Are You Being Penalised For Sticking With Your Lender, paying lazy tax? From electricity bills to phone plans, car insurance through to home loans, sticking with the same provider year after year could mean you’re paying “lazy tax”. Lazy tax is the penalty many consumers and homeowners are paying as a result of being complacent,…
Why Australians’ Borrowing Power May Soon Get a Boost To ease cost of living pressures, the Australian government announced tax cuts for 13.6 million taxpayers and rebates for households. While beneficial, these cuts may impact borrowing power and create opportunities for first home buyers. A Boost from the Budget Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced…
Understanding Your Home Loan There’s a lot to think about when buying a home. From saving a deposit, to getting pre-approval, house hunting to sale and purchase agreements, building inspections through to settlement. But one of the most important parts of buying a home is choosing the right home loan. With so many products and…
Understanding Borrowing Capacity Before house hunting, knowing how much you can borrow from your lender is beneficial. Your borrowing capacity is the amount a lender will lend you to buy a property. It sounds simple but it’s not. All kinds of factors determine the amount a lender comes up with, and your loan amount can…
Mortgage Interest Rate Rises and Refinancing Tips Aussie homeowners facing yet another cash rate hike in November 2023 are understandably concerned about the impact that rising interest rates will have on their mortgage repayments. Going from a low of 2.85 percent a little more than a year ago to a new high of 4.35 percent,…
Using Your Equity to Grow Your Investment If you’ve paid off part of your mortgage or made improvements to your home that have increased its value, you may have equity that could be used to buy an investment property. Equity is the difference between your home’s current value and what you owe on your mortgage,…
First Tier Lenders vs. Second Tier Lenders Stricter lending conditions across Australia have led to a rise in the number of borrowers turning to second-tier lenders for finance. Second-tier lenders – who can be smaller banks or non-bank lenders – whilst also tightly regulated, can often have more flexibility in the rates and fees they…
How Creditworthy Are You? Every time you apply for credit, spend using credit or make (or miss) a repayment on a loan or a utility bill, you influence your credit score. In turn, your credit score is used by lenders to determine whether or not to give you more credit. That’s why keeping a good…