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.
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.
We thought we’d have a little fun this week and look at how much it costs the average Aussie family to own a pet. After all, two in three households have one and very few budget for them!
One of the biggest milestones you’ll encounter on your climb up the property ladder is becoming a landlord. Which means that one big decision you’ll face is whether to hire the services of a managing agent, or take on the responsibility yourself.
Most of us roll our eyes when we start seeing shopping centres spruik Christmas merchandise in November. While it’s important not to get caught up in the festivities too early, now’s actually a great time to start prepping to ensure your budget doesn’t blow out over the silly season.
There’s been a couple of fairly big property-related announcements recently, including a stamp duty overhaul in NSW and NAB increasing interest rates. Let’s break down what they could mean for you.
Property owners and prospective first home buyers are increasingly in need of clear guidance on home lending as the housing markets in Melbourne and Sydney begin to cool, says the Housing Industry Association.
When it comes to money-saving and budgeting, many of us are in the dark as to where we should be making significant savings. A good place to start? Cutting down on ‘micro-transactions’.
With housing values falling across half of Australia’s capital cities over the past year it can be all too easy to forget many regions are doing well. Here’s where property prices have recently experienced healthy growth.
Business partnerships are a lot like marriages. You map out future goals together, become quite dependent on each other, and shy away from the thought of your partner no longer being around. Here’s how Buy/Sell Insurance can help protect your business.
It’s an unfortunate fact of life: as you grow older, your memory is likely to fade. While you’ll probably be forgiven for forgetting the odd anniversary, the stakes are much higher when it comes to keeping track of your finances.
It may seem as though every time you open a newspaper there’s another story about the sky falling in on the property market. But here’s why it’s being labelled the “house price fall we had to have”.
Buying a house by the sea in a little known coastal town is no longer reserved for retirees. New research shows that those flocking to coastal towns are now predominately young families.
Just like a Melbourne Cup winner tearing down the outside, the October 31 tax deadline can quickly rush up on you. As the Australian Tax Office can fine those who fail to get theirs in on time, it might be time to get cracking.
Sticking to a financial plan – such as paying off a mortgage – can be a long journey that’s punctuated by high highs and low lows. Here are some tips to get you through the tougher times.
You’ve probably seen ‘negative gearing’ and ‘capital gains tax’ in the news recently. That’s because they’re set to become hot topics ahead of the next federal election. Today we’ll take a look at both.
We all know that choosing the perfect investment and getting the timing right are both critical. What people often overlook, however, is selecting the right investment ownership model.
A question we often get goes something along the lines of: ‘I make all my repayments on time, and I save $1,000 per month, why is the bank saying I can’t service a loan?’ Here’s how banks conduct loan serviceability.
Information is power. Knowing how much a property is worth can help you secure a great price during negotiations.
Many people only pay their bills on time to avoid being slugged with late fees and a bad credit rating. But a big change this month means that you can now be rewarded for timely repayments.
Whether it’s unrequited love, or an unsuccessful home loan application, getting your heart broken is never easy. Here are five common reasons home loan applications are rejected.
It’s a morbid thought that many of us tend to shy away from, but end-of-life financial planning is a crucial stage in any successful financial management plan.
Just as every great movie is carried by a star performance, so too do most small businesses rely on a key performer. Here’s how to protect your business from bombing at the box office with key person insurance.
With some of the major lenders recently lifting interest rates on variable home loans, we’ve had a number of enquiries this week as to whether now is a good time to lock in an interest rate.
When one bank hikes its interest rates, the rest usually follow one after the other like dominos. Here’s how to avoid getting caught up in the chain reaction.
We all want what’s best for our children. So while investing in their name from an early stage might sound like a great idea, you need to tread as carefully as you would around an abandoned lego construction site.
You’ve probably heard of The Barefoot Investor before. Pre-sales for his upcoming book have already surpassed the final instalment of the Harry Potter series. But here’s why you don’t have to tread down the tricky path towards financial independence barefoot and all by yourself.
With a reverse mortgage you can unlock nest egg funds without having to sell your whole nest. Here’s how we can help in the process.
Sydney? Melbourne? Perth? Find out which of Australia’s capital cities have performed best in the property market over the past two decades.
