Did you know that since 2007, it’s been possible to put your super to good use by buying a property? And better yet, you can even borrow money from a bank to do it.

Whether you’re a first-time home buyer, upgrading, downgrading or investing, your mortgage is almost guaranteed to be the biggest outlay of your personal budget. The decisions you make here affect all aspects of your savings capabilities. Here’s some of the questions you’ll need to consider:

Whether you buy or rent, a roof over your head is perhaps one of life’s biggest expenses. Low interest rates over the last few months have made real estate an attractive investment and when it comes to the ‘rent versus buy’ property argument in Australia, ‘team buy’ seems to drown out the detractors with gusto. But is that changing with more volatile markets? Here’s our guide to weighing up some of the options.

Given the recent election result, property investors might find themselves asking “will my property be worth more at the end of Tony Abbott’s first term?” To answer this, we asked guest writer Nigel Bowen, for his insights on the new government’s impact on the housing market.

We often hear the phrases “buyer’s market” or “seller’s market”, but the reality is that homes are bought and sold all year round, whether it’s a great economy or a highly unstable one. What is more important, however, is understanding when you are ready to buy or sell, and realising that every situation is unique.

Property mags are full of rags to riches tales of millionaires who have earned their wealth investing in or renovating properties. But if it sounds too good to be true, it often is; and there are traps for those seeking to climb the property ladder. To help you avoid some of the pitfalls, guest writer Anthony Fensom offers a few seasoned tips to get more from your property investment.

Buying an investment property can be an attractive venture for many home buyers as the accumulated equity can be used towards a deposit. With the Australian Taxation Office reporting one in seven Aussies own at least one property as an investment, it can be an extremely rewarding albeit long-term investment. The right time to invest has less to do with market trends and more to do with seizing a great opportunity. For those waiting for prices to hit rock-bottom, consider the fact that you can never really know when they have.

Investing your SMSF in property can be a rewarding experience, with a number of benefits for those who follow the rules. However, there are traps to avoid, with the authorities cracking down on rule breakers.

Who hasn’t dreamed of winning the lotto at some point. We have even thought about what we’d do with imaginary jackpot payout. How good would it be?

But getting back to reality, it got us thinking about the average living costs for Aussies. Even without a boat or mansion there are a lot of expenses to consider. Guest writer Erik Bigalk talks about some of the big ticket costs of the Australian dream; which unless you win lotto, probably mean you need to save more for the future.