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I was born in Innisfail and have lived in Cairns since I left school. I worked for 5 years at NAB and left to raise my family. I returned to work for NAB as a temp for a few years once the kids were at school, then joined a local boutique accounting firm as office manager in 2001. After two years, I attended TAFE and completed my Diploma of Accountancy and have supplemented this qualification with the Tax Agent Program through The Tax Institute. I am in the process of applying for my tax agent’s registration.
I love interacting with clients and assisting them in every way possible especially those who have let their tax affairs get out of hand.
My husband, Peter and I have been married for 40 years and we have 3 children and 6 grandchildren. We love the great outdoors, camping, boating and fishing and feel blessed to call Cairns home.
I was very impressed with the quality of service and support. Jasmin really went beyond to ensure my equipment loan went as smooth and quickly as possible which took a great deal of stress out of setting up my new business. I would highly recommend Astute’s EF team Donnie, Morene and Jasmin for any car or equipment loans.
First, Tania: Quite simply, a complete, caring professional. I am not sure where on the spectrum the amount of work she did to get us into our current home falls in her professional career (mind-blowingly easy, somewhat challenging, borderline impossible…), but to us it literally meant the world. The reason we came back to her (and Astute) is because of the level of care and attention she gave us–we don’t feel like a number, an account, a bottom line, or a percentage point. I would recommend her (and go back to her for advice) again and again and again; when we found ourselves in the position to invest and/or buy again, our first thought was we needed to talk to Tania before doing literally anything else.
Building on that, Astute: Again, I would (and do) recommend them to anyone when talk of buying a home or investing comes up. Long story short, I work for a guy named Scotty Garden, and there is very little under the Earth’s sun I would not do for him; ergo I take his advice on anything as gospel. When I causally mentioned a few years back that Michelle and I were thinking of buying a house, he enthusiastically recommended we talk to John Watts at Cairns Home Loans and we did, and John gave us solid, practical advice: Save a bit more and come back to us. And we did, because he looked after us as people (again not an account). He could have talked us into buying something we couldn’t afford, or buying something we didn’t really want, or (as one local branch of an unnamed John Symond-run group told us) we were grumpily told it was “unrealistic” to think of buying a home in our position. Working in tourism/hospitality, I appreciate the personal attention, as well as helping a local business continue doing what it does well.
Sorry to gush, but Michelle and I really do hold you and your whole team in the highest regard. Thank you again, and I will [not] try to stay out of trouble.
Simon is fantastic! He explains and explains again if you don’t understand. He has helped us on a couple of occasions now and seriously, I wouldn’t go anywhere else or to anyone else.
Thanks heaps for your assistance and advice with our home loan and all the extra little bits and pieces that went along with it. Will thoroughly recommend you to all we know!
We recently had an appointment with Astute to help us sort out our mortgage needs. From the moment we stepped into the building we were made to feel welcome. From Shae on the front desk to Damian during our appointment. Damian went above and beyond to help us with our needs, explaining things simply and offering further support. It all makes so much more sense when you have someone who knows what they’re talking about! Thank you so much.
5 star service Love the Astute North QLD team, especially Billie. Thanks for your honesty and financial advice… will soon have a home for our family 🙂
We were recommended from friends to see Fei Chan to discuss buying investment property. He was very polite, friendly, sincere and honest. But most importantly, he has made it clearer for us on how to build our property portfolio for a better future. For that, I too highly recommend his service to others.
