Sometimes it can seem as though other people were born lucky. Rich parents, inspiring mentors, opportunities handed to them on a platter… it’s hard to believe the average Aussie can compete with this kind of advantage. But the truth is, most self-made successful people share a number of characteristics that have helped propel them towards…
More and more Australian property investors are moving into advanced strategies such as small property development as a way to grow their wealth. Of course, property development brings with it more potential financial rewards than traditional property investment, but it is not without it risks as well. There a number of factors that you must…
Young Australians who would have once been locked out of homeownership are increasingly relying on the so-called Bank of Mum and Dad to get a deposit or to guarantee a bank loan. The Bank of Mum and Dad has become so large as a home loan enabler that the Productivity Commission says if it was…
Are you interested in property development? While many properties make good homes, fewer are “investment grade” properties and even fewer are potentially profitable development sites. In a recent blog, I outlined why I choose the suburbs where I undertake developments very carefully. Now it’s time to find the “right” property in that suburb – one that could…
There’s no real ‘secret’ to property investing success, but as I’ve said many times before, there is a strategy. There are so many articles around about how to make sure your property investments outperform the rest of the market. The right location, the right price, the right plan… Searching for the ultimate path to guaranteed…
It’s now two years since the RBA first started to raise interest rates resulting in the biggest tightening cycle since the late 1980s. Rates have gone much higher and stayed high for much longer than I thought would be the case as Australian households proved more resilient than expected thanks to a combination of a…
As we edge towards the end of the financial year, it’s the time that you need to crunch some numbers to make sure you have all your tax obligations right, so today I am again joined by Rob Thompson, Assistant Commissioner of the ATO to dive into the world of taxation, specifically targeting tax time…
People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall health and getting good sleep is imperative. However, if exercise in the evening may disrupt our sleep, or make us feel the need to be more sedentary to recover, a key question emerges –…
Over the past two decades, the average growth in the median house price across the top five capital cities has been 5.3% p.a. This rate is considerably lower than the preceding 20-year period from 1983 to 2003, during which median house prices grew by 8.7% p.a. This significant difference in growth rates has substantial implications…
Since 2004, I’ve devoted a significant amount of my time to researching habits. One of the questions I get asked by the media often is: Are there differences between the habits of men and women? The answer is always Yes. From my research, I’ve identified certain habits that separate men and women. Here’s a sampling…