Buying in the Sydney CBD almost always means buying an apartment, often a small one, sometimes on company title.
A Sydney CBD home needs a lender whose policy fits the building. CBD apartments are often small, sometimes on company title, and some buildings carry short-stay letting, each of which narrows the lender list or lowers the maximum loan-to-value ratio.
The lender is matched to the building and the unit’s internal size before you commit.
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Principal and interest, constant rate, monthly repayments. An estimate only, not credit advice or an offer.
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Had a really good experience with Charles at Links Property Finance. He was easy to deal with, always quick to respond and kept everything simple and clear throughout the whole process. You can tell he genuinely cares about getting the best outcome for his clients rather than just getting things done quickly. Really happy with the experience and would happily recommend Charles and Links Property Finance to anyone.
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.
The same constraints that made the purchase difficult apply again at refinance, which surprises owners who assume a track record of repayments settles the question. It does not: the property is reassessed each time.
Where the apartment is small or the building has significant short-stay letting, the list of lenders willing to refinance can be shorter than the list that funded the purchase.
Worth reviewing when your fixed rate is ending, when your rate sits above what new customers are being offered, or when you want an offset account you don't currently have. Sometimes the right answer is a repricing call to your existing lender rather than a switch, and that costs nothing.
Yes, but the lending is the hard part: small internal areas, high strata levies and building use all bear on the assessment, and levies are deducted from the rent a lender counts.
Running the numbers with the actual levies rather than the advertised yield is the only version worth doing.
An interest-only period lowers the repayment while it lasts, but the balance stays where it started and the repayment rises once the period ends. Your accountant should weigh in, because the tax position often decides whether it is worth it.
Charles Touma, Mortgage Broker.
Few places in Australia are as well connected as the Sydney CBD.
An apartment loan has two approvals in it: one for you and one for the property.
Almost everything here is a small apartment, and the small apartment rules are the whole conversation. Internal living area excluding balcony and car space is the first test, and CBD studios routinely fall under the fifty square metre mark that determines whether high loan-to-value lending is available at all.
The second test is what else is in the building: a high proportion of short-stay or serviced letting changes how a lender classifies the security, and some decline it outright.
Company title appears more often here than in most of Sydney, and it removes a large share of lenders from consideration on its own.
In tower-heavy areas a lender may already hold its maximum exposure to a building, or want a larger deposit for the postcode. Another lender may not. Confirming this before exchange avoids a surprise after it.
Often, yes. A unit tied to a serviced-apartment or hotel-style letting arrangement is usually assessed on stricter terms than a standard apartment, and some lenders decline it or ask for a larger deposit.
Yes, for eligible buyers within the cap. Many city studios and one-bedroom units qualify on price, but some fail on internal size or building type, such as serviced apartments.
It's the smallest internal living area a lender will accept as security, usually measured excluding balconies, car spaces and storage. Many lenders sit around 50 square metres for a high loan-to-value ratio loan, with some willing to go lower and some declining smaller properties outright.
Lenders cap how much they lend in one building. A large tower of similar apartments can reach that cap at one lender while another still has room.
Yes. City towers can have defect history, large sinking fund demands and short-stay use, all of which the report shows.
One free call covers what you could borrow in Sydney CBD, the lenders that suit the property you want and the order to do things in.
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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.
