Residential

 With so many products offered by various lenders, it can be quite perplexing trying to figure out whether or not you’ve scored yourself a good deal on your home loan.   While doing your research and comparing what’s out there in the market is one of the most obvious ways to find out whether you’re…

A simple home loan health check led two police officers to refinance for a saving of $7600 a year in interest. When police officers Ben Dixon and Sara Peters were looking for a home loan, they thought the choice was obvious. They secured finance through the same community-owned bank most of their colleagues used, bought…

Paying off a mortgage can seem relentless – every payment counts of course, but it can seem to be taking forever to make a dent. Here are some simple ways you can increase the amount you pay off and own your home sooner. Reducing the principle on your mortgage as quickly as you can means…

When a busy doctor who had worked with banks to set up finance for her investment properties visited an MFAA Approved Credit Adviser, she walked away with three more properties and a newly simplified finance structure that saved her money. Lisa Cole*, a doctor who had purchased six investment properties while working with bank loan…

Borrowing to buy a property and repaying only the interest for a set period can be a great choice for some, because interest-only loans can offer the right candidate financial flexibility while they invest. There are, however, some very important risks to take into consideration. With interest rates at historical lows, interest-only loans may sound…

Insurance for something you can’t see or touch, such as your income, may seem strange. But how would you pay your mortgage if you were unable to work? When considering insurance, it’s common for people to pass it off as a pesky added fee involved in owning a car, running a business or protecting a…

Offset accounts and redraw facilities work in similar ways; they both allow you to reduce the balance of your home loan, and therefore the interest charged, by applying extra money to your debt. Redraw facilities allow you to deposit spare income into your home loan account, allowing you to redraw a sum equal to the…

With the RBA setting the official cash rate at all-time lows, it’s a good time to work out how this impacts the interest rate on your home loan and whether you are getting a good deal or not. When the interest rate on your home loan fluctuates, it can feel as though you don’t have…

Different lenders use different formulas to work out how much you can borrow, but the biggest loan isn’t always the best idea. Being able to secure your ideal loan amount can seem like a battle of balances. Once you’ve worked your budget and finances through a spreadsheet, there’s still the one issue left to deal…

For those getting ready to stride into the world of home ownership, the uncertainties of pre-approval can cast a shadow of doubt over an otherwise exciting time. When is it necessary? How long does it last? And what does it involve, exactly? Pre-approval is a lender’s assessment of your likelihood of being approved for an…