In the 2018-2019 Queensland budget handed down on 12 June 2018, the Queensland Government slashed the First Home Owners' Grant from $20,000 to $15,000 effective 1 July 2018, giving first home buyers just 3 weeks to cash in.

Comparison rates take the hard work out of comparing the cost of different loans. While normal interest rates only take into account the interest payments, comparison rates also take into account the bank's fees and charges. 

One of the findings of the lankmark 600 page report in the financial sector was that bank ownership of mortgage brokers like Aussie and RAMS increased conflicts and carried the obvious risk that consumers have an illusion of choice. Another thing to consider is mortgage brokers like Mortgage Choice who are listed on the stock exchange. The report also found that institutions listed on the stock exchange put the interests of their shareholders before their customers. So it begs the question: who owns my bank (or broker)?

An offset account is an incredibly powerful, and severely under-used, way to pay off your home loan faster. If you put your money in a savings account you'll not only earn very little interest but you will be taxed on that interest. Not fun. That's why more and more Australians are putting their money into an offset account. Not only does it save you interest off your home loan (effectively "earning" your home loan rate) but that saving is tax-free.

A lankmark 600 page report to be released one week before the royal commission into the finance sector has provided some damning findings. Among others, it found that "in return for their loyalty, customers have been ripe for exploitation" with one in two people still with their first ever bank and only one in three considering a refinance despite paying 0.40% more than new customers to the same bank!

Winning Home Loans and its directors, Tom Blackhurst and Chaice Paterson, have been quoted in a new article published by The Adviser titled "Client 'stickiness' essential for new brokers". 

In the article, Tom and Chaice highlight how they are creating a partnership with clients and working as accountability coaches one or two years out from buying a home to help them achieve their goal faster. 

Winning Home Loans founders Tom Blackhurst and Chaice Paterson speak with The Adviser on the Elite Broker Podcast about how they operate their business as a team, how they're coaching their clients towards a brighter financial future, as well as their long-term vision for Winning Home Loans and how they're working to achieve those goals. 

Between rising house prices, larger deposits, higher rents and smashed avo, getting into the property market can seem like an impossible feat. But it really doesn't have to be, you just don't know what options you have available.