News

Want to buy your first home with a deposit of just 5% and pay no lenders’ mortgage insurance? You could be in luck – the federal government will soon reissue up to 4,651 unused Home Guarantee Scheme spots. First home buyers who use the Home Guarantee Scheme fast track their property purchase by 4 to 4.5 … Continue reading “Up to 4,600 first home buyer guarantees back up for grabs”

Ever thought about taking out a loan for your business but hesitated because you were worried about meeting your repayments? Don’t worry, it’s a common concern. But some promising data has just come out that might help you put those fears aside. You gotta spend money to make money, so the saying goes. But what … Continue reading “How many SMEs find it difficult to repay business loans?”

Christmas is fast approaching and there’s a good chance you’ve started turning your attention to gifts for family and friends. But be careful this silly season: more than half of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) customers are struggling to pay day-to-day living expenses. Christmas and overindulging: name a more iconic duo. But one temptation to … Continue reading “Don’t drown in Buy Now Pay Later debt this Christmas”

Ever thought about buying a property with a friend or family member? You’re not the only one. The rising cost of property and FOMO has led to more than a quarter of Australians considering buying a property with a ‘non-traditional’ partner. Most of us long for a place to call our own. But what do … Continue reading “FOMO factor: more Aussies looking to buy with mates or siblings”

The summer trading season poses a raft of tricky cashflow and stocking challenges for retailers at the best of times, let alone following a global pandemic slowdown. But if done well it can set your business up nicely for the good times ahead. Ahh summer, how we’ve longed for you – especially this year as … Continue reading “Are your cashflow needs in order ahead of the summer trading season?”

You’ve probably noticed that house prices in Australia consistently outstrip growth in wages. But by how much? And what can you do to make sure you’re not forever chasing the great Australian dream? Each generation faces its own unique set of challenges (and opportunities!). And for the current crop, one big challenge can be breaking … Continue reading “How well has your salary kept up with house prices?”

Whether you’re looking to buy, sell or hold, there’s a good chance you’ve wondered whether the property market will tumble when interest rates rise, right? Today we’ll look at what happened to house prices when interest rates were hiked in the past. Past performance does not predict future results – we’ve all heard that before. … Continue reading “Think property prices will dip when rates rise? Don’t bet the house on it”

When you pay a supplier or service provider, are you certain you’re paying the right account? You’ve got to be super careful these days, as scammers are compromising inboxes and requesting payments to a new account. Here’s how to protect your business and its customers. It’s Scams Awareness Week 2021, and over the past year … Continue reading “How to protect your business and your customers from scams”

Open banking is here and it’s charging full steam ahead. So just how are lenders and fintechs using your shared data in this brave, new, data-fuelled world? A new report has shed some interesting insights. With all that’s gone on over the past two years, one of the nation’s biggest banking overhauls in recent memory … Continue reading “Open banking is ramping up, so how are lenders using your data?”

Mortgage holders are facing a sooner-than-expected cash rate rise after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) revised its outlook due to the economy bouncing back strongly from the Delta outbreak. So just how soon can we expect a rate rise? As widely predicted, the RBA on Tuesday kept the official cash rate at the record … Continue reading “Wheels in motion: RBA paves the way for early cash rate rise”

More than half of Australian house hunters spend the same amount of time inspecting a property as they do watching an episode on Netflix, according to new research. We get it. You see a house you like and you immediately want to buy it, warts and all. But take a breath, as FOMO can be … Continue reading “Netflix and too chill: house hunters cutting corners on inspections”

We’ve all been guilty of the odd credit card mix-up from time to time – it happens! But if you’re consistently relying on a personal credit card to pay your business expenses – like 4-in-10 SME owners – then it’s probably time to explore other funding options. The past 18 months have been tough for … Continue reading “Are you relying on a personal credit card for business expenses?”