How important is it to own your own home?

The ‘great Australian dream’ has always been to own your own home, debt free. It gives you financial security, and over the past three to four decades, homeowners have enjoyed rising prices which has helped them build wealth. But is it always a good idea to own your home, or is renting better? Put differently, …

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Tips for dealing with higher interest rates

Most homeowners and investors are long term borrowers. That is, they will have a mortgage for many decades. We must realise that over many decades, there will be periods where interest rates will be higher than the average and vice versa.   The average standard variable rate since 1959 is 8.20% p.a. Noting that most …

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Borrowing capacity isn’t enough for an investment-grade property?  

If you are considering borrowing to invest in a quality property, I would like to remind you of three important considerations. Firstly, it is my thesis that property investors must be more selective about which property/s to invest in. In that past, investors have benefited from a rising tide (driven substantially by rising borrowing capacities), …

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The news is mostly bad for commercial property investors

All investment asset classes move in cycles. Investment returns are almost never linear. As such, investors must expect good and bad periods, which is why patience and discipline are big contributors to an investor’s success. I suspect that commercial property investors’ patience and discipline are about to be tested. This asset class is facing a …

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