hi, I'm Nicola.
I'm buying my first home — and I'm doing it with the world's most over-qualified Dad as my mentor. This is the show about that.
A couple of years ago I sat down on my kitchen floor with a calculator and tried to work out what it would actually take to buy my first home.
The numbers were scarier than I'd let myself realise. The advice on the internet was either written by someone trying to sell me a course, or by a bank trying to make banks sound friendly. Both made me feel stupid for asking.
So I asked Dad. He's been a broker for over a decade, he's helped more than 130 people into their first home, and he has zero reason to spin it for me. I asked if I could record our chats. He said yes. We've been releasing one a week ever since.
dad's part.
Dad is John Kefalianos — mortgage broker, property mentor, builder of more spreadsheets than I knew were legal.
He runs Finance Lab in Adelaide. On the podcast he's not in broker mode — he's in Dad mode, answering the question I just asked over breakfast. Real numbers, plain English, no product pitches.
The bit I keep coming back to is something he said in episode three and again in episode eleven: that the banks have a job to do for their shareholders, and a broker should have a different job — for you.
“banks are obligated to their shareholders. a broker should be obligated to you.”
— Dad, on every episode I have ever recorded
who this is for.
If you are not even sure you want to buy yet — start here. The show is the gentle introduction nobody else makes.
If you are deep into spreadsheets and you want the actual maths — the show is built for you. Dad runs the numbers; I ask the dumb questions on your behalf.
If you have the deposit and you are circling the conversation with a broker — listen first, then talk to Dad's team when you are ready. He'd rather you came prepared than rushed.
If any of this lands — pick the episode that matches where you are, listen on the commute, bring the questions I missed.
I am probably asking them this week too.
See you in the next one.
— Nicola
or skip ahead — talk to Dad.
When the listening has done its work, the next step is a real conversation.
Talk to Dad's team →