FIELD NOTES

Field notes

Plain-English property literacy. One mechanism a week, every claim traced to a named source.

A new note lands every Saturday morning.

Get finance-ready

14 of 16 published

Finance Finding a home
Lenders Mortgage Insurance: the cost you pay for the lender's cover
LMI can sit inside your loan costs, and despite the name the cover belongs to the lender. Here is what it is, when it appears, and how buyers may reduce it.
16 May 2026 5 min readRead
Finding a home Finance
The Home Guarantee Scheme: buying with a smaller deposit and skipping LMI
A government guarantee can let eligible buyers purchase with a smaller deposit and avoid Lenders Mortgage Insurance. Here is how it works, and the trade-off.
30 May 2026 5 min readRead

Offer, contract and auction

2 of 12 published

Contracts and settlement Finding a home
Cooling-off and building & pest: your two ways out after you sign
Signing a contract to buy a home is not always the point of no return. Cooling-off periods and a building & pest inspection are your safety nets if you use them in time.
20 June 2026 5 min readRead

Settle and move in

1 of 5 published

Tax and investing Finding a home
Stamp duty: the upfront cost first-home buyers forget to budget for
After the deposit, stamp duty is often one of the biggest cheques in a home purchase, and you generally cannot borrow it. Here is how it works and where concessions may apply.
23 May 2026 5 min readRead