When you’re buying a home, it’s important that you take into account all the “other” costs so that you don’t have to live on noodles or baked beans (or fresh air) for the first few months . These costs include: stamp duty - talk to your broker about any exemptions or concessions that may be available building and pest inspection - we always recommend [...]
If you’re selling your home, it’s always great to invest a little into styling your home so it presents in its best possible light to potential buyers. The real beauty is that a fresh pair of eyes is looking at your home in the way a buyer would, and they know what they’re usually looking for. But if that’s out of your budget or [...]
We all know that having a plan is a better way to achieve success than just winging it, and this is especially true of a financial plan. Whether you're just starting your career, midway through, or heading towards retirement, it's important to have a well thought-out financial path to follow so you know where you're heading, what you're working towards and the steps needed [...]
Do you have a “fun money” allocation in your budget? In my experience, this is the secret to successful budgeting. Fun money is an amount allocated every month to nothing - or anything - with no accounting for it. You can spend it on whatever your heart desires without guilt or explanation. You can save it for a few months and buy something ridiculously [...]
Buying your first home is hard. Particularly with prices going up faster than we can save! Data from leading property researchers, CoreLogic, have shown that property values have seen their fastest pace of annual growth in the past year since February 2004. If you're not a property owner yet, this stat is pretty scary. So the answer is to find a way to make [...]
When it comes to women who make things happen, Zoe Foster Blake is leading the race right now. She’s an incredibly successful entrepreneur with many strings to her bow, yet she’s never been comfortable with that title. She was a blogger before blogging was a thing, a beauty editor for Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan, author of fiction, non-fiction and kids books - including Wrong [...]
Renovating your home can be so much fun, but it can also be stressful. From my experience there are three things that are an absolute must: your vision your budget your team You have to know where you want to end up - the look and feel you're going for, the features you love, and the things you want to steer clear of. Be really [...]
If you’re looking for inspiring Aussies, look no further than Ellie Cole, OAM. She’s competing in the Paralympic swimming events right now. Ellie is one of the most successful swimmers in Australia Paralympic history. At the age of 29, this is her fourth Paralympics and she has already is the proud owner of 15 medals - 6 of which are gold. Ellie had a [...]
What's your "Why" when it comes to deciding on what to do in life? I have clients who come to me wanting an investment loan and I ask them why they want to invest in property. Many don't know. It's just something they want to do. I have clients that want a first home loan and I ask them why they want to buy their first [...]
I love hearing stories of people doing good things and when I saw a post from World Champ surfer Stephanie Gilmore apologising for not bringing home a gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics, it really moved me. So I went to Google to find out more about this wonder woman. She’s a beautiful 33 year old Aussie girl from Kingscliff in northern NSW. She [...]
