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If you are moving house, home loan portability gives you the option to take your current home loan with you. By keeping your loan from one property to the next, you won’t have to go through the process of refinancing and you can save on establishment costs like application and valuation fees, government charges and potential exit fees (banned on loans taken out after 1 July 2011). If you have a fixed rate home loan, then loan portability could save you the significant break costs that may be charged for altering your loan before the full term. It also entitles you to retain existing facilities like your ATM card, online banking account and cheque book. Some home loans include portability and others provide it as an option. Often there are restrictions in place that determine in what circumstance portability can be used. As your mortgage...

We all set goals, either consciously or unconsciously, but most of us are content with vague easily set targets that are just as easily forgotten the next day. We sort of know where we’re going and we count upon fate, luck, providence and quick thinking to get us there. This might work sometimes, but it also makes it easy for us to become confused, find excuses or give up. Goal setting is one of the simplest and most powerful tools you have to bring about positive changes in your life. Like driving in a big city, it’s harder to find your way if you don’t know exactly where you’re going. Setting goals is like stopping to look at a map – it takes a few minutes to do it, but it makes sure you’re headed in the right direction. Here are some examples of...

Some home loan approvals can be processed in days, others take weeks. Why the delay? Don’t be tempted to blame your mortgage broker because rarely they are the ones causing the hold-up. Usually it is either a delay by the lender or incomplete client paperwork that causes the blowout. Some lenders fund loans faster than others, and an increase in the number of loans can slow down a lender's usual processing time. The time of year also has a part to play – expect delays the closer you get to Christmas, as well as around Easter and the end of the financial year. You can help move along the mortgage approval process by pulling together the necessary documents before you apply for a loan. Missing documents and inconsistent information on the paperwork are common reasons for delays. The more complex the loan, the longer...

Scientists and futurists are often asked to predict what life will be like in 2020. Now that this milestone year is not far away, let’s take a look at some of the predictions that supposedly await us just around the corner. Domestic Bliss No more cleaning, dusting or ironing, these tasks will be done by domestic robots. Androids are predicted to be the must-have item of the 2020s and people will be able to purchase them through Amazon-type vendors and customise them according to their needs. Cure for Cancer Cancer immunology is seen as a breakthrough in cancer research that will radically change the way cancer is treated. Rather than killing cancer cells directly with chemo or radiotherapy, treatments will promote the body’s natural immune control over the disease. Hands free texting Phones will provide the option of texting based solely on thought power. Eye-tracking technology...

Australians rank moving house second only to divorce and bereavement on the scale of life crises. Broken and misplaced possessions, incompetent removalists, chaos and exhaustion are a few of the negative images we have come to associate with moving house. Fortunately most of these nightmares can be avoided by anticipating problems and becoming organised well before moving day. The first step is deciding how you prefer to approach the job of packing and moving your possessions. If you decide to economise and do the move yourself, check what your home contents insurance covers you for. For bulky or fragile items your safest option is usually to hire a removalist but make sure the organisation you choose is a member of the Australian Furniture Removalists Association (AFRA). The AFRA Code of Conduct ensures members provide paperwork for quotations, insurance, contracts and inventories. The contract should clearly...

It’s not as easy as it once was to apply for an interest-only loan. Over the last couple of months lending for this type of investment loan has been tightened in an effort to slow the pace of record growth in investment home loans. Lenders are under pressure by government regulatory bodies to make it less attractive to take out interest-only loans, a strategy which is hoped will protect investors and achieve sustainable growth in the home loan market. Lenders have responded to the crack-down in different ways. Some now ask for larger deposits for investor loans or have scrapped discounts they previously offered. Others have begun to price loans with principal and interest repayments cheaper than interest only loans. Still others now offer better discounts on owner occupied loans or allow investors to borrow less than owner occupiers. Which way to turn? As these...

If you’re running a small business, now is the time to think big. The Federal Government’s focus on small business in the May budget was designed to encourage small business growth through tax cuts as well as measures to reduce red tape, promote more start-ups and hire more employees. Many business owners will be taking advantage of the opportunity to receive an immediate tax deduction on every asset they purchase valued up to $20,000. Cars, utes, tables, chairs, printers, photocopiers, tools, TVs, sound and security systems, computers, tablets and smartphones are just some of the assets that can be deducted until the end of June 2017. Short on capital? Try Leasing While these tax deductions are great news for many small businesses, what about those who don’t have the capital available to purchase assets? If you are a small business in this situation, leasing may...

Mortgage brokers are now responsible for writing over half of Australia’s home loans and are valued for their choice, expertise and convenience, according to a new survey commissioned by the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA). From a 49.9 per cent share of the market in the March 2014 quarter, total new home lending to mortgage brokers increased to 51.9 per cent in the March 2015 quarter. Over this time there was a $44.2 billion increase in mortgage lending across Australia and brokers were responsible for 71 per cent of this increase, Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveals. Brokers were also found to be proficient at matching the product to the customer’s needs. In fact 30.2 per cent of broker initiated home loans went to smaller lenders, demonstrating that brokers offer consumers real choice and have access to a wider range of mortgage...

Good housekeeping is the key to meeting financial goals. By now you will probably have made and broken quite a few New Year's resolutions. Resolutions are great idea, but often only that - an idea. For most people it's the financial housekeeping items that can make the biggest difference in the year to come - and beyond. Here are a few: Mortgage If you have a mortgage, it's probably your largest monthly outgoing. Start the year by ensuring that you are paying no more than you have to. The difference in repayments between a $400,000 25-year loan at 5.7 per cent and 4.7 per cent, is more than $200 a month. Also, ensure that your loan is right for your circumstances: offset accounts, redraw, interest-only and lines of credit are valuable features, but only if you use them. If you're confused about what's best,...