Financial Leigh

Financial Leigh Re-enacting the thoughts, questions
& conversations from my day job. Founder of SFP Financial mortgage brokers
www.sfpfinancial.com.au

02/06/2026

Anyways, as I was sayin' 🦐

26/05/2026

Not everyone can “just go electric”.

A lot of the bigger incentives are easiest to access if you own a freestanding home, have a suitable roof, can install solar or a battery, can upgrade appliances, and have the cash or borrowing capacity to cover the gap.

That’s much harder if you’re renting, living in a unit, dealing with strata, or relying on a landlord to make the upgrade.

So yes, going electric may save money long term, but for a lot of households the problem is getting started. You still need upfront capital, approval, access to the right property type, and control over the home.

That’s the gap.

The savings are there, but the pathway to access them is not equal for everyone.

To find out more, head to

15/05/2026

NEW BUILD GOLDEN CHILD 👸

Under the proposed Budget changes, the old 50% CGT discount would be replaced with inflation indexation for most assets.

So what investments can still opt for the old 50% CGT discount...

❌ Existing investment property
❌ Shares
❌ Managed funds
❌ Crypto
❌ Gold / silver
❌ Commercial property
❌ Small / medium business assets
✅ New build residential property

On top of that, new build property would still retain negative gearing benefits, while also having the usual depreciation benefits that often come with newer property.

So the big issue could be, a huge number of investors (not just property investors) may start looking at new build property because it becomes one of the few remaining asset classes with the old tax treatment.

So if you’re a first home buyer, upgrader, or home buyer looking at new property, you may start to see a lot more competition.

None of this is law yet, so we’ll see whether the final rules change before they come into force.

05/05/2026

Average homes, now only $1.8m!! 😃😃

Total cost over 30 years - $4,149,082

* Purchase price: $1,800,000
* 20% deposit: $360,000
* NSW stamp duty: $81,012
* Loan amount: $1,440,000
* Estimated monthly repayment: $8,634 per month
* Assumption: Rate of 6% P&I over 30 years
* Total loan repayments over 30 years: $3,108,070
* Total interest over 30 years: $1,668,070
* Running costs est: $20,000 per year or $600,000 over 30 years

So the “$1.8 million home” is really about $4.15 million over 30 years, before considering bank fees, upgrades, renovations and selling costs.

On the flip side, at the average growth rate of 6.5%pa, a $1.8m home would be worth $11.9m in 30 years time.

Looking to buy a home? Head over to

30/04/2026

"Enough to make a grown man cry" 😢

Different countries, different accents, but the same problem: house prices have moved way beyond what normal incomes can keep up with.

For the full data set, head to ’s latest post.

Also, sorry for butchering your accents, especially Canadians.

22/04/2026

The Cash Kings of NSW Real Estate 👑

Meet the two "rate-proof" champions of NSW.

📍 MOSMAN: The King of Percentage
• The Percentage: An estimated 52% of all sales were CASH-ONLY.
• The Value: Approx. $944 Million in mortgage-free settlements.
• The Volume: Roughly 223 properties settled without a bank loan.

📍 MARSDEN PARK: The King of Volume
• The Percentage: An estimated 21% of all sales were CASH-ONLY.
• The Value: A massive $972 Million in total cash sales.
• The Volume: Roughly 724 properties settled without a bank loan.

Australia wide, there’s an estimated total of $154 Billion in total cash only property purchase across 158,000 properties settled.

This makes cash only purchases account for just under 30% of the entire market.

Some regional suburbs in NSW and across Australia achieved even higher percentage of cash only purchases, but this is often due to the lower entry cost and holiday home purchases.

While the headlines focus on rate hikes, over a quarter of the market is playing a completely different game.

If you're one of the other three quarters, follow us at

Park

15/04/2026

“We’re working through the details” 🧐

No official announcement has been made yet, but the Government has repeatedly indicated tax reform is being considered, including potential changes to the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) discount. The key issue is the detail.

If changes only apply to residential property, investor behaviour is unlikely to disappear, it will likely adapt:

➡️ Investors may hold property for longer rather than sell
➡️ purchases may increasingly occur through company structures (no CGT discount, but capped tax rate)
➡️Equity may be drawn from property and deployed into other asset that still receive the discount (shares, ETFs, crypto, private investments)

If the CGT discount is reduced across all investments, then the policy may be framed as improving housing affordability, but the impact extends far beyond property.

Only approximately 30% of CGT revenue currently comes from residential property. The reminder comes from commercial property, shares, ETF’s, crypto and other investments. A broad reduction in the CGT discount would therefore affect any Australians trying to build wealth, not just property investors.

If taxes increase across multiple asset classes, it raises the question of objective. If the purpose is housing affordability, then logically any additional revenue should be directed toward:

➡️ planning restrictions and development delays
➡️ housing supply
➡️ infrastructure to support new housing
➡️ that directly improve affordability for future buyers

If additional tax revenue simply flows into general government revenue, the reform may appear more aligned with budget repair than housing affordability.

The devil is in the detail, and it really matters.

10/04/2026

It's only a problem if you can't afford it 😏

That 33 second monologue took me 45 mins to get right 😮‍💨

Enjoy!

06/04/2026

THE VAULT IS EMPTY 🏦

Most people think banks keep their money in a vault…They don’t.

Banks use something called ‘fractional reserve banking’.

When you deposit money, the bank only keeps a small part. The rest is lent out to someone else.

That money gets spent, deposited into another account, and then lent out again.

So the same deposit creates more money in the system.

This is what “printing money” actually looks like today. Not paper notes… but new digital money created when banks issue loans.

It works as long as people:
• keep repaying loans
• don’t all try to withdraw at once
• trust the system

But if the music stops, there aren't enough chairs for all of us.

02/04/2026

Things are going to get much much worse 😃

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