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Best Places to Refinance Your Home Loan in Australia

Posted June 22nd, 2010 and last modified May 25th, 2011

Expectations of present day home buyers are far different to that of their parents and this can be seen in many different ways.  Modern day home buyers expect much more for their investment, both in the size of the home they want to live in and in the features the home contains.  However it is in the accommodation of the older generation that will see the most investment opportunities occur in the future, experts are predicting.

Refinance Australia -  trends.

Professor Beer of the School of Geography, Population and Environment says that the biggest change coming in the housing market, is to be in the future housing of the baby boomers.  Those born after World War Two and who are just approaching retirement age now.

“If you look at the Australian housing market, and particularly South Australia, which has the oldest population of the States, it’s the retirement village and older persons’ living accommodation options which are growing most rapidly and are the most profitable sector,” he said.

“We only have to look at advertising for retirement village estates and equivalent forms of accommodation to see that private providers are tapping into this; the images are all about being active and enjoying life – golf, surfing and the like,” Professor Beer added.

This changing trend adds more confidence to those looking to refinance for the purposes of property investment to consider investing in the continuing growth of retirement villages. Such investing of the proceeds of the equity portion of their refinanced mortgage will therefore ensure them of ongoing success in both rental and resale opportunities because of fast growing demand.

Now the First Home Owner Bonus in Australia has been discontinued younger people are finding it much harder to access sufficient funds to buy their first home and are looking to rent.  This trend has given the home owner the incentive to refinance their home and invest in rental property as rent demands remain exceptionally high and property prices continue to climb giving increased equity on property values.

Refinancing in Sydney

State Custodians Mortgage Company Breathe Easy Home Loan Offer

State Custodians Mortgage Company Breathe Easy Loan

Refinance to a basic home loan and you can save hundreds of dollars as you’re not paying for features you don’t use, and you are now eligible for a much more competitive interest rate

  • Interest Rate of 6.47%
  • Comparison Rate of 6.36%
  • Application Fee of $0
  • Maximum LVR With LMI: 95%
  • Minimum Borrowing: $150,000
  • Maximum Borrowing: $1,000,000

You don’t want to put any of this hard work at risk but on the other hand, if you do refinance and you can definitely see a real advantage, the switching of home loans can bring you considerable advantages, both financially and in lifestyle. However as it is such an important decision to make, you are well advised to seek the professional advice of a mortgage broker skilled in Sydney refinance, before taking any steps you may come to regret at a later date.

By engaging the service of a mortgage broker with experience in the complexities of Sydney refinance, you will be protecting your current interests as well as ensuring any steps towards refinancing will be carried out with certainty and assuredness. Such professional help will ensure that all the considerable costs involved with refinancing are well and truly taken into account and these costs will be offset against any gains you stand to make in the form of lower interest rates and/or better terms and conditions that will deliver better features for you to enjoy. When done right, refinancing can be the best thing you have ever done for yourself and your family but if gone into blindly it can well turn out to be a disaster.

Refinancing in Perth

You can possibly increase the value of your home, while increasing your quality of life at the same time, without dipping into your savings or having to go to your bank manager cap in hand begging for a personal loan. You probably have sufficient funds stashed away already in the equity you have built up in your home and this can be tapped into by refinancing to another home loan. You may even benefit by obtaining another mortgage with a lower interest rate than that which you are currently paying. How can you find this all out? You can arrange a discussion with a mortgage broker specialising in Perth refinance matters. Such an expert will be able to assist you through the whole refinancing process.

Besides adding value to your home through refinancing, you can also use the money, so freed up, to assist you with the following problems, if they apply to your particular situation:

  • You will be able to consolidate your debts, if they are starting to get out of control. Matters such as credit cards, car payments or personal loans debts can be absorbed into the new home loan and be paid off at home loan rates.
  • If your present home loan has features that you no longer need or use, you will still be paying for having them. You can rid yourself of this burden by refinancing to a home loan that doesn’t carry such features and lower your interest rate repayments at the same time.
  • A new car has come onto the market that you have always wanted but don’t want to go into debt any further to obtain it. You can refinance to a home loan that can include the cost of the car in the disbursements of funds after the old loan is paid out. In this way you will pay for the car at home loan interest rates.
  • If you had taken out your home loan at a high interest rate, perhaps you used the services provided by a low doc home loan because of your occupation, but feel that now is the time where you could benefit from a lower rate. Refinancing could be the answer.
  • You may be afraid of what a further increase in interest rates will do to your budget and want to switch to a fixed interest rate mortgage where you will have certainty of repayment costs for the fixed term period.

Refinancing in Melbourne

Once you have determined you have a valid reason to undertake such a move you should seek out an experienced Melbourne refinance expert, such as mortgage broker familiar with the local scene. You can go out and search for the right replacement home loan that will deliver all you want from the dozens of lenders all striving to get a bit of your business, if you prefer, but it will be a confusing, cumbersome and costly exercise in terms of time involved. Not many of us have that time available and we all know time itself is money. Mortgage brokers are the experts in this field. They do it daily as their chosen profession, they know the industry well and they know all the players in it, along with their differing products, features and options. A mortgage broker plying the Melbourne refinance scene will be best placed to help you refinance to a home loan that best suits your own needs and they will also be able to help you with costs that will see you exit your old loan as cheaply as possible.

Refinancing in Hobart

Five Reasons to Refinance

  1. A changed financial situation. Life itself is a process of continual change and many of these changes could not be foreseen when you took out your original mortgage. For instance; you may have got married, children may have come along, you may have become unemployed, sick or injured, divorced. There are a myriad of possibilities, all of which could place hardship on you meeting your original mortgage repayment amounts.
  2. The obtaining or dropping of certain features. Home loans themselves undertake continual change as does the life of the mortgage holder. Lenders are forever introducing new innovations in an effort to attract new borrowers therefore many useful features being offered today may not have been available when you took out your current home loan. You may see some of these features as being suitable to your present situation and therefore wish to refinance in order to access them. On the other hand features cost money and the feature you had included in your existing mortgage because of its usefulness at that stage, may not now be necessary and therefore you may wish to rid yourself of having to pay for it. Refinancing will allow you to achieve both these aims.
  3. Freeing up equity in your home. As you continue to make your repayments on your home loan you are paying a certain amount off the principal. After a period of time this amount adds up and is reflected in you owning a higher percentage of the property that is not required as security by your lender. This increase is known as your equity in the property. Your equity also increases with your home’s valuation as property prices grow in your locality. You can access this growing equity with a line of credit home loan or a mortgage with redraw facilities included in its terms and conditions. These funds, so released, will then enable you to renovate your home therefore further adding to its value. The money you have built up in equity could also be used to buy another investment property or shares, maybe even an overseas holiday. Another good reason to refinance if your present loan does not allow you to tap into your equity.
  4. Switching from a fixed interest rate to a variable rate or vice versa. When you first took out your home loan you may have wanted to protect yourself from increasing interest rates at that time by taking a mortgage with a fixed interest rate. This would have given you certainty in repayments for a period of time while you were becoming established. Maybe its time now to switch to a loan with a variable interest rate in order to access more features, as well as a feeling that interest rates will no longer rise as they had done previously. The reverse could also apply if you presently have a variable interest rate mortgage but are worried that any further increase in interest rates could put added strain on your budget. In this case you may want to refinance to a fixed interest rate home loan.
  5. To access a home loan with a lower interest rate. As competition for increased business builds between the different lenders you may see an opportunity arise whereby you could refinance to a home loan carrying a lesser interest rate than you presently pay on your current mortgage. It is in this area where you must practice due diligence and be careful that the mortgage being offered at a reduced interest rate is not propped up with fees and charges that you are not presently paying.

Refinancing in Canberra

Benefits of seeing a Mortgage Broker in Canberra

When refinancing becomes a real option it is advisable to obtain the services of a mortgage broker experienced in Canberra refinance deals. Many things can go wrong if you don’t get the home loan you are seeking as refinancing in itself can be an expensive experience if you get it wrong. The first thing to look at is what it will cost you.

It is here where it is hard to pinpoint any specific figure as all lenders have different policies regarding refinancing deals. Where one lender may impose an establishment fee, another may not, some lenders will absorb the cost of valuation charges, some state and territory governments charge mortgage stamp duty others don’t and some lenders insist on the payment of an exit fee, especially if you want to switch home loans during the first five years of taking out the original mortgage. Some lenders don’t charge an exit fee at all under any circumstances. Then there are the legal fees to include. These particular charges pay for your solicitor and conveyancing costs. Many of these fees are waived if you happen to strike a deal with your current lender that will allow you to switch home loans and remain with your current lender.

Refinance Gold Coast

Many home buyers living on Queensland’s Gold Coast find a time comes during the term of their home loan that they must seriously consider refinancing as an option.

Refinance with a Gold Coast eChoice Broker

Gold Coast refinancing, the same as anywhere else in the country, can turn out to be quite beneficial for many home buyers who have any of the following reasons for doing so:

  • When looking for a loan with a lower interest rate.
  • When your present mortgage doesn’t have sufficient flexibility.
  • When you want to tap into the equity you have in the property in order to carry out renovations, other investment opportunities, etc.
  • When you want to reduce your repayments for any reason.
  • When you want to consolidate debts such as personal loans and credit cards that carry a high interest rate.
  • When you want to switch loans in order to change to a home loan with variable interest rate repayments to one of fixed interest rate repayments or vice versa.
  • To refinance successfully you should always ensure that you are going to be better off as a result. To do this you will have to undertake considerable research so that the new home loan you finish up choosing will give you all the benefits you are seeking. Keep in mind that there are costs involved in refinancing but if you make sure the benefits outweigh the costs involved you will have gone a long way towards achieving your goal.

    Gold Coast refinancing can completely change the terms and conditions of your mortgage to one that better suits your present and future circumstances. When you obtain the new loan the first action taken by your lender will be to pay out your existing mortgage. This will allow the security for the old loan to be transferred in full to the new loan. Any monies left over can be dispersed as you wish.

    Refinance Australia – World comparison.

    The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has hit the rest of the world much harder than it has in Australia thanks to our governments successful support of first home buyers in the housing sector with the First Home Owner Bonus during the initial stages of the threatening recession, and the building stimulus plans generally.  But in most overseas countries property investment still has many risks.  Many overseas property investors are now looking to Australia because of our stable economic situation as money is still very hard to obtain in both America and Europe.

    Refinance Australia – still alive and healthy.

    Despite money being tighter than it was before the advent of the GFC, which still remains a threat in the minds of bankers and lenders generally, there is still opportunity to refinance if you have kept your credit worthiness intact and you have a good history with your present lender.  There is strong competition in the refinance sector of the home loan business and good business is openly sought by most lenders as refinancing has taken up the slack created by fewer new home buyers entering the market.

    Refinancing can be advantageous if you wish to:

    • Access equity in your home to renovate or repair.
    • Change the terms of the loan to obtain smaller interest repayments or a shorter term on the mortgage.
    • Change from fixed interest rate loan to a variable interest rate loan or vice versa.
    • Access funds for education of vacation purposes.
    • Invest in another property.

     

    If you are contemplating refinancing make sure you take into account the costs involved such as:

    • Any exit fees that your lender may charge you for finalizing your mortgage earlier than previously arranged.
    • There may be an application fee or start up fee to pay when applying for the new refinance loan.
    • Government stamp duty and title registration fees.
    • Valuation or appraisal costs.
    • Insurance.
    • Conveyancing and solicitors costs.

     

    If the costs are reasonable and you still want to go ahead with your refinance plans make sure it is exactly what you want and not that being pushed by your lender.  If you want to find out more about refinance Australia please contact us.


    Related posts:

    1. Home Loan Refinance Rates
    2. Refinance your Home Loan or Switch to Bankwest
    3. Refinance Your Home
    4. How to Refinance
    5. Who is Suited to a Variable Rate Home Loan
    6. Cash Out Mortgage Refinance
    7. Refinance Real Estate Loan
    8. Cash Out Refinance
    9. Best Refinance
    10. How Do I Refinance My Home Loan?

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