From January 16, 2023, new legislation means first home buyers in New South Wales can choose to pay an annual land tax on their property instead of an upfront stamp duty when buying a first home. The First Home Buyer Choice policy aims to incentivize first home buyers and help them into their own homes sooner, by potentially shaving off nearly two years from the time needed to save a deposit. On the flipside however, increased housing demand from more first home buyers is likely to impact house values and property prices.

It’s no secret that good financial habits are an essential part of financial success. Learning to spend and save mindfully not only improves a financial situation, but could help you reach your financial goals sooner while avoiding unnecessary debt. If bad money habits are holding you back from achieving financial success, try kicking these five bad money habits to start.

Many aspiring first home buyers have a hard time saving a big enough deposit to buy a first home in Australia. One way around this problem is to get financial support from their parents, who can act as a guarantor for their home loan. If you’d like to help your children buy a first home, before deciding to become a guarantor, it’s important to think about these 5 things.

An important consideration for many first home buyers is deciding whether to buy a home now or to wait and save a larger deposit. It means weighing up the cost of LMI, and any other fees lenders may charge for low deposit lending, against the potential savings of getting into the property market before house prices rise even further. And that’s a tough decision to make! Now, with a useful comparison tool, that decision may be a little easier.

There’s a lot to think about when buying a home. From saving a deposit, to getting pre-approval, house hunting to sale and purchase agreements, building inspections through to settlement. But one of the most important parts of buying a home is choosing the right home loan. With so many products and features available to you, how do you choose a home loan that’s right for you? To help you get started, we’ve outlined a list of home loan products along with their key features and what to look out for.

There’s a lot to think to about when it comes to moving home. And no matter how far you’re going or the type of home you’re moving into, moving house is undoubtedly one of life’s most stressful times. Much of that stress revolves around how much it costs to move home, which is why planning a budget could help you determine where you could save and provide a realistic overview of much you’re going to need to spend. Here are some of the costs to consider when moving home.

Buying a home in Australia? Your lender will likely require a bank valuation to calculate the loan to value ratio (LVR) of your home loan. Bank valuations help lenders weigh up the risk of lending. A higher LVR means more risk for the lender, which could impact the amount you may be able to borrow. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the factors making up a bank valuation, as well as the impact they can have on your borrowing capacity.

From electricity bills to phone plans, car insurance through to home loans, sticking with the same provider year after year could mean you’re paying “lazy tax”. Lazy tax is the penalty many consumers and homeowners are paying as a result of being complacent, not shopping around for the best interest rates, and failing to refinance when rates work in their favour. If this sounds like you, here are two ways to avoid paying lazy tax.

When you’re starting a family – or growing your family – the last thing you want to worry about is getting approved for a mortgage. But if you’re pregnant or a new parent taking parental leave, you’ll likely be on minimal or no income for a while, and that could impact your ability to get home loan approval. If you are considering applying for a mortgage while on parental leave or with a new baby on the way, in this article we’ll hopefully cover some of the concerns you might have.

Getting a home loan with a redraw facility is a useful and flexible financial tool. Any extra funds you pay into your home loan, can be withdrawn when needed, to cover emergencies or pay for unplanned expenses. At the same time, those extra funds save you money too, as any extra repayments on your loan also lower how much interest you’re charged. To find out if a redraw would suit your home loan, here’s more on how a redraw facility works.