NEW LAW GIVES CONSUMERS ANOTHER REASON TO USE BROKERS Great news for anyone planning to take out a home loan – new legislation means consumers are even better protected when they use a mortgage broker. The Best Interests Duty, which took effect on 1 January 2021, legally obliges brokers to act in the best interests of their clients. This new law is on top of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, which already regulates the conduct of brokers. Brokers must “prioritise their consumers’ interests” if there’s ever a conflict of interests, according to the legislation. But while brokers have to follow the Best Interests Duty – banks do not. A broker must give their client the best possible recommendation from all the lenders on that broker’s panel. However, a bank will recommend only its own products, even if there are better alternatives. Brokers act in your best interests when recommending a home […]

An unexpected call to say there’s a problem with your computer should set the alarm bells ringing. You answer the phone, and the caller says they’re from a well-known company like Telstra, the NBN or Microsoft. They need access to your computer to fix a problem. Sounds normal right? Except you weren’t aware of any issues. No matter, just hand over your credit card details, let the caller access your computer remotely, and all will be sorted. That’s the scenario behind remote access or ‘technical support’ scams. But far from cleaning up your laptop, what the caller is really interested in is cleaning out your bank accounts. $5 million lost to remote access scams in 2019 The criminals behind these scams often sound convincing, using tech talk or quoting legit-sounding employee numbers. But they’re a slippery bunch, and they’re after a lot more than a few bucks fleeced from your […]

Few industries have been hit in 2020 as hard as the property industry. That is no more true than with commercial property and construction. At the beginning of 2020, commercial property was in high demand. Malls were getting more crowded by the day, and many big corporations were constructing interesting offices to carry out basic work functions as well as for interacting with customers. Then COVID-19 hit. Temporarily shutting down malls, offices, and other commercial buildings would have hurt the industry, but it could have rebounded. However, the longer lockdowns continued, the clearer it became that many commercial buildings were not only virus hotspots, but obsolete. People started shopping online more than ever. Employees worked from home. This was all well and good when we needed to do things remotely, but it taught us that many outings need not happen at all. Even people who were technophobic or otherwise resistant […]

You know how real estate is Australia’s national sport? Well, here’s some data that proves it. Australia has overtaken America as the country building the biggest houses in the world, according to a report from CommSec. In the most recent annual results, the average size of newly-built homes was 235.8 square metres in Australia and 233.1sqm in the US. ACT residents built the biggest houses in the 2019-20 financial year, while Tasmanians built the smallest: Australians are building bigger houses today than in previous decades. New houses are 6% bigger than 20 years ago and 27% bigger than 30 years ago, according to the report.

In just a few seconds, you can find out some data about first home buyers in your suburb. Click this link, type in a postcode and you’ll discover the average profile of first home buyers who participated in the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme during the first six months of 2020. Looking at the national data, for 6,814 borrowers, the average profile was: · Age = 25-29 · Household income = $91,000 · Purchase price = $400,000 · Loan-to-value ratio = 95% · Debt-to-income ratio = 4.3 Normally, when someone buys a property with a deposit of less than 20%, they have to pay lender’s mortgage insurance (LMI), which can cost thousands of dollars. But under the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, the government acts as a guarantor, which allows eligible borrowers to put down a deposit of just 5% and avoid LMI. The First Home Loan Deposit scheme is open to only 20,000 first home […]

The use of buy-now-pay-later services is exploding – and causing some people financial harm. The number of active buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) accounts increased 38% and transactions jumped 90% between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 financial years, according to a report from ASIC. ASIC found that 21% of users who were surveyed had missed a payment in the previous 12 months. Another negative impact is the red flags it can raise during a home loan application. Banks and lenders that see BNPL on your banking statements get nervous about your savings and spending habits.  Simply put, lenders might question your ability to budget and live within your means.  All BNPL providers are not looked at the same when you apply for a home loan. Some have higher risk associated with the way they lend money and it can lead to more difficulty with a home loan application. If you’re going to use BNPL, treat […]