Australian house prices have become amongst the most unaffordable in the world.

Sep 7, 2016( 3 min read )

In the world’s most expensive cities, savvy inhabitants tend to find workaround solutions to beat the affordability crisis.

Japan’s popularised micro apartments, Sydney became briefly infamous for student housing in cubicles and San Francisco has it all manner of alternatives, from co-ops to car houses to house sitting.

Here are three ways dwellers are changing their habits to stay in their cities of choice.

THE MICROHOME

A photo posted by Brook Vanderford (@brook_v) on May 21, 2015 at 2:37pm PDT

The micro home is fairly self explanatory. It’s a tiny space – often constructed out of cheap materials like plywood – perfect for minimalists.

SHIPPING CONTAINERS

istock_20279534_large-compressor

For those looking for cheap, cosy and portable housing, shipping containers could be the answer.

SHARED HOUSES

A photo posted by GOodM☕️rningUbuntu! (@goodmorningubuntu) on Jul 7, 2016 at 7:44pm PDT

Having one to four roommates may be standard fare when you’re in your 20s, but when the number of dwellers is in the 30s, you know you’ve got an affordability crisis.

A share house in San Francisco, dubbed Chateau Ubuntu, has 37 tenants, who share about 1300 hugs a week. They’ve got an Instagram page, a promotional video and eat hundreds of eggs.

Kate Cowling

Kate was one of RateCity's Personal Finance Commentators. She has been a journalist for more than a decade, most of which has been spent writing about money. Most recently, she was the Australian Financial Review's personal finance correspondent. She is passionate about personal finance and women's independence.

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FAQs

Tip: You can use RateCity how much can I borrow calculator to get a quick answer.

How much money you can borrow for a home loan will depend on a number of factors including your employment status, your income (and your partner’s income if you are taking out a joint loan), the size of your deposit, your living expenses and any other debt you might hold, including credit cards.

A good place to start is to work out how much you can afford to make in monthly repayments, factoring in a buffer of at least 2 – 3 per cent to allow for interest rate rises along the way. You’ll also need to factor in additional costs that come with purchasing a property such as stamp duty, legal fees, building inspections, strata or council fees.

If you are planning on renting the property, you can factor in the expected rental income to help offset the mortgage, but again it’s prudent to add a significant buffer to allow for rental management fees, maintenance costs and short periods of no rental income when tenants move out. It’s also wise to factor in changes in personal circumstances – the typical home loan lasts for around 30 years and a lot can happen between now and then.

Frugal living: the top cheap housing trends

Related articles

8 cities that are more affordable than Sydney

Housing affordability: Is a tree change the answer

How can we fix the housing affordability crisis?

Australian cities amongst the most unaffordable in the world

THE MICROHOME

SHIPPING CONTAINERS

SHARED HOUSES

A photo posted by GOodM☕️rningUbuntu! (@goodmorningubuntu) on Jul 7, 2016 at 7:44pm PDT

Today's top home loans products

Discount Offer Variable Home Loan OO P&I ($200k+)

Discount Variable Home Loan ($150k+) (LVR < 80%)

Fixed Rate Classic Home Loan (Principal and Interest) 2 Years

Yard Home Loan (Principal and Interest)

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