A high number of Australian citizens are not paying enough attention to their finances and worse still; most of them are ignorant about basic aspects of finance. Michael Yardney for the Property Update throws light on an interesting survey (conducted by finder.com.au) which yields that at least 66% of Australians do not track their financial goals.
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Revert Rate Is Crucial For Fixed Rate Home Loans
Finder.com.au warns borrowers who have sought fixed rate home loans. In an article for the Property Update, Michael Yardney (guided by the findings) cautions how the low fixed rates can entice you towards them only to fleece you with the very high revert rate once the fixed rate period ends.
Loans may revert to as high as 1 percentage point after the end of fixed rate tenure. Yardney quotes the example of the average three-year fixed rate loans which stand at 5.07%. It is still bearable once the rates revert to 5.51% after the stipulated three years. However, in many cases, as is witnessed for the 4 major banks, the rates revert up to 6.19%- now that is exorbitant!
You can read the original article here.
What do you make of the shrinking gap between fixed and variable rates? Do you take it as a sign of expected stability in interest rates?
John McGrath’s 7 Pearls From The Property Investment Oyster
In an article for the Property Update, Michael Yardney talks about 7 tips (read investment strategies) by John McGrath, offered by him on the Property Millionaires Tour. Here are the pearls for you:
Property Holdings Have Triggered Australians’ wealth
An article on the website Smart property Investment confirms that Australians have the highest median wealth in the world (A Credit Suisse report). This is due to the property holdings of Australian investors.
Barring Norway, Australia is at the top in terms of percentage of people investing in real estate. The median wealth of Australian adults stands at A$ 263,450. The trend fairly reflects on the availability of enormous land tracts in Australia. It is also suggestive of the high property prices in its urban areas.
Another piece of good news for Australians is that they have the highest number of people above the US$100,000 mark. They are second only to the Swiss in terms of average wealth.
You can read the original article here.
Invest keeping the property cycle in mind
Property values behave depending upon the phase of the cycle they are in. One of the truly long-standing gospels of property investment is that you should seize a deal at the right stage of the property cycle. This way, you come out paying the best price for a property deal.
At different times property prices may behave differently; sometimes they may languish well below the long-term trend, at other times shoot up a lot higher than the trend or remain closely attached to it. Careful evaluation of the property cycle then remains your first line of attack. Let me elaborate on this.
Drawing Up A Will For Your Estate? Read This
Death is not a pleasurable thought but if you have worked all your life to build an estate, you should give death some thought. The idea is not to die intestate or without having drawn up a will. I have seen various cases where those beyond the circle of spouse, siblings, children and close relatives have taken advantage in such situations. In the light of this fact, I confess liking an article by Ken Raiss on the Property Update.
