Bettina Bourke - Sterling Finance Group - Senior Finance Broker

11/08/2025

Review - Lucy

Amazing help (as always)
Bettina has helped us many times over the course of home ownership and refinancing. She is incredibly knowledgeable and experienced, always positive and works around the clock. She is our go-to person whenever we need help with financing and delivers what we need. We couldn't recommend her more (and have recommended her to many people!) Thank you Bettina.

Verified by RateMyAgent

09/08/2025

Review - Kade

Genuine Guardian Angel
Bettina was truly our saving grace when it came to finding a broker that actually cared.

She was diligent and dedicated, understanding and accommodating, and she helped us in nearly every single aspect of our mortgage, house purchase, and everything that comes with this.

There is no doubt we would not have had half the success we did, were it not for Bettina at our side.

She will be the broker we recommend to everyone and I have no doubt that she will exceed their expectations.

We are extremely thankful to what she has been able to achieve for us starting off our family. Forever in her debt.

Verified by RateMyAgent

18/04/2025

18/04/2024

13/12/2021

When’s the Best Time to Buy or Sell a Property?


With the spring selling season coming to an end and Christmas just around the corner, many buyers and sellers are getting ready for a well-deserved break.

The traditional belief is that spring is the best time to sell and it’s for that reason we see the largest volume of transactions taking place throughout September, October and November. This is followed by a sharp drop in transactions over the summer months.

Interestingly, if you’re a buyer, then summer could well be an opportunity for you to find a great property at a decent price.

In fact, research from realestate.com.au suggests that if you’re a buyer, January might be the month that represents the best buying opportunities.


Source: realestate.com.au

This data found that across the country, properties sold in November have attracted prices almost 6% higher than those in January. According to the numbers, January has been the cheapest month to buy a property over the past three years.

However, there are some big differences in the various capital cities, with the biggest seasonal impact being felt in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart. Across these three capital cities, houses sold for prices in December that were 10% higher than in January.

The belief is that in spring there are more auctions taking place, which leads to higher prices in Sydney and Melbourne in particular, which feature the majority of auctions.

The fact that January can attract lower prices also has to do with the fact that many properties that might not have sold in December were held over until January.

The impact of the time you buy and sell is a lot less prominent in other capital cities, but it still does occur in both Brisbane and Adelaide. In Perth, it appears that the best time to buy is during the winter months.

As we move into the new year, the question remains, will this trend continue? 2021 hasn’t been a normal year by any standard, however, transaction volumes are getting higher each week as many people who have been holding off on buying or selling finally start to get active.

03/12/2021

How to Value a Property



One of the biggest mistakes new property buyers make is not understanding how much a property is actually worth. This is common with inexperienced buyers who have trouble purchasing a property at auction.

The auction process is not always easy to navigate, which is why it’s important to find out how you can quickly and easily get a better understanding of what a property’s true value actually is.

⭐️ Ask An Agent

Sales agents are at the coalface of the property market. They are normally very approachable people who are prepared to take the time to discuss property in their local area. If you’re interested in purchasing a certain property, it’s possible to contact a number of local agents and get their opinion on what it might be worth.

Agents know what types of property are currently in high demand, as well as what has recently sold and for how much. They can be a very valuable tool in getting a clear understanding of what your property (or one you want to purchase) might be worth.

⭐️ Online Tools

These days there are a host of free online tools that can value a property. It’s simply a matter of entering the address and the algorithm will give you a quick idea of what a property is likely to be worth based on recent sales history. While this is not a perfect valuation, it should give you some idea of what a property is worth because it does factor in what has been selling in the local area.

⭐️ Hire A Valuer

If you want a very accurate idea of a property’s true value, you can hire a professional valuer. Many buyers choose to do this as a lender will require a valuation before approving a home loan. While a lender may not accept your independent valuation, it will give you an accurate idea of what a property is worth and if you can afford it.

⭐️ Comparable Sales

The vast majority of valuers in Australia price a property based on comparable sales. Comparable sales are simply sales of similar properties that have occurred in the past few months.

The good thing these days is that much of the sales data is available for free online, and you can use those figures independently to come up with a rough valuation. The most effective way to do this is to go to a listing portal that provides recent sales data and find all the properties in the same suburb that have occurred in the past three to six months.

From there, you can narrow that list down to properties that match yours in terms of the dwelling type, age, condition, and land component. At this point you can see the sales of properties very similar to your own. This will give you a good idea of what the property might be worth.

If there is a property that has sold that is very similar to your property of interest, you can take this one step further and contact the sales agent to get an idea of how the property sold. Ask them how many people viewed the property and how many offers were made. If the property sold at auction, see if you can get any insight into the number of bidders and how it went.

The more information you have the better, as this will help you make the most informed decision about your own property, or one that you’re looking at buying.

08/11/2021

To Rent or Buy?


⭐️ Owning your own property is normally very high up on the list of things people want to achieve in their life. However, depending on your financial goals and what stage of life you’re at, what you hope to achieve with property will likely differ quite considerably.

⭐️ For first home buyers, the biggest question is usually whether to rent or buy?

Advantages of Buying

Capital Gains
⭐️ The most obvious advantage of buying a property is that you own it and benefit from the capital gain on the property, should its value increase. However, you also have to pay all the costs such as council and water rates and ongoing maintenance.

You Control It
⭐️ When you own a property, you get to do anything you want to it. A common complaint from renters is that they aren’t even allowed to put up a picture hook. That’s not an issue if you buy a house.

Add Value
⭐️ If you own a property, you’re able to add value to it and manufacture equity in certain ways. The most common strategy for this is to do a small renovation or even a subdivision.

More Affordable
⭐️ In a lot of cases, you will find it is more cost effective to buy than rent, in the current environment, thanks to record-low interest rates. If you’re living in an area where you can pay less on your mortgage than you would renting, then the incentive is certainly there to go out and buy.

Advantages of Renting

Flexibility
⭐️ One of the greatest benefits renters enjoy is flexibility. Many people who choose to rent do so because they are able to rent in highly desirable locations, like the inner city that offers a great lifestyle and amenity. For many of these high-demand locations, purchasing a property can be very expensive and outside the budget.

Lower Fixed Costs
⭐️ Costs are usually less of a burden for renters as the landlord is generally required to pay many of the ongoing costs of the property, including strata fees, water and council rates, and maintenance.

Cash Flow
⭐️ Renting can allow you to free up more cash, so you can put it into other ventures. If you’re trying to start a business or you want to spend your money on things like travel, then renting can be advantageous.

Rentvesting
⭐️ Over the past few years, there has been a growing push from property investors in Australia to continue renting and purchasing an investment property instead of a home to live in. This is a way you can get the best of both worlds – you can live in a great location and still invest in property elsewhere. Rentvesting is increasingly common in places like Sydney and Melbourne, where house prices are higher.

14/10/2021

How To Plan for a Renovation

⭐️ One of the most attractive qualities of real estate, as an investment, is the fact that you can manufacture your own equity. That simply means you’re able to do something to your property to increase its value. One of the most popular ways to do this is through a renovation.

⭐️ While a renovation is simple on the surface, it can quickly grow into a project that takes a lot longer and costs a lot more than you had intended. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to effectively budget and plan for a renovation to make it a worthwhile endeavour.

Start with the end in mind

⭐️The first thing you need to understand about a renovation is that just because you do it, doesn’t mean it will make you money. In fact, many people quickly discover that the renovation they have done hasn’t added anything to their equity.

⭐️ When looking to see whether a renovation is worth doing, you need to see a large difference between the value of renovated and unrenovated properties. Look at recent sales data from your surrounding area or talk to agents to see what that difference in price might look like.

Transaction costs

⭐️ When you do a budget for a renovation, the numbers often look quite appealing. It’s only after you dig a little deeper that you might find your costs are a little higher than initially anticipated.

⭐️ Aspects often missed by new renovators are transaction costs. Things like stamp duty, settlement fees, sales fees, and even holding costs can mount up quickly. If you already own the property and if you intend to hold it, this can reduce your costs and make the project more viable.

Don’t overcapitlise

⭐️ While it’s nice to make your home into the most impressive house on the street, you shouldn’t overshoot the mark.

⭐️ Most potential buyers will be looking around the median price. Therefore, it is important to take into account, that higher priced homes are harder to sell as would-be buyers often look for a location first and home second and will eye off properties closer to the CBD.

Manage vs outsource

⭐️ When it comes to executing the renovation, you can hire a company to project manage or you can do it yourself.

⭐️ You can save a lot of money by doing it yourself, and your role is simply to source the materials and the trades. You will need to understand what things need to happen in what order, but you might be able to reduce your costs by 50%.

Get multiple quotes

⭐️ It’s always a good idea to get three quotes for each part of the renovation. That includes materials and trades.

⭐️ Don’t always go after the cheapest price as you want someone who can do a high-quality job on the project.

Look to add value

⭐️ Just because you put in a new kitchen or bathroom doesn’t always mean the property will go up in value by more than the cost of the work.

⭐️ A great way to spend your money is by doing things to the property that add size or space. Converting a laundry into an ensuite or second bathroom, turning a carport into another room or knocking out a wall to open up a living area are things you can do that generally add a lot of value and appeal to a property, over and above their cost.

26/09/2021

🏡 Lockdowns can’t slow down the red-hot property market

Despite ongoing states of lockdown on the East Coast, property markets continue to see steady gains.

According to the latest data from CoreLogic, dwelling values rose by 1.5% over the last month, with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane showing solids gains. Sydney values jumped 1.8%, taking its annual increase in 2021 to 20.9%.

Meanwhile, Melbourne property prices jumped 1.2% and Brisbane increased by 2.0%. Hobart and Canberra continue to be the best performed capital cities over the past 12 months.

While transaction volumes are slightly lower as is the total number of listings, buyers are still very active, according to CoreLogic.