What makes a mortgage broker great? 

mortgage broker

When I started ProSolution back in 2002, we only offered mortgage broking services. I left a career in corporate finance at Deloitte to establish a mortgage broking firm because I strongly believed in the tremendous value brokers can provide to clients. In fact, around 2010–2012, I even wrote a manifesto outlining why I believed that …

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Investors: Potentially save thousands of dollars by repaying principal and interest

P&I or IO?

Historically, I’ve often recommended that people repay interest only on investment loans. This approach offers two key advantages: However, interest-only loans now come with a drawback: higher interest rates. On average, the big 4 lenders charge a 0.26% p.a. premium for interest-only loans compared to principal and interest loans. For some borrowers, switching to principal …

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Interest Rates in 2025: Cut or Comeback? 

Interest

There has been a lot of commentary about interest rates and inflation over recent weeks. Of course, no one really knows what will happen to inflation over the coming months, including the RBA. Consequently, the timing of potential interest rate cuts is speculative. Putting aside these predictions and rhetoric, I thought it would be useful …

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Accelerate home loan repayment: There are only 4 ways

A key financial goal for most people is to eventually repay their home loan. Last year I outlined 3 questions you must ask yourself to determine whether repaying your home loan is your top priority – see here.   The internet is filled with countless ideas on how to repay your home loan faster. However, many …

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Three steps to avoid becoming a banking scam victim

The government projects that scams cost Australians $3.1 billion per year. Given that more of our life is becoming digitalised, especially with banking and financial services, we are more susceptible to scams. It’s critical that you take active steps to protect your money.    Most common scams are… According to the National Anti-Scam Centre, scams …

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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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Tips on how to maximise your borrowing capacity

Borrowing capacity has reduced by around 30% over the past year due to the impact of higher interest rates and the increased 3% interest rate buffer that banks must use to calculate your borrowing capacity. This was eloquently depicted in this chart by CBA in February 2023. I wanted to explore the common strategies that …

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