Valuation notices from the Valuer Generals office have been issued in NSW over the past few weeks. These valuations are used to calculate council rates and land tax and in many cases the valuation may be excessive. Unfortunately, it’s an all too common occurrence where you hear of overvalued land resulting in excessive Land Tax [...]

Property co-ownership offers an innovative home ownership solution that cuts the costs of buying a home in half (or even less) depending on the number of people involved. What is property co-ownership?

OK; so we didn’t get the rate cut like we’d all hoped. However, there’s one certainty. Regardless of market ups and downs, we all still need somewhere to live, and sales will continue regardless. Last year’s interest rate cuts might have given some buyers a bit more confidence. However, if we look at how consumers [...]

Borrowing money against your house can be risky, check all your options. For cash-strapped retirees whose wealth was decimated by the global financial crisis, a reverse mortgage may seem like an easy solution. But the loan product can balloon over time and wipe out much of the equity in their home.

It’s taking a while but summer will arrive in all its hot gusto. Summer where it’s so hot you can’t sleep at night, and the flies are beating at your back door trying to find a cooler place to muck in. Hot summer days might be great beach weather but if it’s turning your place [...]

Goods left behind in a rental property are a problem for the landlord, who can’t rent it out until the previous tenant’s things have been removed. It can also prove costly to tenants. Between July and September 2011, Consumer Affairs Victoria dealt with over 900 cases of goods left behind in rental properties.

The thought of increasing a tenant’s rent is not something most Landlords look forward to. Most landlords actually dread the situation, worried it may damage relations, lead to confrontation or result in a good tenant deciding to vacate the property.

With Christmas and the holidays fast approaching, now is a good time to remind everyone to plan ahead and ensure their home is safe and secure, so that you, hopefully, don’t become a victim of opportunistic crime.

The ongoing eurozone crisis may force the Reserve Bank to introduce further interest rate cuts before Christmas. So if this year the RBA decides to dress up as Santa instead of the Grinch, a leading property investment group says investors need to reconsider their financial position to make sure they capitalise on the move.

Many Australians spend more time on budgeting for their next holiday, or analysing the health of their internet plan than giving their biggest debt a regular check up. But with the current sluggish property market, and the lowest uptake of new home loans in recent years, there is no time like the present for borrowers [...]