Guides
Worth a read before you sign.
Plain-English guides from me, for business and personal buyers.
Before you buy
Utes, cars, trucks and machines.
Checklists and plain answers for the vehicle or machine you have your eye on.
- Business · 8 min readThe work ute buyer’s guideA printable checklist for tradies and ABN holders buying a work ute in Queensland: payload and towing, new or used, dealer or private, running costs and finance.
- Business · 3 min readBuying a forklift: what lenders look at firstThe four things lenders check when you finance a forklift: your business, your credit history, the forklift itself and the deal. Plus what to send to keep it simple.
- Business · 4 min readTruck finance: what to sort before you talk to the dealerLicence class, specs, running costs, budget and finance: what to work out before you walk into a truck dealer in Queensland, so you can negotiate on price.
- Business · 5 min readCan I finance specialist machinery?How lenders look at specialist machines like CNC routers, lathes, presses and processing lines, what they ask for, and how imported equipment is handled.
- Business and personal · 4 min readBuying from a private seller: can it be financed?Often, yes. How finance works when you buy a car, ute or truck from a private seller, the checks to do first, and how to avoid the common scams.
How finance works
The words lenders use, explained.
Balloons, chattel mortgages, paperwork and how brokers work.
- Business · 5 min readWhat is a chattel mortgage?How the most common business vehicle and equipment loan works: who owns the asset, how balloons work, and how it compares with leasing and hire purchase.
- Business and personal · 3 min readBalloon payments explained: the good and the badWhat a balloon payment is, how it lowers your repayments, what it costs you overall, and your three options when it falls due at the end of the loan.
- Business and personal · 3 min readWhat documents will lenders ask for?A plain checklist of the documents lenders usually ask for on car, personal, vehicle and equipment loans, for employees, sole traders and companies.
- Personal · 3 min readDebt consolidation: is one loan the answer?How rolling credit cards and loans into one personal loan works, when it can help, when it doesn’t, and the questions to ask before you do it.
- Business and personal · 4 min readBroker or bank: what’s the difference?What a finance broker does that a bank doesn’t, how brokers are paid, the rules they work under, and how to check a broker is licensed before you start.