BBQ to welcome the Mexicans

[BigBoyLemonade]

BBQ at Kittys on 4pm onwards 5th April 2007 (Holy Thursday)!

Those dirty southern mexicans are coming through Canberra on their way to Dorigo!

I will bring the Salsa if someone brings the doritos!

PM KittyKatSmack for the address details

More info coming to a thread near you!

[skitz]

lol i got ur doritos! lol cya all there

[Osprey06]

pfft. You had to pick the one day I'm up in Sydney to see Ben Harper...!

[KittyKatSmack]

Gah Osprey, can't you change Ben Harper?
We don't get to see you nearly often enough!

Ah well, you'll have to come to the housewarming in May then, when we buy our first house *excited/nervous/terrified/ecstatic*
it's a weird feeling ;)

[BigBoyLemonade]

I see Osprey every saturday so neh!

[Osprey06]

I see Osprey every saturday so neh!
Lies - you didn't see me last Sat and won't this Sat either. I've been doing a little bit of the house hunting thing which it seems Aaron & Kitty have also been doing. Tell me about the whole *excited/nervous/terrified/ecstatic* thing - I bid on a pretty nice place a week and a half ago and went to my self-imposed max and it sold for $1k more :\\ I think it will be a while before I see another place that nice in a reasonable location, too :(

[KittyKatSmack]

I've been doing a little bit of the house hunting thing which it seems Aaron & Kitty have also been doing. Tell me about the whole *excited/nervous/terrified/ecstatic* thing - I bid on a pretty nice place a week and a half ago and went to my self-imposed max and it sold for $1k more :\\ I think it will be a while before I see another place that nice in a reasonable location, too :(

You have our sympathies!
Keep your eyes peeled on www.allhomes.com.au
Budget: stick to your guns
It's all too easy to go over budget.
We ended up working out our living costs and then deciding what we could afford with what's left.
It's not much, but it's a start.

also, go and checkout:
http://www.adelaidebank.com.au/
they have a new product called:
Equity Finance Mortgage
info here: http://www.efm.info/

We are taking advantage of not having to make repayments on 20% of the purchase price/value of the home but we also intend to refinance in 2 years to repay the money Mum & Dad are loaning us for the deposit.

Originally, we were going to add the MX5, motorbike and a loan Aaron has to the amount we will be borrowing (ie/110% of property value) but that is going to wait as well. Besides, the motorbike has 3years or so left so we'll try to get that paid off without adding it to our loan amount.
I refinanced the MX5 in 2006 when I paid a lump sum amount.
It eased my repayments from $700 a month to $300 a month, which makes life easier with my Dept of Vet's Affairs pension.

We chose NSW instead of ACT to live for several reasons:
1. In the ACT, when you purchase a block of land, you don't own it.
You get a lease for 99 years, so it's never yours.
2. The Stamp Duty rebates in the ACT are different to NSW, we are not paying any stamp duty on our house at all and we are applying for the First Home Owners Grant of $7000 to put towards some maintenance and repairs.

I could go on and on, that'd be unusual for me right?
LOL

Anytime you want to catchup, you're always welcome :)