Empower Blog Property & Financial Investment

Negative Gearing vs Positive Gearing | Which is Better?

Hello, Ben Kingsley here and today I want to talk about Negative Gearing vs Positive Gearing. Now the difference between the two is an income outcome which basically means that with negative gearing properties, we actually have to put some of our surplus cash into supporting the investment as opposed to positive gearing where we actually get some ...

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The Market in 2015

>> Play Audio here   In this episode of Real Estate Talk, Kevin Turner interviews Bryce Holdaway and ask him what is going to happen to the Australian Property Market in 2015. Bryce says there are some clear signals about how buoyant the market will be this year and he tells us about some markets that he believes will show good growt...

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Do Holiday Homes make Good Investments?

I’m often asked the question on whether or not Holiday homes make for great investments and generally speaking, from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t and largely it comes down to the fact that the time when you want to rent it out to get the maximum money from is actually the time when you want to spend the time in there with your family. So that...

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RBA Interest Rate Cut

Anchor: For the first time in 18 months, RBA has reduced the cash rate by 25 basis points. That's a quarter of a percent for you and I. The move was design to lower the exchange rate and offset declines in key commodity prices. However many are wondering how the 2015 Australian Property Market will react. Bryce Holdaway is a partner in Empower W...

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Having an Exit Strategy

>> Play Audio Here In this podcast, Kevin Turner from Real Estate Talk focused on the recent articles by API Magazine that wrote about investment strategy and having an exit strategy set in place. He talks to Ben Kingsley about the sensitive but necessary discussion of having an exit strategy. You might not want to think about it, but Ben gi...

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RBA Rate Decision – February 2015 – Why did they drop 25 basis points?

So why did the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) moved on interest rates this month when most commentators including myself actually thought it would stay at the 2.5% cash rate. The 25 basis points reduction to 2.25%- what's behind that? Well, the story is around our currency and we really need to get our currency lower. I think you'll find the RB...

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Buyers’ Agent Brief

Armed with an upwardly mobile couple's investment goals, three local experts set about finding the perfect strategy for kicking off their portfolio. In the January 2015 issue of Australian Property Investor Magazine (API), they introduced a new series called 'Buyers's Agent Brief'. Kieran Clair presented Bryce Holdaway with a hypothetical client...

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2015 Share Market & Equities Outlook – Part 3

Sectors in the 2015 Australian Market – Mining, Retail, Healthcare and more   Ben: So let’s look at the sectors. So energy, views on energy. Michael: Look, energy, the price have dropped – with the price drop that we’ve experienced so far, energy is certainly a subject to the companies … Ben: So that’s oil price drop. ...

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2015 Share Market & Equities Outlook – Part 2

Hard Minerals & Global Market – Asia, US & Europe Ben: Let’s talk about hard minerals and hard resources. Obviously iron ore is the big talking point down from peaks of $150 a ton thereabout down to earlier in the $130 a ton, now down to collapsing sub $65 a ton. Michael: Similar to the oil market story, it is a discussion area on t...

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2015 Share Market & Equities Outlook – Part 1

2014 Wrap Up and the Oil Market If you've driven past a petrol station recently, you would have noticed the incredibly low price. By now, you would have already noticed the volatility in the oil market in recent months. What does this mean for our economy and the global market? Watch our 2015 Share Markets and Equities Outlook before making any in...

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2015 Australian Property Market Outlook | Part 6 – Summary

So we've gone through the property market of each states across Australia and we've discussed about the investment opportunities in the metropolitan and regional area. If you've missed out on the earlier parts, here's the list: Part 1: Property Market in Sydney and Regional NSW Part 2: Property Market in Melbourne and Regional VIC Part 3: Pro...

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2015 Australian Property Market Outlook | Part 5 – Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory

Although property investment in the Territories is not the most popular choice, there are still pockets of opportunities. The most important thing is to do your research and find out the hot spots in these area. In the fifth part of our 2015 Australian Property Market Outlook, Ben Kingsley and Bryce Holdaway talks about the property market cycle in...

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2015 Australian Property Market Outlook | Part 4 – Perth, Adelaide and Tasmania

For the Fourth Part of our 2015 Australia Property Market Outlook, Ben Kingsley and Bryce Holdaway discuss about property market at Perth, Adelaide and Tasmania and if there are any investment opportunities to grab in 2015. Investing at mining towns had been a topic of conversation for years but with the drop in the price of coals and the mining se...

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