Saving is a habit. I am going to be bold here and say that you are either a saver or a spender.
To all the savers in the house: my tips probably won’t reveal anything you didn’t know before, but they may refresh your memory.
To all the spenders in the house: read closely, follow my lead and you will get a lot closer to owning a house. Continue reading 6 killer tips to save up for a first home deposit
“The community you want starts at your front door.”
Not many people are aware that Sunday, March 27th is National Neighbour Day in Australia; a day which much needed and worth spreading the word about.
I’ve always been motivated by people who are blessed with the determination to make a difference. Andrew Heslop is one of these incredible individuals, and back in 2003, it was his belief in the collective ability of all the people in a community to make a change, which is the reason we celebrate Neighbour Day every year on the last Sunday in March. Continue reading Neighbour Day, Sun 27th March 2011
There’s nothing more tempting to a thief than a house which is obviously empty and the golden rule is not to advertise the fact that you’re away.
An overgrown lawn and a pile of newspapers in the driveway is the equivalent of a big billboard in the middle of your front yard saying, “I’m on holidays – help yourself to my stuff”.
Other telltale signs for thieves include forgotten radios blaring 24 hours a day, lights that stay on all night and curtains, which are normally open during the day, being left closed.
So, what can you do to make sure your home is not a target for burglars while you’re on holidays? Continue reading Holiday security tips
Renting your property out by the room can be a profitable strategy, but you need to be aware of the risks involved.
Over the last few years there has been a push by some property investment ‘experts’ to use certain strategies to maximise rental return to increase the speed at which they become cash flow positive. Continue reading Renting by the room – can it double your profit?
If you want to hear some common sense on what the Japanese government should do to repair its economy, click here.
You won’t find praise of the latest multi-trillion yen stimulus package. And you won’t hear any fawning over the supposedly heroic central bankers.
No. What you’ll hear is a straightforward and common sense argument for why the Japanese central bank should increase interest rates right now.
If it doesn’t, it will result in more wasteful and misdirected government spending and even greater pain for the Japanese. Continue reading Australian economy needs to go cold turkey
Lenders have declared war in the home-loan market but for every discount thrown in your direction, beware a fee ambush.
The big banks are gunning for your home-loan business – waiving fees, boosting interest discounts on ”package” loans, promising lower rates for loyalty and even paying for you to leave your existing lender.
Borrowers should certainly make the most of it but mortgage market analysts warn they should also be careful not to let the special deals blow smoke over the true cost of a loan. Continue reading Battle of the Banks
Choosing an architect is a bit like choosing a life partner. Without the dating.
It’s a weird sort of set up. You meet them once, or maybe twice, and then sign up to having them spend a pretty penny on your behalf. At least you get to live in the results, and hopefully they will be beautiful. Continue reading How to pick an architect
Councils are taking longer to approve big developments.
The average time to process a DA worth between $5 million and $20 million increased from 230 days to 257 days in 2009-10 over the previous year.
The time for applications worth more than $20 million remains well above 300 days – much higher than three years ago.
Part of the rationale behind introducing fast-track approvals for simple developments was so councils could devote more time to major developments and process them faster.
”The situation has deteriorated for those wanting to invest large sums in NSW,” says Aaron Gadiel, chief executive of the Urban Taskforce which represents developers.
Councils that took the longest time to process developments between $5 million and $20 million were Singleton (1167 days), Burwood (940), Wingecarribee (687), Bega Valley (595) and Tweed (589). For projects worth more than $20 million they were Rockdale (894 days), Wyong (766), Lake Macquarie (554), Bankstown (553), Blacktown (521) and Tweed (497 days).
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Invest and retire in luxury … that’s the dream but there are many traps for the unwary player.
Successful investors are either very lucky or they have surrounded themselves with quality advisers. There is simply no middle ground.
Successful investors are also avid researchers and the types of people who ask a million questions before making a commitment. Continue reading The Six Golden Keys to property investment
The Property Shop was awarded two pretigious accolades at the Australasian Real Estate Results Awards (ARERAs) held at The Ivy Room in Sydney on February 14.
The Property Shop was represented by Damian Kearns and Peter Vanags at the black tie gala attended by more than 250 of Australia and New Zealand’s top performing independent agents who are part of the Real Estate Results Network. Continue reading The Property Shop wins Australasian Rural Agency of the Year