Forget the big four – and all the little banks for that matter. The fastest-growing source of finance for first home buyers in Australia is now… Mum and Dad. That's right – exorbitant house prices combined with super-low interest rates mean that more parents than ever before are refinancing their properties in order to give [...]
Fans of the movie 'Cars' will be pleased to know that there is technology on the way which will actually allow cars to talk to each other. Probably not as casually as Lightning McQueen and his friends did, but still, it's pretty cool. Telecoms giant Vodafone is currently testing a new system designed by the [...]
One of Australia’s biggest banks has announced big changes to the way it works with brokers, the aim being to improve customer service and minimise conflict between different sales channels – two causes we can certainly get behind. NAB this week revealed its updated broker offering which now gives customers who are introduced through brokers [...]
Selling a home can be one of the most stressful things you'll do in your lifetime. As can buying a home. Doing the two together? Surely double the stress. But buying BEFORE you sell? Why would anyone do that to themselves? The key to buying and selling simultaneously – or even buying before you sell [...]
Anyone setting out in property investment will face the question of whether to furnish their properties or keep them empty. A furnished apartment can fetch $50-$100 more a week in rent than its unfurnished counterpart, depending on the location and quality of furnishings. This might seem like quite a good deal for landlords, but some [...]
It would appear that the RBA don't like change very much, at their meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged, so it will continue to sit at its record low of 1.50% for another month (which we are not complaining about!). In their official statement, the RBA stated "In Australia, the economy [...]
When it comes to buying your first home, scraping together enough money to meet your lender's deposit requirements can be a huge achievement, and it's something that increasing numbers of buyers are struggling with. But it turns out that for many, the financial worries don't stop there. A new survey by Mortgage Choice has found [...]
Everybody complains about lack of time these days. It's perhaps the biggest excuse people roll out when it comes to pursuing passions and hobbies outside of work. "I would love to take up … but I just don't have time." "I'm already so busy with X, Y & Z, there aren't enough hours in the [...]
Don't you just hate it when you go to the bank to carry out a simple transaction but the teller won't let you leave until you've signed your life away on some insurance policy or credit card deal? You'd be forgiven for thinking that the staff at your bank have been taking training courses from [...]
It's no secret that inner-city homes are some of the most expensive around, but it's not just the designer taps and famous architects that are pushing prices up. It is in fact the cost of land in capital cities that's driving the biggest price increases, and there's no sign of this slowing, according to the [...]
Amazon has recently announced plans to introduce 30-hour contracts for some of its employees as part of a four-day working week trial. They are by no means the first big American company to do this; in fact, about 30% of companies in the US now offer shorter or compressed working weeks. This concept hasn't really [...]
There was drama in the upper house last Thursday night as angry Greens and crossbench senators fought against new cost-saving measures that the Coalition government was trying to pass. The 'Omnibus' bill includes 20 budget cuts including areas such as climate change and family benefits. The Greens accused the government of trying to disguise important [...]
International travel is costing millennials $183 million a year just in ATM fees, new research by Westpac has shown. The 2016 Travel Finance Report from the bank found that young Aussies spend $11.3 billion overseas every year, but they aren't planning ahead when it comes to accessing that money. Respondents to the study aged 18 [...]
Buying your first property can seem pretty daunting – after all, it's likely your most expensive purchase to date and there's a whole load of legal and financial paperwork to wade through. Welcome to a world of confusing jargon and types of insurance you'd never thought about before, as well as more fees than you [...]
If you hardly noticed your last wage increase and you're left struggling for cash at the end of each month, you're certainly not alone. Economic inequality is on the rise and it's not just your pay packet that's taking a hit. A new report that's just been released suggests that the entire nation's well-being is [...]
