Should you use home equity to finance your next car?

When lenders assess your borrowing capacity, they look closely at your fixed expenses as well as monthly living expenses. While it might not be easy to reduce all your costs, it’s worth examining some of your ongoing expenses that you can potentially trim.

Here are four mistakes you should avoid when the time comes to buy a car.

One of the most important and often overlooked steps is to make sure you have a solid credit score. A credit score is a number that represents how you’ve managed debt in the past.

Every time you apply for credit it impacts your credit score, however, when you do things right – like pay your bills on time – it helps lift your rating.

When buying a home, to live in or as an investment, most people will have the goal of eventually paying it off. A 30-year loan might seem like a long time to be making repayments, but you won’t be stuck paying interest if you’re able to pay it off sooner.

One of the key differences between buying at auction or buying using a private treaty is that a sale at auction is unconditional. That means, as a buyer, you’re not able to add conditions such as subject to finance or subject to a building and pest inspection. Therefore, you need to be prepared and organised when the time comes to make a bid at auction.