When’s the Best Time to Buy or Sell a Property?
With the spring selling season coming to an end and Christmas just around the corner, many buyers and sellers are getting ready for a well-deserved break.
The traditional belief is that spring is the best time to sell and it’s for that reason we see the largest volume of transactions taking place throughout September, October and November. This is followed by a sharp drop in transactions over the summer months.
Interestingly, if you’re a buyer, then summer could well be an opportunity for you to find a great property at a decent price.
To Rent or Buy?
Owning your own property is normally very high up on the list of things people want to achieve in their life. However, depending on your financial goals and what stage of life you’re at, what you hope to achieve with property will likely differ quite considerably.
For first home buyers, the biggest question is usually whether to rent or buy?
How to Value a Property
One of the biggest mistakes new property buyers make is not understanding how much a property is actually worth. This is common with inexperienced buyers who have trouble purchasing a property at auction.
The auction process is not always easy to navigate, which is why it’s important to find out how you can quickly and easily get a better understanding of what a property’s true value actually is.
Is a Bridging Loan Worth It?
In the current market where property prices are trending higher and there’s a shortage of stock, upgraders and downgraders can find it difficult to get into a new property. For many, the age-old question of whether to buy first or sell first is more prominent than ever with the present housing market favouring sellers.
Fortunately, there is an option that can help in the form of a bridging loan. A bridging loan is a short-term loan that helps buyers purchase a property before needing to sell their current property.
In a perfect world, you would sell your property and then go out and find a new property. However, if the perfect home comes along beforehand, you might not want to miss out on the opportunity. That said, there are advantages and disadvantages to bridging loans.
How Your Parents Can Help You Buy a Property
Over the past few years, it’s become more common for parents to help their children purchase a property. As property prices have risen sharply, particularly in places like Sydney and Melbourne, entry into the property market is not as easy as it was a generation ago.
More and more parents are helping their children get a foot into the market, given that prices continue to rise each year. Here are some ways parents can help their children get that first property.
Can You Get a Car Loan if You’re Self-Employed?
Those individuals that work for themselves or run a business can, at times, find it a little trickier to get different types of loans. Lenders like to see regular income and ongoing work to give them some degree of comfort that a borrower will be able to repay the loan.
A self-employed borrower will have an income, however, it’s likely not going to be as regular as someone who is paid a salary. With that in mind, there are still options that self-employed borrowers can look at, to get a car loan.
The Different Types of Commercial Property
A commercial property is simply a premises in which business takes place. Many investors may have never considered investing in commercial property, purely because they may not fully understand it.
Most people would set foot in a commercial property almost every single day of their life. From their office building to the local supermarket, service station and even day care centre. Generally, commercial properties fall into specific categories, based on what they are used for.
What’s the difference between net yield & gross yield?
Commercial real estate is attractive to investors for several reasons, and it’s normally the high yields on offer in comparison to residential property that are particularly appealing.
However, commercial property comes with an added advantage in that the tenant generally pays many of the outgoing costs. This can be a significant amount of money and can make an investment in commercial property even more attractive for those investors in search of cash flow.
Is 0% Car Finance Too Good To Be True?
In the current low interest rate environment, there are a lot of attractive offers for car finance, particularly coming from dealers.
In some cases, you can even find dealers offering 0% finance. While that might look good on the surface, it’s important to understand that the low interest rate might very well come with some additional costs that you hadn’t anticipated.
Here are a few things you need to consider before taking on such a low interest rate.
Investing in the City vs Regional Areas
Investing in property in Australia has proven to be a sound long-term investment, with prices growing steadily for many decades. However, when the time comes to choose exactly where you should be buying a property, there are a myriad of things for you to think about.
One of the very first questions you’re going to need to consider is whether to buy in a capital city or a regional area. While there is no correct answer, there are advantages and disadvantages to both.