Borrowing capacity and comfortable are not the same thing. The bank approved you for $1.2M.
But no one asked whether $1.2M actually works for your life.
There's a number lenders calculate: your maximum borrowing capacity. And then there's a completely different number.. what you can comfortably service while still living the way you want to.
For families in Sydney, those two numbers are often very far apart. Because the lender's model doesn't account for:
--> Two kids in childcare at $800 a week
--> School fees coming in three years
--> One income going part-time while you settle in
--> The buffer you need to not lie awake at night
Borrowing to your maximum isn't ambitious. It's often just unnecessary stress wearing the disguise of a good property decision.
The clients who feel most confident in their decision aren't the ones who borrowed the most. They're the ones who understood their number. And chose it deliberately
If you're trying to figure out what your real number looks like, that's exactly the kind of conversation worth having early.
