u/VanillaBoring6783

We've had lots of people think it was the 5% scheme and saying that we don't need to make sure our income is within a certain limit. One person insisted vehemently that the scheme has ended and no longer exists and actually tried to argue the point, not giving in (turned out they were looking at one of the old state schemes). Two people said, why would you want the government to own a part of the property, wouldn't you want to own it all? (To which the answer is obviously yes, we would love to own it all but not using the scheme we might die before we buy.) And probably the most shocking was a family member who thinks that using the scheme is some kind of sign of weakness and who compared us to a sibling, pointing out that they didn't rely on a scheme, they saved everything themselves, and basically made out like we were somehow leeching by using it. I've now given up telling anyone we are using it. I personally think the scheme is a great step forward in an imperfect housing market. Anyone had similarly unexpected reactions?

Just wondering what kind of condition they are willing to allow you to purchase. A lot of the places in the area I'm looking need work. We are avoiding anything with major structural issues, like needing restumping or leaks etc. But are they happy to let you purchase if the place needs a fair bit of doing up outside of these kind of major structural issues? Anyone have any examples of the kinds of condition that HA consider good enough even though the house needs some work?

I read that you can now use a broker with the Help to Buy Scheme if you are borrowing from Bank Australia. We think this might be a good option for us because while I'm on a salary, my partner is a sole trader (been in business about 4 years). Has anyone done used a broker with the scheme with success and does anyone recommend a specific broker?