Author Archives: carolynbond

Lease Options

Posted on April 16, 2016

In this post I consider some examples of rent-to-buy houses (lease options) which were provided by the people who promote them.  Even these positive examples offer very little benefit to an unsophisticated ‘buyer’ in exchange for significant financial risk. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Rent to Buy, Rent to Buy Houses, rent to own, Rick Otton, vendor terms | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

One more ‘rent-to-buy’ risk – property values

Posted on April 8, 2016

In addition to all the other risks associated with rent-to-buy/vendor finance deals, the ‘buyer’ must gamble on a minimum increase in property value over a short-term.  An examination of some historic property price fluctuations shows how high this risk this … Continue reading →

Posted in Rent to Buy, Rent to Buy Houses, rent to own, vendor terms | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Telemarketing, ‘Do Not Call’, and the The Property Investment Link 

Posted on February 25, 2016

Note: Optima Wealth Solutions is a property investment firm http://www.owealth.com.au which  shares a phone number with Optima Lending Solutions and Optima Homes.  It is not related to Optima Group, Optima Lending or Optima Wealth Management who do not use telemarketers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer issues - general, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Shocked by education costs? – why anxiety about your child’s education can make you vulnerable

Posted on January 8, 2016

We are often reminded about the cost of educating our children at this time of year – not just because we’re paying for school books, uniforms and fees, but by media reports about the high costs of education. These cost estimates … Continue reading →

Posted in sales psychology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

When even a free extended warranty is overpriced

Posted on October 18, 2015

Consumer Action Law Centre recently warned about virtually worthless warranties that consumers sometimes purchase when taking out a loan or buying a car. If you have paid for a warranty, or any other type of “add-on insurance”  see how you … Continue reading →

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Consumer Guarantees and Used Cars

Posted on October 18, 2015

(This is not legal advice.  There are no written reasons for the VCAT decision so I am relying on notes I took during the hearing). A Victorian consumer recently received a full refund of the price he paid for a … Continue reading →

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Dodgy marketing of college courses

Posted on September 15, 2015

Over the last six months I’ve spent time on the phone with dodgy salespeople – I even had someone visit my home – to try to uncover which training college was at the bottom of misleading telemarketing calls. The marketing of … Continue reading →

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