PSA - Reminder - Call Your Bank Regarding Your Home Loan Interest Rate

altomic on 18/09/2023 - 09:52
Last edited 18/09/2023 - 10:41

my friend was talking about refinancing their home and told me the rate.

I checked my Bankwest home loan rate online and was shocked. - I hadn't looked at in 2 years.

my rate was …..high. (as a long term platinum ozbargain member then I should have been all over it).

anyway, this morning I rang my bank's rate review team and they reviewed my home loan rate and dropped it by 1.18%

loan person was like "you should call up every 6 months and get us to review your loan".

it only took 15 minutes.

if you haven't called your bank to review your bank loan interest rate recently then the time to do it is now.

Financial Home Loan Loan

Comments

  • deme on 18/09/2023 - 09:53
    +10

    TL;DR: OP hadn't looked at in 2 years.

    /thread

    • altomic on 18/09/2023 - 10:19

      yeah…..

  • onetwothreefour on 18/09/2023 - 10:02

    You've been here long enough OP to know better than to not check your home loan for 2 years.

  • capslock on 18/09/2023 - 10:12

    Which bank? CBA doesn't do this. I know from personal experience.

    • altomic on 18/09/2023 - 10:19

      bankwest

      • Jake D on 18/09/2023 - 10:42
        +3

        This can't possibly be true. There is no way bankwest answered the phone and responded to a query within 15 minutes.

        • altomic on 18/09/2023 - 10:58

          I called the Perth based Rate Review Team as they were just opening. 1300 651 852

    • alphanumericbargains on 18/09/2023 - 13:24
      +4

      CBA definitely does this. You can actually just chat with them through the app.

    • akyeeeahdude on 18/09/2023 - 13:29

      Not sure what CBA you're speaking to - CBA did this "rate review" for me every 6 months from 2009 to 2021. Post 2021, they actually did it more frequently. The vast majority of reviews resulted in a futher discount. There's also two tiers - a "pricing" request and a referral to their Retention team (which would occasionally result in a higher discount being offered vs pricing).

  • c64 on 18/09/2023 - 10:20

    what does "review a loan" mean and involve?

    • altomic on 18/09/2023 - 10:40

      basically, you call up and say "my buddy refinanced and they have a great rate, why is my rate so high? can you review what I'm paying and give me a better rate?"

      it took 15minutes.
      person had a look at my existing loan + associated accounts. and did some math. and offered the lower rate.

      as it is existing loan then the loan is just looked over by the loan person. - no new documentation was needed or any forms filled out. i.e. very painless.

      • c64 on 18/09/2023 - 11:17

        thanks!

  • Drakesy on 18/09/2023 - 10:30
    +2

    I'd just be churning the cashbacks at this stage.

    • altomic on 18/09/2023 - 10:41

      yeah, that's this the smartest option. - unfortunately my loan balance doesn't meet the minimum loan amount for cashback

      • El-Rhi on 18/09/2023 - 14:20

        You can equity cash out to the minimum balance required to get that sweet cashback.

  • garetz on 18/09/2023 - 10:37
    -1

    Most banks do not do this.

  • kctt on 18/09/2023 - 11:16
    +4

    One missing important information is what is your new rate. There is a chance it is still higher than other lenders.

    • altomic on 18/09/2023 - 12:46
      +2

      5.94% - slightly higher than other lenders - however my loan amount is quite "small" and switching to another loan - the effort involved- for such a small mortgage -most fin institutions don't want to bother.

      and it misses out on any cash backs

      • akyeeeahdude on 18/09/2023 - 13:30
        +3

        I'm on 5.69% with offset, with St George. Recently refinanced with approximately $240K so small balance.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 18/09/2023 - 11:28
    +3

    OP what if I told you that this is probably also the case for your home insurance, car insurance, electricity and utilities, practically everything you pay regular premiums or charges for….

    • altomic on 18/09/2023 - 12:47

      really?, you call up your home insurance, car insurance, electricity and utilities and they offer you a better rate?

      • wetsandwich on 18/09/2023 - 13:16
        +2

        Yes, or you change each year as most won't match or beat 'new customer' prices.

        By default a lot of them, especially insurance, will try on +25% price rises each year hoping you don't notice.

        • altomic on 18/09/2023 - 13:23

          I've never heard of anyone calling insurance or utilities, and requesting a lower price, and getting a lower price.

          obviously shop around when the policy renews and premiums have increased. e.g. car insurance

          but I'm happy to hear any one's experience of , as Zeggie suggests, of calling insurance or utilities, and requesting a lower price, and getting a lower price.

          • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 18/09/2023 - 18:54
            +1

            @altomic:

            I've never heard of anyone calling insurance or utilities, and requesting a lower price, and getting a lower price.

            Probably somewhat related to why you ignored and got reemed on your home loan for 2 years.

  • jdawg on 18/09/2023 - 11:46

    Anyone happy to share what their best rate they are getting with ANZ is at the moment?

    • ol mate on 20/09/2023 - 18:35
      +3

      They offered me 5.79% + matched the cashback offer as a retention offer (discharge request sent in, receiving bank had sent a PEXA invitation). LVR ~50%.

      I gave the mate the 1800 number they sent me via email to accept the offer, but they couldn't do anything on his 6.09% roll-off rate (at the end of his fixed term) but offered 300,000 QFF points.

    • this is us on 02/10/2023 - 15:53

      5.69% currently, with offset
      Called them about 6 months ago, got better rates, then it was increased as per RBA.

  • Mokr on 18/09/2023 - 12:21

    Amp is automated. Can't do much

    • kalludahiya on 06/10/2023 - 15:52

      I am with @amp Fixed term ending in 2 months. i will call them to see what they offer.

  • AustriaBargain on 18/09/2023 - 12:33
    +2

    If you rent, don't call your landlord to review your rent. It only ever goes up. If he's forgotten to raise it then don't remind him!

  • djprima on 18/09/2023 - 12:36

    I gave it a shot with CBA, and they said they've already given me their best rate. No surprises there, huh?

    • onetwothreefour on 18/09/2023 - 16:00
      +3

      Time to move then if you can get a better rate elsewhere.

  • Benoffie on 18/09/2023 - 12:41

    If you're with NAB and $250k+, your rate should be somewhere around 5.93% atm after the last rise.

    • thatonethere on 18/09/2023 - 14:31

      What NAB mortgage package would that be?

      • Benoffie on 18/09/2023 - 17:43

        Just asked for the best deal. Also came with an offset account. There is a monthly fee ($8? I think) but when weighed against the higher standard variable, it's a no brainer.

        Oh and our LVR is around 35-40%

    • tomclancy on 20/09/2023 - 21:10
      +1

      NAB are pricing 5.84% with offset. That's without escalating. You should be aiming for 5.79% with NAB [source I'm a mortgage broker]

      • Benoffie on 20/09/2023 - 21:31
        +1

        Cheers. Ill go back at the end of the year. We were offered 5.83 prior to the last RBA rise and then it moved up.

        • tomclancy on 21/09/2023 - 09:24
          +1

          Cool. As an existing customer they won't offer you the best rate until you lodge a mortgage discharge form (no obligation). Then you'll get the phone call with the best offer. NAB are particularly aggressive with retentions so it's well worth doing.

          • thatonethere on 06/10/2023 - 15:51
            +1

            @tomclancy: I did the mortgage discharge method with NAB - they didn't ring after 5 days, so I rang them and said my wife has organised to go with Macquarie. I made up some realistic numbers and they came up with 5.84% (with offset). I asked for other stuff but no dice so I said to escalate it and I'd ring back later. I didn't get much tho 5.8% (with offset) when I rang back in 2 hours.

            Tried to get them to waive the package fee but no dice.

            • tomclancy on 06/10/2023 - 19:35

              @thatonethere: That's a good result. I'm surprised NAB didn't call you after lodging the discharge form, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease so great work on chasing them 👍

      • escusemay on 07/10/2023 - 02:19

        Is that for PPOR or IP? If for PPOR, what kind of rates for IP?

        • tomclancy on 08/10/2023 - 20:14

          Add 0.20% - 0.25%

  • JafferMoney on 18/09/2023 - 14:04

    What rates are people on?

    We're on 5.70% variable, over $2m in lending…LVR a tad less than 80%

    • akyeeeahdude on 18/09/2023 - 19:56
      +1

      5.69% variable with offset (not having offset often returns a lower rate), $240K in lending (recently refinanced).

      • JafferMoney on 19/09/2023 - 08:32

        Yes have an offset too…I'll need to shop around with the amount of our lending I'm assuming other banks would offer lower rates.

      • cocomelon on 21/09/2023 - 09:47

        Who are you with? BoC?

  • Benno007 on 08/10/2023 - 23:07

    What if I don’t pay any interest… my offset is greater than my remaining balance.😅 maybe when I use the offset to buy a new place.

    7.74% with westpac as investor mortgage, but I just moved back in

  • lansalot on 10/10/2023 - 20:36

    It's not worth calling ANZ. After 20 minutes waiting to talk to someone, and then getting put through to a supervisor they gave me their "best rate", which was 6.02% on a residential loan. I've been with them for more than 10 years, never missed a payment, over $1.5mil in mortgages and that was the best they could do! To top it off the guy on the phone says I won't get the same customer service by going to a small lender. I mentioned that ANZ closed my local branch and that the next nearest doesn't actually have a teller. He said the call centre experience wouldn't be the same. So I tried it, I made a call to Qantas Money (5.78% advertised rate) and got through to someone that actually sounded like an Australian within about 5 seconds. He was right, the customer service is way better elsewhere. I won't be banking with ANZ ever again.

  • altomic on 18/10/2023 - 20:03
    +1

    18-10-2023 UPDATE

    got an email from Bankwest loan assistant on monday asking if I had any queries.

    I responded the same day stating that my friend had just refinanced with Bank of adelaide for 5.84% same conditions as Bankwest were offering.

    The loan assistant got back to me this morning and offered 5.89 (down from 5.94). only 0.05 % but hey.

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