mrd

WOW, what an exciting year 2008 turned out to be! We started by moving our office on Australia Day. When the removalist arrived at the new location ready to unload the guys who had constructed the office partitioning were still sanding down plaster board… and there was dust everywhere (and I do mean EVERYWHERE). They had not started painting at that stage. Suffice to say that the turbulence of the last 10 days of January, culminating with Katrina and me jumping on a plane to head over to Fiji to be part of my former business partners’ wedding, set the tone for what was to become a very “different” year.

I’d like to share with you two of the slides I use in my presentations around the country. These slides emphasise two of the messages I echo… and 2008 has confirmed their validity. They are:

1. “You Need To Do Something”
2. “38 Years Of Economic & Social History: 1974 To 2008″ and property proved itself to be resilient… regardless!

In your household, I hope history continues to repeat itself ONLY IF your are making significant and measurable financial progress… each year that passes.

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A $34,000 a year shortfall across 4 investment properties  was proving a serious drag on the lifestyle of Michael and Sam. When this couple, whom I consider friends as well as valued mrd clients, telephoned to say they needed to sell a property, I suggested we first undertake an analysis of their situation. Selling an asset should be your last option… and in their case it turned out to be completely unnecessary.

Remember Michael and Sam’s story. Chances are you too will one day be faced with what I call an avoidable disaster.

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Last week the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced it would slash official interest rates by a full percentage point to a six and a half year low.  This has further compounded the break costs for the 43,632 borrowers who opted for fixed-rate mortgages between March and August this year, when interest rates were at a decade-high peak who face hefty fees if they want to switch to a standard variable loan.

Official interest rates would have to fall to the lowest levels since February 1965 for these borrowers to recoup the cost of switching out of a fixed loan through cheaper mortgage repayments.

From: The Age on 05/12/2008

See last week’s article: Should You Fix Interest Rates And When

Our office will close @ 5:00pm Friday 19th December and re open at 8:30am on Monday 5th January 2009.

We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and happy New Year.

Kind regards,

The mrd Team

Housing Minister Robert Schwarten said recently “There’s been skyrocketing rents, the growth in off-campus student accommodation and rental accommodation for seniors, and the emergence of rent bidding or auctions, which I consider to be a most un-Australian and unfair practice”.

State Parliament passed legislation last night to respond to the changing private rental market.

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24744318-31037,00.html

Transit oriented development is a concept which involves concentrating a mix of uses – housing,  shops, offices and other facilities – around transport hubs such as train stations and busway stations.

Precincts where transit oriented development principles are applied are called transit oriented communities.

Transit cities are based on the principles of Transit Oriented Development. This is a form of urban development that clusters a greater mixture of land uses around a high quality transport service. The transport node, either train, light rail or bus terminus is designed to be the focus for the development and ideally becomes the community ‘heart’. It is where people shop, work, meet, relax and live.

Transit Oriented Development is gaining currency worldwide as a key tool to reduce car dependence, boost public transport use and hence reduce reliance on fossil fuels…

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In the next week or so I am going to address the issue of swapping from a current fixed rate to a variable rate. I can only generalise because the cost/benefit ratio will differ in each case. If you are in that situation stay tuned and we will show you how to assess whether or not it will be beneficial for you.

Happy Investing,

Nick Lockhart
mrd customer care program… because investing is personal

“You Can Live WITHOUT Your Income” Information Session; recorded in May 2007

Running time approximately 1 hour 23 minutes

Our Customer Care Program Works For You… because investing is personal

This afternoon Glenn Stevens, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia announced a reduction in the official cash rate by 100 basis points. In layman’s terms that means a 1.0% reduction… bringing the cash rate to just 4.25%.

Commonwealth, Westpac and NAB moved quickly and cut their variable home loan rates within a few minutes of the Reserve Bank’s announcement; Commonwealth and NAB by a full 1.0% and Westpac by 0.8%. Other lenders will soon follow making official announcements.

Using the Commonwealth Bank as a typical example, the rate for a full document standard variable loan will now come down to 6.74% with the discounted rate (Professional Package) being 6.04%

Back in August, just four months ago, the Commonwealth Bank’s full document standard variable loan was 9.58%. Someone with a $350,000 mortgage has seen their monthly interest commitment drop by $828.33 over this time… with more to follow in the New Year!!!

• To read today’s statement from Glenn Stevens; RBA Governor - click here
• To read my interest rate cut prediction of last Friday- click here
• To read about “What In The World Is Going On With Property” Web Seminar (our very last for 2008) - click here
• To register for our “What In The World Is Going On With Property” Web Seminar (our very last for 2008) - click here
• To read testimonials of other web seminar attendees - click here

Happy Investing,

Nick Lockhart
mrd customer care program… because investing is personal

At its meeting today, the Board decided to reduce the cash rate by a further 100 basis points, to 4.25 per cent, effective 3 December 2008.

Recent actions by governments and central banks to stabilise their respective financial systems have begun to take effect. Nonetheless, financial market sentiment remains fragile, as evidence accumulates of weak economic conditions in the major countries and a significant slowing in many emerging countries.  Commodity prices have fallen further.  This, combined with the likelihood of below-trend growth in the global economy, suggests that global inflation will moderate significantly in 2009.

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