Always see Loans.com.au being the cheapest and currently at 3.5%.
Just want to see if anyone currently with them and if any issues or thing i should be aware of?
I'm currently on variable 3.81% with macquarie bank and told i can fix 3.69% for 2 year but not sure if worth a swap in banks
loans.com.au also said they would wave the $300 settlement fee.
macquarie has a $400 discharge fee
300k loan currently
it prob be around $1000 and its a $1000 a year extra being on Macquarie 3.81% compared to 3.5%
I just dont want to change and then have issues like I read in a review site (cant remember which) about loans.com.au that a few people got the cheap rate then after 6-12 months increase without telling them. I dont mind calling them every 6 month for the cheapest rate if that works. Just seeing people experience.
Macquarie said the best they can do for variable is 3.81 and 3.69 on 2 year fix but im hearing that the rate will probably go down some more so thought id wait. Any thoughts from anyone should i lock in 3.69% fixed for 2 years?
Home loan exit fee's were abolished in 2011 unless you signed the agreement prior to that. Not sure if that applies to you but FYI
exit fee =/= discharge fee
Exit fees are now called discharge fees
Wow … nice work finding a loop hole financial institutions :(
There have always been discharge fees; regardless of loan type, the discharge fee is charged for the actual work involved in preparing the paperwork. Disproportionate to the amount of work involved, but that's banks for you. Exit fees on the other hand used to be charged on certain loan types if they were discharged within a certain time frame ie within 3 years of settlement if you had a honeymoon low-rate or discounted loan. They were a form of claw-back for the banks who often lost money / had a much lower return over the honeymoon period and only started to make a real profit once your loan had been going a few years. Those fees have been abolished.
Jumping on this to see if anyone has experience with loans.com.au when actually buying the house, especially as a first-timer?
I checked the loans.com.au but they didn't help much as I was still making up my mind on the property. Eventually I just shopped with the banks and ended up going with one of them. They offered be better rates and lots of options (first year fee waived off, reimbursements and free high tier credit card) plus a face to interact during the initial days. I will see how they are for next few years and then maybe jump with another lender who will offer a better deal at that time.
what bank and interest rate did you get?
Thanks for the info. "Loans" has the best advertised rate from what I've seen but it sounds like the banks are willing to negotiate on rates.
no fees, 100% offset, fee free redraw, visa debit cards (no atms though, specific atms are free eg: westpac).
we got a car loan (i know) through them as well.
no problems so far.
did a lot of research, best value for our situation.
all online, never seen anyone IRL
happy to give more info as requested
you end up with a firstmac money account.
we got the offset product (it looks like you're looking at the lower IR one without debit cards or offset).
yeah wont need offset just looking for lowest IR as im spending almost $1000 extra a year from 3.5% to current 3.81%. i did read in a review site (cant remember which) about loans.com.au that a few people got the cheap rate then after 6-12 months increase without telling them. As dasher86 above said about honeymoon rate but if the rates on the website is from what ive see looking every few months for last year the cheapest how can they charge more. Or do i have to call them every month and tell them to give me the cheap rate like i do with gas and elec lol
I dont understand why anyone would NOT want an offset account? Where does all your 'spare money' sit?
@BenK-Oz: Be careful, it has tax implications if you are an investor!!
https://financedetective.com.au/redraw-vs-offset/
Tax Implications
Redraw
If you redraw money for non-investment purposes then the interest expended on that amount is no longer tax deductable in the eyes of the ATO.
Offset
Any withdrawals you make from an offset account will not affect tax deductibility on the overall amount of your interest expense.
what rate did you start with and has it gone up or down since?
4.64% VR initially (2014) now its 4.08% VR (2019)
I'm with loans.com.au, been with them for about 7 years
they are fairly good, only going up and down when major banks go up and down
They did stuff me up when transitioning from my original deal (5 years tracked to the rba rises/falls) - I got down to 3.3% for a while, then they unexpectedly changed my product at the end of the 5 years putting me up to 3.6% just after i refinanced for another loan, where i could have got 3.4% so i was fairly annoyed at their lack of communication there.
Otherwise they normally communicate interest rate changes.
If you end up going with loans pm me up i can give you a referral and split some of the cashback with you ;)
probably worth checking out this suncorp deal if you havent already: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/450161
Its all in the loan contract.
Make sure you review it very carefully.
Same with any lender
What valuation fees and exit fees and re-mortgage feeds do you have to pay?
How long will it take to recoup them?
If it's more than 2 years i wouldn't bother.
Lots of companies offering honeymoon rates then raising 3-6 months later, then offering a new package for new customers..
Apart from fixing for 2 years what did Macquarie say when you asked for a discount?