The Where Can I Buy Calculator is an extension of the Borrowing Power Calculator. The first step determines your borrowing capacity based on your current salary and expenses. Then you can add your deposit to find out what postcodes offer you affordable properties around Australia. Property information used in the calculator is provided by Residex.
Note: The results from this calculator should be used as an indication only. Results do not represent either quotes or pre-qualifications for a loan. It is advised that you consult your financial adviser before taking out a loan. Calculator © InfoChoice 2009
a) Default core expense annual allowance - borrower assumed to have core level of annual expense, depending on whether single or joint and the number of dependants, currently as below:
| Number of dependants | Single | Joint |
| 0 | $11,400 | $14,400 |
| 1 | $14,280 | $17,280 |
| 2 | $17,160 | $20,160 |
| 3 | $20,040 | $23,040 |
| 4 | $22,920 | $25,920 |
b) Default extra core expenses for more than 4 dependants - currently set at zero.
c) Maximum percentage of income available - percentage of income available for paying expenses and servicing proposed borrowing, default currently set at 85%.
a) Interest rate increase allowance buffer - calculator has capability to assume a higher interest rate than rate entered by user when determining maximum amount that can be borrowed. This allows for affordability of possible rate increases under the loan. Current version of the calculator uses an interest rate buffer of 1.5%.
b) Rounding rules for amount of loan - the calculator has the ability to round the maximum loan amount. The default is usually the current setting of the lower $1,000. Note that the amount of loan is calculated using the interest rate entered, plus any interest rate buffer, and then the resulting loan amount is rounded as required.
c) Interest rate for loan repayment - monthly repayment is calculated in respect of the rounded loan amount and using interest rate entered, not including any interest rate buffer.
All months are assumed to be of equal length. In reality, many loans accrue on a daily basis leading to a varying number of days' interest dependent on the number of days in the particular month.
One year is assumed to contain exactly 52 weeks or 26 fortnights. This implicitly assumes that a year has 364 days rather than the actual 365 or 366.
In practice, repayments are rounded to at least the nearer cent. However the calculator uses the unrounded repayment to derive the amount of interest payable at points along the graph and in total over the full term of the loan. This assumption allows for a smooth graph and equal repayment amounts.