Empower Blog Buying Your First Home

How can Parents help?

I had a fabulous Christmas party with my Mum's side of the family Christmas just gone. Three exciting things happened. Firstly - I'd pulled together a wonderful negotiation on a large floorplan 2BR apartment in St Kilda for a lovely client who was traveling in Vietnam with her friend. Her Dad had agreed to be her Power of Attorney in the event that...

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RBA Rate Decision – October 2013

Although the RBA still had scope to move the cash rate lower, in line with many economists’ view that rates would continue to fall, the RBA board chose to leave the cash rate on hold at this month’s meeting today. This leaves the cash rate at 2.5%. Many economists are still talking about the cash rate hitting 2 percent at some point into 201...

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Ben Kingsley on 10 Home Buyer Traps

Buying your home will undoubtedly be the biggest purchase you'll ever make, so you want to make sure you get it right. In the November 2012 Issue of the Money Magazine, Ben Kingsley is interviewed to provide the Top 10 Home Buyer Traps, identifying the most common Mistakes/Pitfalls that home buyers can make. Amongst the common mistakes that Ben lis...

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When is the RIGHT Time to buy your First Home?

In the November issue of Money Magazine I contributed to an article written by Maria Bekiaris on the 10 Home Buyer Traps, which was all about the pitfalls waiting for home buyers to avoid costly mistakes. (It’s a great article by Maria, so get the November issue of Money). The article got me thinking about the first homer buyers and how I ofte...

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Stamp Duty; friend or foe?

There is a lot of news in the media right now about Stamp Duty on the Transfer of Land. For a buyer, the cost of stamp duty is a significant upfront cost when buying property. We often get asked by the media about stamp duty and how Australians (and in particular, Melburnians) feel about it. It was an interesting topic to discuss because many poi...

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What’s happening in Easter this year?

A shortage of good property and increased interest from First Home Buyers leading up to the June 30 deadline for the Boost Package to lapse is making it hard going for both home buyers and investors in the ‘quality’ locations both in Melbourne and within all major Australian Cities. My comment is twofold this month: 1. Staying the course:...

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