Ashfield’s housing is old, and age is what lenders react to: red-brick walk-ups, Federation houses and the occasional company title block. Charles knows which lenders say yes to each.
Usually, yes, but the lender has to be chosen for the building. None of this makes an older Ashfield apartment a bad buy, and plenty are excellent buys precisely because other buyers hit finance trouble and walked away.
A 1960s walk-up with no lift, a thin sinking fund and a history of levies changes a lender’s appetite, and it changes differently from one lender to the next; a company title unit narrows the list sharply. The finance is sorted before the offer, not after.
From a real Links file: an Ashfield investment loan reworked before buying again.
Ashfield is an apartment suburb first: 69.9% of its homes are units. That brings the levies, the sinking fund and any defect history into how a lender reads the building. Renters are the majority in Ashfield, at 50.5%. The suburb suits buyers weighing rentvesting: renting where you live and buying where the numbers work.
Separate housesTownhouses and semisApartments
apartments NSW 21.7%
separate houses NSW 65.6%
terraces and semis NSW 11.7%
rented NSW 32.6%
with a mortgage NSW 32.5%
private dwellings
Source: ABS Census 2021, Suburbs and Localities (SAL10099).
Will the rent cover it?
The first question every Sydney investor asks, repayments against rental income, the way a lender sees it.
A gap isn’t a dealbreaker, negative gearing, interest-only periods and offset structure change the cash-flow picture. That’s the conversation.
Estimates only, rates, vacancy, costs and tax change the real picture. Not credit or tax advice.
Confirm your numbers.
A huge thank you to Charlie for his exceptional support and expertise throughout the process of securing finance for my first home.
Paperwork and finances were never my strong suit. He has made this process as simple and dummy proof for me as humanly possible. This is not the first time I use a mortgage broker, however it was the easiest and most pleasant.
I found Charles and Links Property Finance very prompt and professional to deal with. Made it all so easy.
Charles Touma, Mortgage Broker.
Some will, most will not, and the difference is policy. The lender’s security is the building, so the sinking fund, special levies, defect history and internal size drive the assessment.
Links checks those records against lenders including ANZ, Westpac, Macquarie, ING and Resimac before the application, so the valuation is ordered on a block that already fits.
Easier to value, not automatically easier to finance. The age of the building still decides the lender.
Ashfield station sits on the main rail line west from the city with the Liverpool Road town centre beside it, and the many similar red-brick blocks nearby give a valuer and an investor’s rental appraisal plenty to compare.
A period house is valued on its block and its state of repair, and may carry additions built without approval, which a lender’s valuer will note.
A company title unit, where you own shares in the company rather than a strata lot, is accepted by far fewer lenders and usually at a lower loan-to-value ratio, so the lender list is checked before you fall for the flat.
You own shares in a company that owns the building, with a right to occupy your flat, rather than a strata lot in your own name.
Resale and letting can need the company’s approval, so fewer lenders accept it and most want a larger deposit. The right lender still says yes.
Many lenders want around 50 square metres of internal living area, and some older Ashfield studios and one-bedroom flats fall below that. A few lenders still lend on smaller units, usually with a bigger deposit, which is why the floor area is checked against the panel first.
It can. A valuer will note an unapproved extension or outbuilding, and some lenders exclude it from the value or ask for it to be regularised. Check the council records and the contract before you offer, so the price you pay matches what the lender will recognise.
Yes, before exchange. It shows the sinking fund, past special levies, defects and planned works, which decide both the lender’s appetite and the levies you will pay. On a 1960s walk-up those records are thin but important, and they are what the lender’s valuer reads too.
Yes. The 5% Deposit Scheme and the NSW stamp duty exemption apply to established homes as well as new ones, subject to the price caps and your eligibility. The unit still has to pass the lender’s own rules on building age, size and strata health.
One free call covers what you could borrow in Ashfield, the lenders that suit the property you want and the order to do things in.
Prefer a callback?Charles calls back within one business day. No documents needed yet.
General information only, not credit or financial advice. Lender policies and government scheme criteria differ and change over time. All lending is subject to individual assessment and approval.
