If you’ve paid off part of your mortgage or made improvements to your home that have increased its value, you may have equity that could be used to buy an investment property. Equity is the difference between your home’s current value and what you owe on your mortgage, and some lenders will allow you to tap into your home’s equity to use as collateral for a new loan. Done well, this type of property investment can yield excellent results, but it’s important you understand the risks too.

When it comes to renting out an investment property, it can be tempting to go it alone as a landlord, rather than enlisting the services of a property manager. It’s only when things go wrong though that the full benefit of a property manager becomes evident. If you’re in the process of choosing a property manager – or still debating whether to hire a property manager – to take care of your rental property, here are 5 important qualities to look out for.

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.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people began taking stock of their lives, re-evaluating their lifestyle and financial position, with particular attention to their superannuation and its investment potential. This focus, combined with factors like a resilient property market, poor returns on cash deposits, and tax advantages, have led to the growth of self-managed super funds (SMSF). In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the lending options available to SMSF’s as well as the current investment property market.