Markets are currently pricing in a 25 basis point – ie 0.25% interest rate cut in February. However it is likely that Australian banks will be keeping some or all of the change before passing the scraps onto you this month. Banks are currently looking for ways to preserve margins as the costs of borrowing [...]
The property market can look a little daunting to many home buyers and investors today. They know they want to “get a foothold”, but the prices are so high. So they and their friends, who are in the same boat, grumble and moan until…eureka! Each one of them alone can’t get a foothold, but if [...]
Often first home-buyers (even some second home-buyers!) are overwhelmed and daunted at the complexities of applying for a home loan from a bank or other lender. So if you’ve not had much experience in home lending, this could be a good place to start. In this overview, I provide borrowers with an outline of the [...]
In our newsletters we often talk about the issues that come from the complexities of real estate laws, interest rates and the vast variety of loan products that are out there these days. We need to understand all these things to safely buy and invest in property. Today though I want to talk about another [...]
If you want to reduce the amount of interest you pay on your home loan, one option is an “offset” facility. The way that this works is that, in addition to your home loan, you have a transaction account with the same financial institution. You deposit your income into the transaction account and use it [...]
In our work with borrowers we come across a lot of ‘urban myths’ about borrowing – things which drive people’s behaviour which are fundamentally misinformed. So as the first in a series which I’ll put out in subsequent newsletters, here are some urban myths exposed. Don’t mortgage your own home. Perhaps the most frequent myth [...]