Help me to refinance my Home Loan

Even a small reduction to your interest rate can save you thousands of dollars over the term of your loan. On top of saving yourself money, there are many reasons why you might consider refinancing your home loan.

• To borrow some extra money to fund some home improvements.
• You’re not happy with your current bank and you want to switch to a lender that treats you better.
• To pay off your loan quicker.
• To access features and flexibility that weren’t available to you when you applied for your current mortgage.
• Or you might want to reduce your loan costs by switching to a lower interest rate.

The first thing to do is reflect on what goal you are trying to achieve by refinancing. Then look at the features and qualities you’re looking for in a new loan. For example, would you like a loan with no monthly or annual fees? Do you want an offset account? Or would you prefer a fixed interest rate to provide more certainty with your repayments?

Home Loan Offset Account 

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Understand the costs of refinancing

At the same time, you’ll need to consider the costs of refinancing to make sure you will come out ahead. ‘Exit costs’ were banned in 2011 which means you only have to worry about the discharge fee, government fees and the application fee for the new loan.

But even a small reduction to your interest rate can offset those fees very quickly and leave you thousands of dollars better off over the term of your loan.

Some common refinancing costs include:

• Application fees
• Discharge fees
• Valuation fees
• Land registration fees
• Lender’s mortgage insurance

You can use our free Loan Comparison calculator to work out how much you can save by refinancing your home loan.

Loan Comparison calculator 

 

To calculate how much you can save by switching you will need the following:

• Your current interest rate
• Your outstanding mortgage balance
• Your monthly repayment
• The value of your property
• The discharge fee

The important thing is to make sure you understand the costs and can adjust the amount of your loan to cover them if needed. Credit Union SA can help you with this, just get in touch. 

Just remember it’s important to choose the right home loan for your circumstances. As you’ve already found out, the right loan now may not be the right loan into the future.

Compare Home Loans

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How long does it take to refinance?

The standard refinancing process usually takes up to four weeks but it will depend on who your current and future lenders are, as different financial institutions have different processes.

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Arranging the right loan

If you’re keen to find a better home loan and do more with your money, Credit Union SA can help you find the loan to suit your needs. For example, if you already have one of our home loans and it no longer meets your requirements, we could potentially raise or lower your repayments, change their frequency, or shift to a fixed, variable or split rate.

The first step is simply to talk to us about your changing needs, and we can guide you from there. One of our Mobile Managers can visit you at your convenience - just make an appointment. You can also visit us at 400 King William Street, Adelaide or call us 13 8777.

Call us 13 8777 Mobile Lending Managers