The other day I read an article in The Age which I found quite interesting.
The premise of the article was that the banks have conspiratorially created a ‘blacklist’ of buildings and that as a rule banks across the board refuse to finance all NRAS properties, which is entirely incorrect. By its own admission its information was at least 10 months out of date.
This is a good reminder of how dangerous it is to believe everything you read or hear in the press. I mean, here we were on the same day getting a number of NRAS loans approved and we were reading an article saying it was almost impossible.
It is true that 12 months ago NRAS was relatively new in the market, so the risk averse finance industry was a bit wary of some of the NRAS properties with a ‘headlease’ (which is a tiny percentage of the properties we list). There have been and still are some lenders who will not finance NRAS properties, but throughout 2011 many lenders have come on board.
Westpac is a perfect example of this. Last August they announced a policy which refused finance on NRAS properties, however they now have one of most extensive NRAS offerings.
Sales of NRAS properties are a real bright spot in the current market.
I just wanted to help balance up the information and make sure that you had the real truth and not just out-dated misnomers.
Make sure you get your facts from experts who know, not just reporters who want to create drama and only have a limited exposure to a particular topic.
NRAS represents a fantastic opportunity for buyers particularly in the current market and it has the potential to solve Australia’s critical housing shortage.
If you want to see the original article you can check it out here.
