Mortgage Blog » Australian Mortgage News

Bring Back the Haggle: 10 things you should never pay full price for

YourMortgage.com.au — Wed, 11 May 2011 07:43:21 +0000

Consumers seem happy to haggle in foreign countries for knick-knacks and knock-offs, but real deals can be found right here on Australian soil. If you’re paying the sticker-price, you’re paying too much. Absolutely everything is up for negotiation – all you have to do is ask..... Keep Reading »

No interest rate rise in March

Amanda Kendle — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:49:57 +0000

Being the first Tuesday of the month again – don’t they come around quickly! – the Reserve Bank board met again today to decide whether or not to raise the cash rate. Before the meeting, pretty much everybody in financial circles had agreed that there was no chance at all they would raise the rate (and last time everybody said that, they surprised us and did it!). Fortunately today the general punters were right, and the Reserve Bank has decided to allow the cash rate to remain unchanged at 4.75 per cent..... Keep Reading »

Queensland floods and mortgage payments

Amanda Kendle — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 01:29:31 +0000

It’s been, for good reason, hard to see any news in Australia this past week other than the devastation and tragedy of the Queensland floods. As the clean-up and recovery begins, there are so many far-reaching consequences that it seems to me to be a constant surprise to see the numerous knock on effects these floods will have, not just for Queenslanders but for all Australians and even abroad. .... Keep Reading »

Mortgage and money resolutions for 2011

Amanda Kendle — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:51:39 +0000

So, how do you plan to make the most of your money in 2011? The Herald Sun ran an interesting article this week about financial resolutions, divided up into some resolutions that each generation might want to make. For me as a generation X-er, they couldn’t have been more right, pinpointing many in my generation as people who’ve recently upgraded from a unit or smaller home to a larger suburban family home – with a matching bigger mortgage. Getting ahead of such a mortgage (or sometimes even just keeping up with it) can be hard when you have young kids and as in my case, only work part-time now. So trying to set some goals on how to get a little ahead with the mortgage is a good suggestion for a 2011 goal..... Keep Reading »

Refinance your loan or keep paying through retirement?

Amanda Kendle — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 07:53:50 +0000

Two main topics hit the New Year mortgage news this week, one of which was downright depressing but fortunately the other gave me a hint of optimism about our home loan. Perhaps I’ll need a New Year’s resolution or two to be able to make the most out of the alternatives to my current mortgage..... Keep Reading »

Moving mortgages, bank staff perks and mortgages at Christmas

Amanda Kendle — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:21:16 +0000

After last week’s news about banning horrendous exit fees on mortgages taken out from July 1 next year, I’ve been wondering about whether I need to look into my current mortgage arrangements – even though I won’t be eligible for the no-exit-fee deal, the talk is that even for existing mortgages it could well be worth changing. The Herald Sun had a useful article this week on moving your mortgage and its step by step approach is pretty logical – do the research (online), then get information from someone like a mortgage broker, do some number crunching to figure out the short and long term effects of switching loans, and then, before you move, give your existing lender a chance to match the deal – if they don’t, move on! But that’ll have to go on my 2011 things to do list, I think!.... Keep Reading »

Mortgage exit fees get banned, we can switch home loans freely

Amanda Kendle — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:01:08 +0000

Just last week we were talking about the fact that few Australians consider changing their home loan provider, even though the figures would suggest that it’s possible to save a lot of money by doing so. Definitely one of the reasons that not many people think about this – me included – is that we are concerned about the high exit fees we might have to pay if we get out of our mortgage early..... Keep Reading »

No rate rise; Choice says change banks

Amanda Kendle — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 07:43:27 +0000

Since today is the first Tuesday of the month, the Reserve Bank met again and made a decision on whether or not to raise interest rates. And the verdict is good for us mortgage holders – the official cash rate has remained on hold which means it is unlikely that any banks will increase their interest rates. And since there is no meeting held in January, that means we know where we stand with home loan repayments until at least February 2011..... Keep Reading »

What profit is the bank making from your mortgage?

Amanda Kendle — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 05:41:11 +0000

Here’s a topic I don’t like to think about too much, but I couldn’t resist reading a weekend article in The Daily Telegraph talking about banks and their profits – and in particular how much profit banks make on home loans. Now, I obviously know that banks aren’t so kind as to simply want to help me out with my quest to own a home and/or investment property, but I have to admit that the figures suggested by this article did make me wonder why banks have got so stingy they don’t even give out free money boxes with kids’ accounts any more! (Well, not last month when I signed up my little boy for his first bank account – I was a little disappointed!)..... Keep Reading »

Even tennis champions have mortgage trouble!

Amanda Kendle — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 05:37:31 +0000

It’s not often we head into celebrity territory on the Mortgage Seek blog, but the big mortgage news this week is that former Aussie tennis champion Mark Philippoussis has become a victim of the mortgage stress plaguing many of the major Australian cities. Somehow it’s comforting to hear that the rest of us normal people are not alone in dealing with mortgage dramas, but that’s no doubt fairly small consolation to Mark Philippoussis..... Keep Reading »