It is being widely reported by economists around the country at the moment that the Reserve Bank (RBA) are preparing to cut interest rates in just a few short weeks when they meet again on September 2.

While there are mixed feelings about just how much of a cut we’ll see, it’s a relatively unanimous call from economists across Australia that rates will be cut in September. However, the talk is that the Banks, who are always quick to pass on any rate rise, may see this as an opportunity to increase their profit margins by not passing on the rate cuts to their customers.
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… You decide to rent out the old family home? This is a question that has been put to me in recent days and I thought it would be worthwhile to share the answer with everyone.

The scenario goes something like this: I own a house that I live in with my family, but now we want to upgrade. Instead of selling the house, I’d like to rent it out and buy a bigger house for the family to live in. Can I claim the interest on the borrowings against the old house as a tax deduction?

Well the answer is not quite as simple as yes or no. (more…)

This is a very common question being asked at the moment, and the common answer that is going around is “funding”. It’s all well and good to say “funding” but what exactly does that mean to you and I? Where do they get their funding from? Why is it costing them more if the RBA aren’t increasing interest rates? How can they increase rates and then post a 9% increase in record profits???

I’m going to try and answer all these questions and more, right here right now!
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The simple answer, we all do. I’m just as guilty as the next guy for “That’ll never happen to me” syndrome, but the reality is that insurance is a necessary evil in almost all cases. For most it seems like throwing good money away, while for others it’s simply the cost of being able to sleep at night.

So what is insurance?

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In recent days most commentators have been presenting a very bleak outlook for the property market. Some are saying it is as bad as a “one-in-a-hundred year property slump.” Interesting, back as far as 1999 I had predicted that this was going to happen in 2008. 2008 was the beacon year that stood out as the year we could be heading toward the big D… Depression. While some thought that was going a bit far, and some still do, there were many reasons for that prediction.

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While we haven’t yet got our FAQ part of the site up and running yet, it’s not a bad idea to take the time to answer a few simple queries that I get fairly regularly… particularly “What criteria do I need to meet to get a mortgage?”

This is a bit like asking “How long is a piece of string?” but I’ll answer it as simply as possible. Of course, everyone’s circumstances are different, and to cater for that there are a number of different types of lenders who specialise in different areas, such as the non-conforming market who specialise in dealing particularly with people who have a poor credit history or don’t fit within the “box” that mainstream lenders use. However, for now I’m just going to focus on the mainstream lending criteria. (more…)

I’ve had a few enquiries lately asking “What do you know about rent-to-own? How does it work?” So I figure, why not let everyone know my thoughts on rent to own, and get it out there!

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Today is the beginning of a new era for the Duckling Finance website. Taking Flight, our new Weblog, means that we can freely and easily communicate with the readers of our website and inform you quickly and easily of upcoming specials, any presentations we might be doing, provide answers to commonly asked questions and provide valuable little known knowledge.

There may be a little bit of banter regarding some of the issues that are going on with the economy, property markets and other investing vehicles that might pop up on our radar from time to time.

To let you know, we hope to be moving into financial planning very soon. If you would be interested in using our financial planning service in the future please let us know. As well, if you’re interested in becoming ba part of our mortgage broking and/or financial planning team, contact us to discuss the opportunity.

We also hope to add a property management service for the benefit of our property investing clients in the not too distant future.