1. First Home Buyers There's a little bit of good news for first home buyers looking to save up a deposit for their first home. The 2017 federal budget states that they will be able to use their superannuation to assist with saving for a deposit for their home from 1 July 2017.
First home buyers will be able to salary sacrifice up to a maximum of $30,000 or $15,000 per year from their pre-tax income. This is over and above the compulsory superannuation contribution they currently...

Over the last 6 months this is one of the most common questions I have been asked. It's not a new question. It comes around every so often, normally after clients have read an article in one of the daily newspapers or watched a Today Tonight expose' on the crash that has to happen. I myself read an article last week that shared an overseas investment research houses assessment of our property market. For an overseas research house it was quite balanced and thorough but like...

We're there every step of the way Like most young families we are time poor and find it difficult to keep up to date with all the changes that are happening with interest rates and bank lending criteria. We first made contact with Chris and John at FinancePath a number of years ago when we were looking at our options regarding our first home. They were able to keep things simple and clearly explained what we needed to do over the next few years to be in a position to buy and bu...

Right now is one of the most interesting times in lending that I have witnessed over the past 15 years. The focus by regulators to slow down lending to investors and now also focus their attention on unsuitable interest only loans is unprecedented in my time. What is the reasoning behind this focus? As we have discussed over the past month APRA the government regulator is concerned about inflated property prices, primarily investment properties in areas where supply outweighs dema...

Plus, what you should know about improving your borrowing power. Before you start trawling online real estate sites for your first investment property, it's important to get your financial basics right. And, the best place to start is by trying to improve your borrowing power. Why? Because the state of your financial position when you're ready to buy your first investment property will determine not only how much you can spend, but also what you might pay in rates and fees ...