Now is the best time in history to refinance!
1. Interest rates are the lowest they have ever been.
2. To get in ahead of the curve prior to income reduction, job pause, job loss or access to finance becoming more difficult.
3. Move to a lower monthly repayment to improve your cash flow.
4. Release equity to maximise your cash buffer.
5. Consolidate debt to make repayments lower.
6. Receive strategic advice regarding your mortgage strategy or buying a property.
And that’s just to name a few…
Cutting through the noise – In the news
With so much misinformation out there, to share with you some of the better articles and data we have digested recently. Our goal is to help you ‘cut through the noise’ and provide snippets of the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, to educate and empower you, our clients and readers, to make great property, mortgage and money decisions.
Here is our pick of the best: April 8
1. PM plans staggered virus exit
2. Coronavirus: Why Australia’s death rate is so low compared to other countries
3. Mesoblast scores virus breakthrough
4. COVID-19’s intergenerational wealth transfer
5. Crisis calls for a double guarantee covering wages and loans
6. ‘This is going to change the entire real estate industry’
Covid-19 podcast special #3 – What is in store for the property market and how to protect your war chest
In this episode David Johnston, Cate Bakos and Peter Koulizos take you through:
1. Gearing up for the property run as markets open up and what this could look like.
2. Why we think property values will have a floor put under them during this period, but rental yields may not be so lucky. Airbnb was declared illegal in NSW after going to air. Presciently we covered off on how the demand for Airbnb was being decimated and what this and other supply factors will mean to the rental market.
3. Calling all upgraders – if you still have a stable income, now would be a great time to upgrade as the higher value properties will see the biggest discounting.
4. What you can do to protect your financial position during this period. We once again talk through why ‘risk management’ is one of our 5 core mortgage strategies and how you can proactively protect yourself during the proverbial rainy day or months during this time.
5. Hot off the press! ASIC allow switching from principal and interest to interest only without completing a full application and financial assessment.
6. Property prices in all capital cities except Hobart recorded value increases during March but what are some of the nuances with this data.
7. Flattening the curve and the light at the end of the tunnel – we’ve gone from a peak of 28% increase in infections to 5% in the last two days. These are the trigger points that economists are looking for to signal economic recovery and the share markets of the USA and Australia have been more stable in recent days.
8. Property market impacts with agents facilitating inspections individually and how agents will be more particular with who they sell property to.
9. Be wary of the mortgage repayment pause because your interest could be capitalising which means you will have a greater debt at the of the period.
10. And of course, our ‘gold nuggets’!
ASIC allow switching from principal and interest to interest only
ASIC has provided confirmation to lenders that a change from principal and interest to interest only repayments can be made if a consumer requests to reduce their repayments and in the short-term.
Nila Sweeney from the Australian Financial Review, published her exclusive overnight, for which David Johnston provided some insights, in her article “No breach for lenders as homeowners switch to interest-only.”
Cutting through the noise – In the news
With so much misinformation out there, to share with you some of the better articles and data we have digested recently. Our goal is to help you ‘cut through the noise’ and provide snippets of the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, to educate and empower you, our clients and readers, to make great property, mortgage and money decisions.
Here is our pick of the best: April 7
1. Australia may have passed infection peak
2. Europe races to start mass testing, ramp up medical production
3. Lives will be saved if data about COVID-19 virus is published
4. Peak Virus: Forecasting the Peak in COVID-19 Infections in the US and Australia
5. Don’t push too hard, too fast, PM warns on restrictions
6. Free child care during the coronavirus is a dream come true. But what will it cost our educators?
7. Genetic Signatures up 12pc on COVID-19 test approval
Is it closing in on the time to ease the shutdown strategy and ‘Snap Back’ the economy?
If the rate of infections continue to reduce, the jungle drums will beat faster and faster to open up the economy, as it increasingly appears that we are on the other side of the infection trajectory.
The inherent risk is that the reduction in infections may not last after we re-open economic activity. This means we may have spikes over the year until testing of those carrying the anti-bodies can be done en masse and anti-viral drugs are proven to work and available in large quantities.
