by Michael | Mar 15, 2018 | Mortgage Broking
Loan sharks I came across a client last month who had been rejected because he took out a $600 payday loan from Cash Converters. Major banks don’t look favourably on customers when they see this type of loan in the credit history. In writing this article, I...
by Michael | Dec 15, 2017 | Mortgage Broking
The importance of Growth 2 properties both for sale each $500k – which one is the better investment??? A. Good growth prospects, returning $15k pa (assume inner Melb) B. Low growth, twice the return ($30k pa) (assume regional) Of course a number of factors are...
by Michael | Nov 15, 2017 | Mortgage Broking
Did you know… the impact credit cards have on your borrowing capacity? I regularly meet people applying for a home loan and I ask them the amount of their credit card limit. Most reply “I’m not entirely sure”, but then confidently follow up...
by Michael | Aug 15, 2017 | Mortgage Broking
Why Does it Make Sense That Property Prices Have Increased 10x in 25 years In last month’s newsletter, I discussed that the price of houses in Melbourne has followed a trend of adding an extra 0 every 25 years. A house in 1942 worth $1k, was worth $10k in 1967,...
by Michael | Jul 15, 2017 | Mortgage Broking
Why Property Growth Rates Must Slow I recently watched the owners of a house celebrate their sale after achieving a sale price of $1.5m. They had bought it 25 years ago for $150k! It made me wonder whether this type of growth could go on forever. I did some historical...
by Michael | May 15, 2017 | Mortgage Broking
Why I said goodbye to credit cards How would retailers fare if credit cards didn’t exist and we reverted to cheque books? They would undoubtedly struggle. Notwithstanding this certainty, most retailers now charge us up to 2% extra on our credit cards to say...
by Michael | Mar 15, 2017 | Mortgage Broking
Sharks and Cars. What do they have in common? I had an interesting experience while helping someone finance a car last month and we came across a real shark of a car salesman. I thought it might be worthwhile highlighting a few tricks these sharks often play when it...
by Michael | Feb 19, 2017 | Home Loans
Couple #1 – I met a couple one evening, married for 12 months, both earning $80,000. I was happy to inform them that based on their earnings, the computer says “congratulations, you can borrow $1m!”. Couple #2 – This is actually the same couple...
by Michael | Nov 15, 2016 | Mortgage Broking
My take on the #smashedavo debate? In The Australian last week, Bernard Salt suggested that young hipsters (like myself) should not be going to cafes and spending $22 on a smashed avocado on 5 grain toast . Some hipsters felt that their generation had given up buying...
by Michael | Sep 15, 2016 | Mortgage Broking
It used to be good to stay loyal with banks. Now, you may as well be disloyal, refinance and be rewarded. Clients regularly come to me and proudly announce that they’ve been with the same bank since they were little kids. They then ask me whether this puts them...
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