Author: Troy Schirmer

The difference between a construction loan and development finance Over the past year we have fielded a steady run of enquiries from investors who have built up solid equity and want to deploy capital somewhere other than a single rental property. Small scale residential development, typically three to six townhouses on an infill site, keeps coming up. It is also quite a different sport to buying an investment property, and the finance behaves nothing like a standard construction loan. On top of that, the 2026 Federal Budget has changed the tax arithmetic in a way that makes new builds considerably…

Tax season is upon us, and for small business owners, there is one piece of news from this year’s Federal Budget that deserves your attention. The $20,000 Instant Asset Write-Off is no longer a temporary measure that gets extended year by year, waiting on the budget with fingers crossed. As of the 2026–27 Federal Budget, it is now a permanent fixture of the Australian tax system. That is a bigger deal than it might first appear. A Decade of Uncertainty, Now Resolved The Instant Asset Write-Off has been around in some form since 2015, but it has always operated on borrowed time.…

Equity is one of the most powerful tools available to Australian homeowners. But in my experience, it is also one of the most commonly misused. The difference between equity that builds wealth and equity that creates problems almost always comes down to one thing: whether you have a clear, well-structured strategy before you act. HOW LENDERS ASSESS YOUR POSITION Most lenders will advance borrowing up to 80 per cent of their assessed property value before Lenders Mortgage Insurance applies. That assessed value matters more than your own estimate. Most lenders use internal valuations, and with the rise of Automated Valuation Models, the same property…

In these uncertain times, it is natural to look for stability wherever you can find it. Markets remain sensitive to global tensions and inflationary pressures, and lenders are adjusting pricing accordingly. Whether you hold a home loan, an investment property loan, or business finance, one question is top of mind: Should I fix, stay variable, or split my loan in 2026? This is not just a question about where interest rates are headed. It’s a decision about how much certainty you need in your financial structure. A Snapshot of Current Rates Right now in Australia: Variable home loan interest rates…