Imagine buying your first home with only a 5% deposit and not having to pay lenders mortgage insurance. Well, that dream is one step closer to reality after the government introduced legislation to implement the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme.
Lending to Aussie households spiked 3.9% in July, the strongest growth seen since October 2014, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Marge, Marge, the rains are ‘ere! Home prices have recorded their first rise since October 2017, with national dwelling values increasing 0.8% over August, according to the latest CoreLogic report.
Ever been tempted to tell the boss you’re leaving to start your own business? You’re not alone. In fact, more than nine million Aussies dream about becoming their own boss.
How much do you think the average Aussie spends on gifts each month? $20, $50 or 100? (hint: we’re a generous bunch). Today we’ll look at why it’s important to budget for these expenses correctly, rather than succumbing to ‘buy now, pay later’ services.
Ever thought about investing in solar panels for your home? If so, you’ll know it’s a big decision and there’s a lot to wrap your head around. Fortunately, the consumer watchdog is proposing a new retailer code to make solar purchases safer and easier.
Indulgences such as caviar, wagyu beef and the finest bottles of wine shouldn’t count against you when lenders assess your application for finance, a Federal Court judge has said.
One in 10 consumers have switched credit products in the past year, according to new research, with Millennials and women in particular pouncing on offers from small banks, credit unions and building societies.
Businesses that put off paying large tax bills for too long may soon find that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has notified credit reporting bureaus.
Good news for mortgage holders this week, with the RBA saying “it’s reasonable to expect an extended period of low interest rates”.
One of the most annoying myths for young homebuyers has to be the smashed avo breaky one. You know – to buy a property you have to forego delicious weekend breakfasts. Well, here are three easy recipes that prove otherwise.
Scams involving identity theft have cost Australians at least $16 million this year, and that figure is likely to be just the “tip of the iceberg”, says the ACCC.
Reckon you could scrounge together an extra $50 each week to pay off your mortgage? If so, latest modelling shows the average household with a $400,000 loan could save $46,992 and pay off their home loan four years faster.
Great news for home buyers – housing affordability is the best it’s been since 1999, according to new data released by the nation’s peak housing and building body.
Whenever the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) changes the official cash rate we all hear about how it will impact home loans. But it affects many other areas of finance and the economy, which we’ll look into today.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points to a new record low of 1%. Yep, that’s right, back-to-back rate cuts within just one month.
Backyard cricket pitch not getting much of a workout these days? Sick of your weekends being taken up with mowing and gardening? Installing a granny flat could be a lucrative solution – boosting the value of your home by 30% and adding around 27% to rental income.
Yes, we’re well aware that this may sound like an oxymoron to some! But cheeky jokes aside, this is a question we’ve been increasingly receiving. So today we thought we’d look into what good corporate social responsibility means, and how you can find it in a bank.
‘Are we there yet?’ That seems to be the million dollar question on everyone’s lips. Today we’ll take a look at whether or not the property market is finally starting to stabilise, as well as when we might start seeing some positive changes in the market.
Superannuation changes are afoot, and time is running out this financial year to take action. Here’s what you need to know about your superannuation account ahead of the EOFY deadline.
Tax time is just around the corner, which means ATO impersonators are pulling out their bag of tricks to try and scam you. Here are the main scams currently doing the rounds.
The RBA has cut the official cash rate to a new record low of 1.25%. But hang on a sec… Will lenders even pass on the cut in full? Today we’ll look at how you can make the RBA rate cut work for you.
Self-managed super funds (SMSFs) have become an increasingly popular choice in recent years due to the control and flexibility they can offer. Today we’ll take a look at why that is, as well as some interesting stats the ATO has gathered on them.
They say that home is where the heart is. And it’s true that we spend so much of our time, money and emotions in our homes. So it can be hard to truly look at them and think that something could be wrong.
No doubt, like most, you’re suffering from a bit of election fatigue. But stick with us – here’s one last article that explains what you can expect from the 46th parliament of Australia.
Here’s a bit of good news: you may be able to borrow more for your next home loan after the prudential regulator sent a letter to the banks asking them to relax a key lending criteria.
Did you know that it takes four to seven years for the average household to save a 20% deposit for their first home and avoid paying lender’s mortgage insurance? However, a new scheme promises to drastically reduce that time by dropping the required deposit to just 5%.
‘Adulting’ is a real thing. It has even made it to the Oxford dictionary where it’s defined as “behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks”.
Most of us have found ourselves in a sticky situation where we’ve spotted an unauthorised or mistaken transaction on our bank account or credit card statement. Here’s how to avoid footing the bill.
What would you say if we told you that you could potentially increase your rental returns by up to 30% simply by ticking a box? You’d probably call us ‘barking mad’.
It can be a hard temptation to avoid; you sit there and watch while other investments outperform your own, and you begin to wonder… why don’t I just invest my money there instead?
We don’t like to dust off the old crystal ball and speculate very often, but there’s been so much noise about whether the RBA will cut the official cash rate this Tuesday that we feel compelled to address it.
While housing affordability is improving across the country, for many young first home buyers cracking into the property market can feel like breaking into a fortress. Here are five ideas that can help bust down that door.
Fixing your home loan while rates are dropping is a bit like pulling the ripcord on a parachute. If you do it early you’ll get a steady ride but may miss out on a bit of action. But if you leave it too late things might get a little messy.
The Easter holidays are a great time to get away with the family. Unfortunately, this means they’re also a prime time for burglars to target your unoccupied home. Here are seven simple ways to deter uninvited guests from entering your property these holidays – sorry Easter Bunny!
Welcoming a baby into your family is one of the most joyous occasions of your life. But just like anything worth celebrating (such as your wedding day or buying your first property), it’s not without its expenses.
Cash flow is like your daily hit of caffeine. You don’t really notice how important it is for your business until you’ve got to try and operate without it. Today we’ll look at how the recently expanded instant asset write-off initiative can help out in that area.
With a federal election due in May, the 2019 Federal Budget is more a series of election promises than it is a set-in-stone budget. That aside, here are some of the more interesting talking points and what they’ll mean for you.
The superannuation gender gap has narrowed over the past decade, but more work still needs to be done. Here’s how you can help close the gap even further.
Actors act. Cleaners clean. Taxi drivers drive taxis. Mortgage brokers? Well, we don’t just do mortgages. Here are the other aspects of your life we can help with when it comes to your financing options.
The short term rental market is booming. Each year, tens of thousands of Australians list their properties on Airbnb to make a tidy buck on the side. Here are our top five tips on how to stand head and shoulders above your competition.
Hindsight is 20/20, right? The Global Financial Crisis, Trump’s election and the rise and fall of Bitcoin all seem obvious enough in retrospect. But here’s the thing: very few people ever make money from random and unexpected events, despite many trying!
Choosing the right superannuation fund can be like navigating a maze. Just when you think you’re onto a winner you run into a dead end – whether that be because of high fees, hidden costs, or poor performance. Today we’ll break down the process of choosing a fund in 9 simple steps.
We’ve all heard the horror stories about a mechanically-challenged friend buying a car and it turning out to be an absolute lemon! Well, the truth is that sourcing the finance for the car isn’t all too dissimilar. But here are 12 reasons why you won’t end up with a lemon of a loan with us!
What a rollercoaster month it’s been for the mortgage broking industry and our customers. The good news for the both of us is that our service to you will stay exactly the same moving forward, no matter who wins government come May.
We’ve all done it. In a moment of weakness, a dodgy salesperson has persuaded us to hand over our hard earned money for a purchase we didn’t really need, let alone want. Here’s how to politely rebuff a salesperson’s pressure tactics.
Australia’s housing market might be on a bit of a downward trajectory, but that doesn’t mean the value of your home can’t buck the trend. Here are five ways you can increase the value of your property, without necessarily increasing your monthly mortgage repayments.
It’s no secret that Australians love to travel. The thing is, we also love to own our own home. Can you do both? It turns out most people can!
When it comes to footy, Australians love a punt – of both the kicking and betting varieties. The thing is though, one is great fun, the other can cost you thousands of dollars a year.
As technology continues to evolve, so too do the challenges of keeping your family budget in check. This week we’re going to look at a couple of technological trends that could put your family budget under some real strain in 2019.
There’s been a lot of noise in the home lending and financial space recently, so there’s every chance you may have missed it, but some lenders are starting to cut rates.
Medicare customers are being urged to update their bank account details to see if they’re entitled to a share of more than $110 million in unclaimed rebates. Here’s how to do so online in a few minutes.
Higher interest rates, increased fees, less flexibility and fewer options. That’s how borrowers will lose out if the banking Royal Commission’s recommendations around how mortgage brokers are paid are implemented. Here’s how you can have your say!
More than 1000 pages and 76 recommendations – the Royal Commission final report doesn’t exactly make for light reading. Fortunately, we’ve cut to the chase with the key recommendations and how they’ll affect you.
Once again the Big 4 Banks have escaped major punishment and gotten exactly what they wanted: adding a multi-thousand-dollar tax on borrowing that’ll hit consumers and brokers hardest.
Ahh, the NBN. Depending on where you live it’s either lightening fast, or so agonizingly slow that you want to pull your hair out. Well, the good news is you could be entitled to a refund worth hundreds of dollars.
Sharing is caring, right? However, when it comes to the sharing economy, the ATO is feeling neglected and wants its fair share. Here’s what you need to know if you rent out your property on Airbnb.
Excuse the humble brag, but property buyers are turning to mortgage brokers in record numbers. Here’s why that’s great news for the both of us.
The Productivity Commission has released a major report into Australia’s superannuation system, and in it identified 31 recommendations for overhauling the system. Here’s what you need to know.
It’s the end of the road for 900,000 borrowers on interest-only loans, as they’ll be automatically switched to principal and interest loans this year. Now’s the time to check whether or not you should start considering other options.
We’re midway through January and you’ve managed to stay sane. Well, we hope so anyway! Here are seven budget-friendly ideas that’ll help keep the kids off their screens throughout the last two weeks of school holidays.
Each year we make New Year’s resolutions that focus on our health and wellbeing. But how often do we think about improving our finances? Here are five financial New Year’s resolutions that could help you start 2019 with a bang!
Here’s some good news to kick off 2019: APRA is removing its restrictions on interest-only residential mortgage lending from January 1.
Whether you’re celebrating the festive season with family and friends, or getting away somewhere nice and relaxing, we hope you have a wonderful break over the summer holidays!
Borrowers who don’t shop around due to the banks’ unclear pricing tactics are losing out on an average of $850 a year, an ACCC report has found.
Tipsy topples, scooter smashes, sporting sprains and medical mishaps – before you go jet-setting overseas these holidays we’ll explore the most common ways travel insurance policies are voided.
Every Christmas almost half of the Australian population decides to go swimming in credit card debt to get through the festive season. But there’s two big reasons why you shouldn’t do that this year.
A big four bank almost overhauled its broker remuneration model so that the cost of mortgage broking services would be transferred to the customer, the royal commission heard. Here’s how to prevent that from happening.
Seven in 10 Australian mortgage holders have not stress tested their home loan. But don’t stress, it’s much easier to do than you think.
One in six customers who use payment methods such as Afterpay and Zip Pay run into financial strife – and ASIC is putting the ‘buy now, pay later’ industry under the spotlight.
