Bay Islands - is this a good idea?

[bobbi]

Hi all,
I am a middle aged single parent of one on an average income. I have no savings for a home deposit but i am desperate to own a home. I currently rent in Brisbane at $320 a week but would love to get on the property ladder ASAP. So i thought as i cannot buy a house yet - would this be a good idea -

Buy a section around $40, 000 on one of the Bay Islands in Brisbane ( Russell , Mcleay Island etc) on a personal loan as i have a good credit rating, and then once this is paid off over a year hopefully, i can then use this as equity to get into a house either on the island or else where. I do think that these sections will be good investments for the future anyway as i am sure they will one day build a bridge to the islands, because land is so scarce here.

I also checked with the first home owners grant and this section i buy will not preclude me from getting the grant later.

I am also worried because i will be 45 soon and someone said to me that it will be harder to get a mortgage at my age because the banks will consider me not to have a long working life left to repay the mortgage.

I know nothing about realestate or property buying so any constructive advice or opinion would be most welcome.

Thanks

[Ben]

A few points to consider:

While age is a consideration and may be slightly more a consideration in the current financial climate, it is not the barrier it used to be. There are more valid and competitive sources for finance these days in any case. A good broker should be able to help you with this.

When you say a section I assume you mean a lot of land. Not sure I would count on the bridge any time soon. It has been coming forever and in all likely hood will remain by ferry only.

Can't see a real downside.. Getting into anything is good. Even if it just forces a little forced saving. Even better if you continue to save at that rate when the property is paid off in the first year.. It would not be long before you had sufficient to stake a deposit in another property somewhere else.

I wish you all the best of luck.
Ben