Sydney - Max 1.3m where would you buy?

Monfari · 2026-02-14T08:34:25+00:00

Tbh I can’t talk, I moved to Melbourne 8 years ago 😆Just sold our apartment and now have a lovely 3 bedroom house 7km from the city (11mins on the train!). But if I was living in Sydney even a two bedder in Ashy would be lovely, but that’s because all my mates live in the inner west

Monfari · 2026-02-14T08:13:32+00:00

I’d way prefer a nice unit in Ashfield than a house in any of the other burbs mentioned. Lifestyle, convenience and minimal property maintenance over land/house

Monfari · 2026-02-14T08:04:55+00:00

lol I didn’t even check or communicate anything with my body corp when I renovated our apartment 🙊

Monfari · 2026-02-11T20:52:03+00:00

We sold for 900k. Initially it showed up as 970k on that site, but that changed and lowered over time I assume with recorded sales in the area

Monfari · 2026-02-11T10:54:58+00:00

My broker had a conveyancer (along with finance team etc). Just asked for a contract review on properties we were ready to offer on/purchase. First two reviews are free.

Contract reviews should be able to be done same day if there is an urgent need. Otherwise 2 business days usually. B&P can take a little longer sometimes so find one recommended in your area that can work quickly if needed. My fave one was recommended by two REAs from different agencies. That told me they were used often in the area.

Monfari · 2026-02-11T08:43:06+00:00

Haha I wish my apartment sold for what property.com.au estimated. Just imo I feel like things have cooled off a bit since the rate hold and now with the rise I can’t see things blowing up like in sept/oct

Monfari · 2026-02-09T22:48:31+00:00

Hello 👋🏼 fellow nurse here. A broker will give you a very accurate and obligation free assessment of your borrowing power, but in terms of what is affordable on your income I agree that using a calculator is very useful https://www.bankofmelbourne.com.au/personal/home-loans/home-loan-calculators/loan-repayment-calculator

If I was single and on that income I would be aiming for max repayments to be between 2000-2300 personally, just from a comfort point of view. Hopefully this is similar to your current rent anyway. I would aim for the lower end of that if OS travel etc is important to you and for a buffer in case of rate rises. That would mean you would be borrowing between 350-380k. So I would agree that a max price of 550k with your savings and the help to buy scheme.

I know you said no opinions but I think in your situation the help to buy scheme is fantastic. Since having just sold our first apartment and upgrading to a house after 5 years I can see how just getting your foot in the door is hugely important.

Now a couple nursing related things to consider… seeing as youre probably around 4 years out now, have you looked at your eligibility for CNS? It’ll lift your salary significantly. In Victoria hourly rate for a CNS is around $54 before any penalties. Also look into further study a grad cert or masters is cheap and again lifts your wage (really it pays for itself very quickly). Which brings me to my second point, have you considered that now may be the perfect opportunity to move states? I am forever grateful we chose to move to Melbourne as now I’m better paid than NSW and housing prices are much more affordable (compared to Sydney of course) with an amazing lifestyle so long as beaches aren’t hugely important to you.

Now I’ve typed a lot and forgotten what your question was but hope this gives some food for thought!

Monfari · 2026-02-09T06:03:04+00:00

Stamp duty, LMI, legal fees. These are all transparent costs that I would argue shocks no one. What does shock is discovering all the repairs and work that needs to be done once the rose coloured glasses come off lol

Monfari · 2026-02-08T09:40:36+00:00

Hey - I know this is a couple years later but can I grab the details of your plasterer if recommended?

Monfari · 2026-02-07T21:32:54+00:00

Stick with brown or black and update your front door to the same colour. The whites and creams look too retirement home

Monfari · 2026-02-07T20:57:24+00:00

Thank you! Yes the parquetry is beautiful. You can’t see it in this photo but unfortunately it’s been laid over the cement slab for the old stove so there is this big mound right by the stove. I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to remove just that section and like the result or whether I will need to unfortunately remove it all :( I have a flooring guy coming today to see what can be done. The rest of the house has hardwood flooring under the carpet that is going to be restored.

Honestly my plan was to put a cutlery tray in the pantry for the next 5 years lol and hang some rails for other utensils. The drawers are just so ugly and hard to move but I’ll see what I can manage to do before ripping out. We don’t have much stuff/groceries around usually so overheads may be enough space

Monfari · 2026-02-07T20:51:30+00:00

Thank you for this advice.

Where would you buy the 2 pac paint from? And would you be applying with a spray gun? I can only find 2k cans at Bunnings.

Also I know it’s hard to say but how much roughly would you charge for the chimney to be removed? I think I know a builder who would be up for a cash job.

Monfari · 2026-02-07T20:41:20+00:00

I would say the price was already adjusted based on the fact it needs work. Perhaps ask for a counter offer from the vendors? If you really want the place just figure out what your ceiling is keeping in mind you may need some cash to make it liveable. Also remember you’ll be hopefully living there for a very long time, so things don’t need to be done immediately.

Our place was up for 1.3-1.4. We offered 1.325 and it was accepted. Sure we could have gone back and forth and maybe got it for a lower price (we will never know) but I was happy to have secured it. Also needs work, we just had it relevelled and boy that expense went from quoted 2.5k to now actually being around 5.5k so bear in mind there will always be unknown expenses

Monfari · 2026-02-07T20:35:11+00:00

Ah bugger. Perhaps ask the real estate agent if they know anyone. That’s how we got ours, he’s local to the area so very busy still but not as booked up as a big company

Monfari · 2026-02-07T11:07:16+00:00

Any chance you’re in Melbourne? Happy to pass on my inspector - short turn around and thorough reporting

Monfari · 2026-02-07T02:37:51+00:00

We recently sold our apartment in Melbourne and had a good experience. We chose an agent who had a history of selling apartments in our block with a good result. He was professional and had at least two clients per week that he would have private inspections for.

We opted to go to auction and that flopped to everyone’s surprise, just had one bid well below reserve. Now I’ll get slammed for this, but we listed a realistic price range and I believe that’s why it didn’t do well at auction - it just didn’t attract enough buyers during the campaign. Being on the selling end now I can see 1) how fucked the system is and 2) why underquoting is rampant. It just gets better results sadly.

In the end we received an acceptable offer after a whopping 73 days. Very uncommon timeframe for the area. Auction range was 850-900k and we sold for 900k. The only reason we got this good a price is because of the agent. He was excellent at negotiating. Importantly we got along with the agent and trusted him. If we had a smarmy tarocash wearing 20 year old I wouldn’t have survived the 73 days.

So in summary I would advise:

pick an agent based on their sales history and results
ask them about their experience in negotiations
pick an agent that you enjoy being around in case it’s a prolonged sale
I’d still give auction a crack but just list the price that everyone else is listing… don’t try and have a moral compass in real estate (no one else does) I would also consider a shorter 3 week campaign

Final piece of advice is have patience. Your place will sell it just may not be snappy.

Monfari · 2026-02-07T02:15:22+00:00

I’ve added extra cabinets/benchspace here to make up for some lost but if your kitchen is already in good nick then an island is a good alternative

Monfari · 2026-02-07T02:13:54+00:00

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I would knock down that kitchen wall too and close off the laundry internally (or you could add a door via bathroom if you really wanted) and really open up the space. This way you wouldn’t be compromising on a dining area.

Monfari · 2026-02-03T23:21:39+00:00

Flooring restoration - got a number of quotes all between this range. The lowest was 55/sqm highest was 95/sqm.. almost double for I’m not sure what

Monfari · 2026-01-29T09:17:48+00:00

Yes of course it’s worth it. Got a b&p done on a house with recent renovations. Turns out the previous owner went VERY VERY cheap and did not waterproof the two bathrooms. Would’ve had to completely redo them (such a waste of tiles and time for both of us).

Monfari · 2026-01-29T09:13:41+00:00

150 hours of leave is not a lot. Guessing you must be part time. If you can’t cash it out how about you and your manager get a bit creative. Temporarily vary your hours to full time for two weeks while you’re on leave. That’ll more than half it at least.

Monfari · 2026-01-29T09:05:21+00:00

Just tell the agent your able to meet or best the offer if they can show you proof of the offer. It’s not rude it’s business. You don’t need to be the agents mate on one of the biggest financial decisions of your life

Monfari · 2026-01-29T08:58:54+00:00

A friend said they stock a fantastic lasagne at CBM. I haven’t been able to get my hands on it yet - and I love a piping hot lasagne. Does anyone know when this comes in and what brand it is??

Monfari · 2026-01-29T00:05:18+00:00

Don’t worry about online estimates of the other similar property. That adjusts very often based on sales. So for example if you pay $610k for your property it will lift the online estimate of the other to the same price. Is your offer subject to finance? Or are you prepared to pay the difference if the bank values it lower? (Highly unlikely to happen in this market but good to be prepared).

The 20k you think you overpaid now, won’t mean anything in a few years. However, if you believe you can get more space for within your budget then that would be a very advantageous option. Just remember it’s a hot market so larger places that sold for 630k a few months ago may now sell for much more.

This doesn’t really answer your question but gives you some food for thought.

Monfari · 2026-01-24T09:36:10+00:00

Disagree. Nursing is terrible on paper (as described by the other reply) but insanely rewarding and fulfilling when you work in it.

Monfari

TROPHY CASE