Lenders mortgage insurance protects the lender, not you — and it's usually added to your loan so you pay interest on it for thirty years. Here's how LMI, a family guarantee and simply waiting compare, and how to choose between them.
Read More
A 0.65% rate saving on a $600,000 loan is about $243 a month — and pays back switching costs in under four months. The trap isn't the cost; it's the 30-year term reset that can add $139,000 of interest. Plus why the buffer traps some borrowers.
Read More
Income caps are gone and places are uncapped on the 5% Deposit Scheme. Help to Buy is open for 40,000 households. Here's what each measure does, what it doesn't do, and why the serviceability buffer is now the real gate.
Read More
Lenders assess you at three percentage points above the rate you'll actually pay, and from 1 February 2026 only 20% of a bank's new lending can sit at six times income or more. Here's how those two rules set your number — and why the answer differs by lender.
Read More
Blanket pet bans are invalid, by-laws banning sustainability infrastructure are prohibited unless the building is heritage-listed, and a bill before NSW Parliament would give owners a right to install an EV charger. What by-laws can still do — and what they can't.
Read More
From 1 April 2026 NSW developers of certain schemes must have an independent surveyor certify the initial maintenance schedule and verify the initial levy estimates. What that fixes, what the 2% building bond doesn't cover, and why the first AGM is your only real moment of leverage.
Read More
Most strata disputes cannot go straight to a tribunal. NSW requires free Fair Trading mediation for most matters; Victoria requires the owners corporation's internal process first. What the sequence is, what the tribunals can order, and why the paper trail decides it.
Read More
Statutory warranty clocks start at the occupation certificate, not at settlement — and the cladding schemes that once funded remediation have been closing. What apartment owners can claim, and how fast the window shuts.
Read More
A section 184 certificate now has to disclose compliance orders, Fair Trading enforcement action and exclusive supply agreements. What to look for in a strata report, how special levies arise, and what NSW's staged strata reforms changed.
Read More
A buyer's agent costs 1.5-3% plus GST, or $6,000-$21,000 as a fixed fee depending on your state. We work out what the agent has to actually achieve for that to pay for itself — and who genuinely benefits in a market where buyers already hold the leverage.
Read More
