To Refinance or not…

With multiple interest rate hikes and slowing market conditions, there's fierce competition amongst banks to attract new customers with aggressive new rates. These may compare well against what you’re currently paying. 

Here’s how to quickly check if refinancing is worth all the hassle. Pick up the phone and call your bank to negotiate down your current rate - there’s a good chance they’ll entertain you. 

Once you know what your bank can do, look into the various lenders out there to see what they’re offering. A shortcut is to give a good mortgage broker a call. Good mortgage brokers will work with many lenders and once we know your situation, we can give you an idea of whether another lender may give you a better rate while also suiting your goals. If we can’t do better, we’ll happily advise you to stay put.

An easy rule of thumb is that you’ll save $5000 per year on a loan of 1 million if your new rate is 0.5% better.

Refinancing is not just about getting a better rate.

• You may wish to free up equity you’ve built in your own home or investment properties so that you can use the funds for other purposes such as renovations or to pay for a deposit for a new investment property, etc. 

• You might want to consolidate any unsecured debts such as personal loans, car loans and credit cards under your home loan. This means you will pay less because the rate for your home loan is better than the rate on the unsecured loans. 

• If you’re building a property portfolio, you may want to make sure your securities aren’t cross-collaterised. Depending on your strategy and situation, we can review this and advise you.