The Reserve Bank yesterday reduced the official cash rate (OCR) by 150 basis
points to 3.5%.

Kiwibank was the first bank to reduce its rates with Westpac
following closely behind.

At the end of day all the other major banks had followed suite and made
reductions to rates across the board, some passing on up to 100 basis points or more.

All the major lenders floating rates are now between 6.45% and 6.95%,
six-month rates between 5.69% and 6.25%, one-year between 5.69% and 5.99% and
five-year fixed terms are now sitting between 5.95% and 6.95%.

Sovereign, SBS and Southern Cross Building Society also made huge reductions
to their rates in response to the Reserve Bank’s decision yesterday.

I was surprised by the big cut as I was predicting 100points. Professional Investment Services (powered by Financial Gain) expects another drop in March and in the mean time a lot of activity to be involved around real estate investments.

The phone was also hot with queries about the feasibility of breaking existing fixed rates. This needs to be assessed on a case by case basis and your expectation of what will happen to rates over the next few years is also important.

Professional planners will always make investment decisions by gathering as much information as they can. Services such as this are available to our clients and we are happy to chat with you about your options as interest rates drop.

Professional Investment Services (powered by financial gain) has strong relationships with LOANZ Limited and we can help you refinance if you require.

If you are selling a property drop us a line as we have a number of unique options that may be able to help you. Go Realty and Hot Properties are two ways that you can get your property sold right now if this is what you require.

You can find our main site right here www.nzpis.com

In two days time the reserve bank will meet again and it seems the entire world agrees that they will reduce the Official Cash rate yet again.

Professional Investment Services (powered by Financial Gain) agree with this sentiment and would like to add that we believe the rate will come down by as much as 1%.

Already it has been evident that the banks expect this to happen as interest rates amongst nearly all of the banks have been reduced over the last couple of weeks.

A flurry of enquiries has been seen at Go Realty and Hot Property Investments and activity at Hot Properties has increased significantly. This is not unexpected and the large number of enquiries about whether to break a fixed rate or not, being received by LOANZ Limited is also not surprising.

2009 is going to be a very tough year for some businesses however it will also provide massive amounts of opportunities to the well informed and the educated.

Already massive profits are being made by people investing in oil, gold and property (really!!!) whilst the media focus largely on the doom and gloom message.

I agree with John Key and his call for less doom and gloom however I don’t think he is going to get what he is asking for.

Anyway get ready for fantastic opportunities by getting in touch with us. We can help you achieve your financial goals, no matter what they are, you just have to let us know what they are.

The main site for Professional Investment Services (powered by Financial Gain) is www.nzpis.com

Here you can learn a lot more about the various services we offer.

See you there and lets have a great 2009

Terry

It seems homes are the most affordable they have been in four years but they
are still unaffordable for many and tightening lending criteria by banks isn’t
helping.

This is the conclusion of the December Home Loan
Affordability report from financial information website
www.interest.co.nz, released as banks slash mortgage rates further.

To own the median home (by house price) you will now need 59.6 per cent of the average after tax income to service the mortgage. This is down from 63.8 per cent in November.

This is the best it has been in four years.

Most lenders like to see the amount of money committed to a home loan as being less than 40% of the combined household income before tax, so this new affordabilty level should see many new kiwi’s able to own their own home.

The improvement in December was created largely by lower interest rates after the Reserve Bank reduced the OCR by 150 basis points. Most commentators expect the reserve bank to
cut the OCR another 100 basis points to 4 per cent on January 29.

Tighter credit criteria and demands for higher deposits will most likely prevent a rebound in the housing market in the near future however this opens a world of opportunities for people looking to invest into real estate.

Professional Investment Services (powered by Financial Gain) as you know, is owned by myself, I also own Hot Property Investmentments and Go Realty which provide services for people wanting to invest or sell real estate. The latter two companies provide options for people to invest outside of the constraints of a financial planning strategy.

The lower interest rates also provide a fantastic opportunity for people to take stock of their current home loans and perhaps break existing fixed loans to get cheaper interest rates or lock in at some of the great low rates for longer terms. At LOANZ Limited we are able to help you establish if breaking your loan is a feasible option, visit us at www.loanzlimited.com

As the financial turmoil that has hit the world prevents others from acting, Professional Investment Services believes it is a fantastic time to set yourself up for retirement with prudent planning and careful investing.

I also believe it is a time where a carefully planned property investment will help you achieve your long term financial goals in an easier and more efficient manner.

As many of you know I own Professional Investment Services (powered by Financial Gain).

With
2008 being a particularly tough year for many businesses in the
Lending, Property and Sharemarkets it was particularly tough for
Professional Investment Services (powered by Financial Gain).

Towards
the end of the year it was apparent that PIS would have to do some
significant restructuring and look at more appropriate offices for the
type of business that we offer.

As such this restructure has
eventuated in some key staff deciding to seek other opportunities more
in line with their long term goals. Rather than seeing this as a
negative I see this as a great opportunity to reinvent Professional
Investment Services.

New offices are being sought and many of our
services are being outsourced to existing contractors within the
Financial Gain network.

To most of our clients the only change will be the voice on the end of the telephone.

Our
commitment to providing superior service has not changed and the
reviews will be conducted as usual but if appropriate office space is
not found in the first quarter these reviews will be done in the
clients home.

Onwards and upwards for Professional Investment Services in 2009.

Lower interest rates are on their way.

Yes interest rates are already at very low levels, however with news from the states that they have now reduced their interest rates to the lowest levels in 30 years this would indicate that we will see another significant decrease in rates at the next reserve bank meeting.

Professional Investment Services is expecting many clients to take advantage of the lower interest rates by refinancing or looking at investing into real estate as the cost to own an investment property is significantly lower.

At this stage of the investment cycle many properties will be cash flow positive even when borrowing 100% of the purchase price.

Like the last cycle however the opportunity to own cash flow positive property will not last for long as investors seize the chance to own an investment that will cost them nothing over the long term and provide an opportunity for capital growth.

Contact me at either Professional Investment Services or Hot Property Investments for a no obligation review of your circumstances and lets see if property is an appropriate investment vehicle for you at the moment.

After nearly 3 weeks away on the Barrier I have returned to Auckland to find that 2009 has certainly started with a hiss and ….well maybe a meow rather than a roar.

Being back at Professional Investment Services after so long away I spent most of today on the telephone or in meetings and more often than not the conversation turned to how bad 2008 was and how good 2009 will be.

Property Matrix is set up for a great year and it seems that many of the partner companies like Property Matrix, LOANZ Limted, Financial Gain Australia , and Go Realty are talking about the many opportunities presenting themselves in 2009.

As a real estate investor and financial planner with Professional Investment Services I am very excited by what I see as great opportunities in 2009, prices have certainly come back a long way and interest rates are now at a level where it is very easy to end up with a cash flow positive investment property even if you borrowed 100% of the purchase price.

If you don’t know how to buy a property without needing a deposit drop me a line and I will be happy to show you how it’s done, the best part is that you may not even have to put any money in each week. Now that’s a great investment.

I am looking forward to January 29 when the next meeting of the reserve bank is held, reading some of the reports in the herald today (we don’t get that out on the barrier either) indicates to me that there will be another drop of between .75% and 1% at this next meeting. Other planners within the Professional Investment Services group agree with this sentiment and are preparing themselves accordingly.

If the reserve bank drops the OCR by that amount then we will see 5 year fixed interest rates probably in the low to mid 6’s. Professional Investment Services (powered by Financial Gain) has a partner company (LOANZ Limited) that can help you find the most appropriate funding for your circumstances.

This is significant, as an investor as this means most property, structured correctly, will be cash flow positive either before tax or most definately after tax. If a property can be held for a minimum of 5 years because it costs you nothing to hold it for that long, then you are going to make money as no matter how long the low period is of the property market eventually prices begin to come back up from the low point.

So don’t wait until prices are already moving upwards (I don’t think it will be long now) drop me a line on terryr@nzpis.com and lets have a chat, it’s informal and free, you have nothing to loose.

In 2009 Professional Investment Services (powered by Financial Gain) will emerge as a more streamlined and efficient business.

We are starting this process by moving offices away from the CBD and also outsourcing some of our services.

Our monthly monitoring service will now be conducted by the Australian office as well as the loan processing.

Annual reviews will be conducted as per usual in either your home or in the new office.

All the usual services will be delivered and we look forward to being able to help you achieve your investment goals in 2009