News

First home buyers with a deposit of just 5% will soon have more purchasing power thanks to an increase in property price caps for the highly popular Home Guarantee Scheme. Most capital cities will get a $100,000 boost to their property price cap from July 1, while regional areas around the country will get a … Continue reading “Attention first home buyers! Price caps increase for 5% deposit scheme”

It’s the hope that kills you. Just ask Carlton fans, NSW Blues supporters, Wallabies sufferers, and hopeful homebuyers who have fallen victim to underquoting. Obviously, you can’t change your footy team, but you can follow these tips to avoid the sketchy real estate practice. If it hasn’t happened to you, it’s probably happened to someone … Continue reading “How to avoid becoming a victim of underquoting”

Car enthusiasts around the nation got a bit of a shock this week when the Tesla Model 3 rocketed up the sales leaderboard to place third for all new vehicles sold in March. How did that happen? You might have seen an article by us a few weeks back about the sales of electric vehicles … Continue reading “What the!? Tesla came third on the new vehicles sold list?”

It’s taking young couples roughly five years on average to save for a 20% home loan deposit, according to new research. Want to hear something crazy, though? We know how to quarter that timeframe… Real talk: it’s never been tougher to save up a deposit for your first home. In Sydney the average timeframe is … Continue reading “How to save a first home deposit in just over a year”

First home buyers, regional buyers and single parents keen to crack the property market are the big winners in this year’s federal budget – with 50,000 low deposit, no LMI scheme spots up for grabs.  Want to buy your first home with just a 5% deposit and pay no lenders’ mortgage insurance? You could be … Continue reading “Budget winners: first home buyers, regional buyers, single parents”

Most of you would have noticed that car prices have gone up significantly over the past two years. But how much have they gone up exactly? Let’s take a look. You’re not imagining things – both new and used vehicle prices have spiked over the past two years (not to mention, house prices, petrol, groceries … Continue reading “How much have car prices gone up since the pandemic began?”

Think property prices have gone a little bonkers? You’re not the only one. Which is why a report with 16 recommendations to tackle housing affordability has just been plonked on pollies’ desks in Canberra. Today we’ll run through them for you (succinctly, we promise). You might have noticed that property prices have skyrocketed over the … Continue reading “16 ways the government should tackle housing affordability: report”

New data from the lending watchdog reveals almost one in four new mortgages are risky. How are they deemed risky? Well, it’s got something to do with your debt-to-income ratio, which we’ll explain in this week’s article. Your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio might sound complicated, but it’s really very simple to work out. Basically, your DTI … Continue reading “What’s your debt-to-income ratio? And why do lenders care about it?”

Home and business owners impacted by the floods in New South Wales and Queensland can apply to their lender for a three-month loan deferral or reduced payment arrangement. Here’s how to apply if you or someone you know has been impacted. Another year, another disaster. In 2019 it was the bushfires. In 2020 it was … Continue reading “Flood victims can defer loan repayments for up to 3 months”

It’s a three-speed property market across the country right now, with two capital cities showing signs prices might’ve peaked, three cities looking like they could soon peak, and three still going strong. How is the market performing in your neck of the woods? While national housing prices have increased a staggering 20.6% over the past … Continue reading “Which two capital cities might have just hit their property price peak?”

It wasn’t long ago that the idea of buying an electric vehicle (EV) seemed like a bit of futuristic science-fiction. But with interest rates on EV loans recently dropping to under 3%, going electric is now more in the realms of an everyday, mundane, household budget decision. According to the latest Electric Vehicle Council data, … Continue reading “Thought about buying an EV? Interest rates for them are dropping”

Keen to tackle a renovation project in 2022? You might have noticed that tradies are hard to pin down at the moment. So if you live in one of the suburbs in this week’s article, you might want to get the ball rolling sooner rather than later… If you’ve ever watched The Block, you’ll know … Continue reading “Where are tradies most in demand at the moment?”