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Dear valued client
Welcome again to my latest newsletter. As you’ll know, summer is almost here, and with it the holiday season and the heat.
It’s a time when expenses can just about get out of control. Christmas spending is one thing, but it’s often the time of year when we’ll consider installing air-conditioning or a pool – or both.
And of course going into the New Year, there are also school fees for many of us. In this issue, I discuss some strategies that can spread the load of what is often an expense heavy time of the year.
I also touch on increased property values and how you can realise the increased value of the equity you may have in your own home.
Call me today if you’d like to know more about anything in this issue, or if you’d simply like to review your mortgage and maybe have a look to see if I can find you a better deal.
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| Is your property increasing in value? |
 Spring brings out buyers and sellers in real estate, creating a market that is traditionally the biggest and busiest time of the year.
With the Australian economy powering along and the dollar all but at parity with the US Dollar, it certainly augurs well for the foreseeable months in real estate.
And although the Reserve Bank gave us all an unexpected 0.25 rise on Melbourne Cup day and the Commonwealth Bank jumped on board with an extra 0.20% for their mortgage holders, economists are now not expecting any further RBA moves for at least the next 3 months, especially on the back of softer than expected inflation rates at the end of October.
We won’t be surprised if some of the other “majors” decide to play catch-up, but Julia and Wayne say they have some reform plans in store for our Banks in the new year to make them justify rises above RBA. Let’s hope they do something strong and equip the ACCC with powers to hold these institutions far more accountable for their actions. More competition and undoing of some of the Bank mergers would be a good start.
Overall though, the real estate market has been mixed. Melbourne has been strong with some suburbs boom-type increases. On the other hand, Brisbane has softened, putting many good buys on the market. To find out how your local area is faring, you can access prices by Googling house prices in your state or by going to: www.myrp.com.au and then entering your state or suburb in the search fields.
If you find that you might like to buy a new home or invest, don’t forget to call me and I will be happy to re-assess your borrowing capacity.
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| Trying to hurdle over the Christmas expenses? |
 Christmas is a great time of the year where we share the relief and joy of the closing of another year and spend ever more on gifts for our families. It’s usually the last part – the gifts - that can cause the headache when you receive the credit card bill the following month.
Short of restricting the spend, how do you get over or around the problem?
It can be tricky, especially if you’ve chosen to indulge in a little Christmas spirit and give the home some air-conditioning to make the summer heat a little more bearable, and maybe even gone the whole way and put in a swimming pool for everyone to enjoy.
Gulp… At the end of the month you’ve ended up with a credit card bill you couldn’t even pole vault over!
A bit of pre-planning now can make all the difference. Obviously, with bigger expenses such as swimming pools, you’ve got a quote and know how much it’s going to cost. But even “smaller” items such as air-conditioning can run into thousands of dollars.
If you cop the big credit card bill at the end of the month, the thought of servicing interest at up to 21% isn’t an ideal situation.
So, why not think about your expenses now and be ready? Re-arranging your mortgage to cover these costs will usually add little to your repayments and as a result will have little effect on your day-to-day living expenses.
If you’d like to know more about getting over your Christmas expenses, give me call and let’s see about restructuring your finances to cope with the big ticket items and avoid that big credit card balance at ridiculous interest rates.
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