The new year is well and truly underway and how are those new years resolutions going? Any new plans to change your habits around money? How you spend and how you save?

Our friends at Greater Bank share with us top financial strategies to help every personality.

From the easily tempted to the visionary,  defining your personality type may be the key to unlocking your savings potential. We’ve identified a number of common personas we see every day – see if you recognise yourself, and find out what you can do to save smarter.

If one of your goals for 2017 is to build your first home, then register for our free info session to be held Tuesday 21st February from 6pm at Greater Bank Waratah. In conjunction with Greater Bank, we will be sharing our knowledge on how to build your first home, what to ask your builder,  what a fixed price package is and the government grants still available for first home owners. 

Have you spent the Christmas and New Year break thinking about your 2017 Goals?

​Wanting to make that move you have dreamed of and build your very own home?

Looking at your savings account and calculating how much you have saved as a deposit may be uplifting or a little deflating. You may be a little disheartened by the big amount you are trying to reach. 

When up against such a massive savings goal as your down payment, it’s easy to get disheartened. Take a look at the simple tips that have been put together by our friends at The Greater Bank....These great tips will help you stay in control and save your home loan deposit sooner.

Greater tips to help you save more for your home deposit.

For even more valuable information, register for our free info session to be held Tuesday 21st February from 6pm at Greater Bank Waratah. In conjunction with Greater Bank, we will be sharing our knowledge on how to build your first home, what to ask your builder,  what a fixed price package is and the government grants still available for first home owners. 

Look forward to seeing you there!

Have you got a friend who had a quote from a builder that was a terrific price only to find out when signing the building contract the price had increased dramatically!
Or maybe you know someone who at their builders colour selection appointment was presented with an extras list for thousands of dollars for essential building items that they thought were included in the original price. 

With Carnelian Projects fixed price builders that price worry is eliminated. Our fixed priced builders offer a complete fixed price contract which means the price quoted is exactly what you pay (excluding any optional upgrades you choose).

​To help explain the terminology: 
• Fixed Price package - the price will stay the same no matter what happens during the build – eg hitting rock
• Turnkey package – complete with all internal and external inclusions. The house is ready for you to move straight in with no extra work to be completed by you.

Why you need to go with a fixed price package.

After doing some research we have come up with our top 10 tips to keep yourself and your home warmer this winter while keeping your energy costs down. Don't forget if you build a brand new home with Carnelian most of these suggestions are already done for you. 

Top 10 tip to keep yourself and your home warmer this winter.

Looking to build your 2nd or 3rd home?  Are you considering building an investment property?

There is a lot of talk about first home owners and government grants however, 2nd or 3rd home owners and investors do not miss out either!

All non- first home buyers and investors purchasing homes off the plan or a new dwelling up to $650,000 or vacant land up to $450,000, are eligible for a $5,000 grant. 

Under the NSW New Home Grant Scheme, this $5,000 grant is available now available and was introduced to stimulate the construction of new homes in NSW.

When considering the costs of purchasing a property stamp duty is a factor that needs to be taken into account. However in the Hunter Region this grant goes a long way to compensating the buyer for stamp duty and other related costs. Another great point to remember is that there are no restrictions on the number of times a purchaser can apply for the grant.

Further details about the NSW New Home Grant Scheme can be found here. 

We are celebrating our 4th Birthday this November and we want to share a special $400 gift with you.

All you need to do is confirm a house and land package by the end of November and we give you a FREE $400 gift voucher for your choice of Freedom Furniture or Bunnings. This is a great way to get started with some furniture or perhaps even a lawn mower.
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* Conditions apply. The deposit has to be paid to the builder between 1 Nov 2015 and 30 Nov 2015. The gift voucher will be provided at frame stage of the building process. 

Contact Kerri-Ann today on 0402 107 194 to discuss your perfect house and land package.

Our gardening expert, Clint from Visionary Gardenscapes has shared with us the most important tips you need to know if you are building your own retaining wall.  

1. Drainage - you need to make sure water will not soak in behind the wall, it is most important to have this well drained. Too much pressure from the water will lead to your wall failing overtime. Include an Ag line and Aggregate or Geo fabric to add in the drainage.
2. Positioning - when you are building the retaining wall you want to make sure there is at least a 5 degree slant towards the property or earth that you are retaining.  In doing this if there is any movement or build-up of pressure it has somewhere to go instead of pushing it straight over, flat. 
3. How far down you go depends on how tall you want the wall - put your posts in at least a third to a half of the size of your posts. For example if you have 2 metre posts, you want this to go down at least 750 mm in the ground. Once you have dug the holes and put the posts in place you need to secure with concrete. 

Download our cheat sheet to make sure you use the right products to ensure it will last a long time.

If you would prefer to get the professionals in, call Clinton from Visionary Gardenscapes on 0447 645 877. He can help with garden makeovers, development and maintenance services. 

Join us on Thursday 15th October at 1pm
and learn with the right advice and guidance, building your dream home can be easy.

Tips and tricks of the trade and insider knowledge
from the people in the know, Carnelian Projects.

Register for the webinar today and take a break during your lunch break on the 15th October.

For those new to owning their own home or well established in paying off their mortgage, this is a great article in explaining what equity is and how to use it to grow your wealth through property. We would like to thank our friends at Pfeiffer Property for providing this great article.

The equity held in your property can be a powerful tool for wealth creation.  Used properly, this equity can secure the finance needed to achieve your property investment goals.
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Put simply, if your property has increased in value, the amount of equity held in that property will have gone up too. You can access that increased equity, which can then be used to meet the deposit and costs on another property purchase.

Calculating Equity
To work out how much equity you have in your property, you’ll need to subtract any debt remaining on your mortgage from the property’s overall value. So, if your property is worth $500,000, and you have $300,000 left on your mortgage, then your equity is $200,000.

Your property’s equity will increase both as you pay off your mortgage and as the property’s value increases. So, if your $500,000 property increases in value by 10% over 12 months that’s an extra $50,000 in equity. Add to this any deduction to the mortgage gained through repayments, and your equity has significantly increased over the year.


 
Refinancing
Once your property has increased in value, whether that be through capital growth, renovation, or diligently paying off your mortgage, it is possible to use the increased equity as to secure further lending.

The bank will calculate a loan to value ratio so that they can keep back some equity as security. If you have a property the bank is comfortable with, then they may release 80% of the property value.

In the example above, if you have a $500,000 property and you have a debt of $300,000, the Bank may lend 80% against the property value ($400,000), deduct the existing loan ($300,000) and then you can take the usable equity of $100,000 to pay the deposit and costs for another investment property.

There can be a range of benefits and risks in releasing the equity in your home and using it for investment―you could

• have an opportunity to build wealth more quickly
• benefit from gearing (and use any savings to pay off your home loan or other non- tax deductible debt
• The main risk is that you are borrowing the whole purchase price and purchase costs – higher borrowing means higher loan interest costs.
• borrowing against the value of your home—which is how you access your equity—may enable you to buy an investment sooner than if you had to save the money. What’s more, owning an investment gives you the opportunity to generate an extra source of income down the track. And a strategy like debt recycling can help you pay off your home loan sooner using the income from your investments.

Back in the 80's you may (or may not) remember that a granite benchtop in a kitchen was all the rage. It did look great and it certainly made for an enviable kitchen.

In todays market a granite bench top is not always achievable for home owners, however, there are more options available that give the same look but at a more achievable price.

A ceasar stone benchtop is man made and provides you with a variety of colour options. We find white and cream are the most popular. To add this feature to your kitchen package you would be looking at approximately $3,000.

You can also have the same colour for your bathroom bench tops. This would be approximately $1800 extra to your bathroom package.

Call us today to discuss this option for your new home build.