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Learn more about how to manage your personal finances with RateCity's home loan articles, including how-to-guides on comparing home loan interest rates, fees, features and other benefits.

Patricia Babalis

Could you be eligible for a low doc home loan?

If your financial situation is best described as “complicated” you may find it difficult to secure a standard home loan with most lenders. Even if it is through no fault of your own, such as losing your job or a failed business venture, lenders have certain lending criteria they uphold for their protection and for yours.

Home Loans

28 Oct, 2016

4 min read

Could you be eligible for a low doc home loan?

Patricia Babalis

Could you pay your mortgage if rates hit 7 per cent?

With mortgage rates kept low by the historic low cash rate, it’s fair to say that many borrowers are coasting along in an ideal situation. Rates lower than 4 per cent are no longer uncommon for owner-occupier mortgage holders with some equity built up in their property.

Home Loans

26 Oct, 2016

3 min read

Could you pay your mortgage if rates hit 7 per cent?

Patricia Babalis

How can we fix the housing affordability crisis?

It seems as though there is no hotter topic than the housing affordability crisis and what needs to be done to solve it. From the endless news articles to the discussions had in homes around Australia, it’s a problem that strikes right at the heart of the Australian dream of property ownership.

Home Loans

25 Oct, 2016

4 min read

How can we fix the housing affordability crisis?

Jodie Humphries

Personal Finance Editor

No toast for you! How many smashed avo brunches it takes to buy a house

Earlier this week, Bernard Salt made headlines by claiming the money people under 40 spend on smashed avocado with crumbled feta five-grain toast could be used to save a deposit for a house.

Home Loans

21 Oct, 2016

1 min read

No toast for you! How many smashed avo brunches it takes to buy a house

Patricia Babalis

Beware the housing black market

It has been called the housing black market and with good reason: dodgy schemes that promise to put you in your own home without a credit or history check.

Home Loans

11 Oct, 2016

4 min read

Peter Arnold

Rates of the Nation Report, October 2016

With the cash rate cut to 1.50 per cent in August, there was a lot of interest rate action during the past quarter – particularly in the mortgage and deposit spaces, yet little movement in credit card rates.

Home Loans

10 Oct, 2016

4 min read

Rates of the Nation Report, October 2016

Patricia Babalis

Would you lie to get your mortgage approved?

Securing a mortgage and landing your dream home are goals shared by many Australians but how far would you go to make it a reality?

Home Loans

10 Oct, 2016

3 min read

Would you lie to get your mortgage approved?

Alana Drayton

Should you buy a property with friends?

With the house prices on the rise, many Australians are turning to sharing a mortgage in an effort to get on the property ladder. For many, it’s a boost onto the property ladder, opening up a wider housing market and reducing the initial financial burden, but it’s important to beat in mind that there are some risks which could leave you caught out.

Home Loans

04 Oct, 2016

3 min read

RateCity

Has NZ locked first time buyers out of the property market?

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has been accused of stifling first home buyers' chances of getting into the property market by reducing the owner-occupier LVR to 80 per cent.

Home Loans

27 Sep, 2016

2 min read

Has NZ locked first time buyers out of the property market?

Jodie Humphries

Personal Finance Editor

Bathroom renovation trends for 2016

A bathroom renovation can spark life and luxury into even the most tired of properties.

Home Loans

23 Sep, 2016

2 min read

Patricia Babalis

Two income reliant families at higher risk of mortgage stress

With most Australians now accepting the fact that it will take two incomes to be able to afford a mortgage there is a risk that not enough borrowers are considering what would happen if one of these incomes was lost.

Home Loans

21 Sep, 2016

3 min read

Two income reliant families at higher risk of mortgage stress

Alana Drayton

How to negotiate yourself a better deal: Three tips for borrowers

A home loan is often the biggest financial commitment you’ll take on in your life, which means there are few excuses to not go in prepared to bargain for the best deal.

Home Loans

20 Sep, 2016

3 min read