Should I refinance?

My Lender is charging me a higher home loan rate than I see advertised elsewhere. Can I change lenders?
This is exactly the reason why most people change lenders. There may be a penalty clause in your current home loan, meaning you may need to pay a discharge fee, but it could still be in your financial interests to change. When shopping around it is always important to look for the comparison rate of a product. A comparison rate is essentially the true rate, taking into account the fees and charges you will pay on the loan. So even though you see a lower rate it doesn’t mean the repayments are less. AFG brokers are able to take the hassle out of this for you.

I have just come off a ‘honeymoon’ interest rate to a much higher rate. Can I move lenders or am I locked into my mortgage?
You can walk away from most mortgages, although penalty fees sometimes apply. To review your options, why not contact Platinum brokerage Group?

If I move my mortgage to a new lender, is there anything stopping that lender from increasing their rates in a few months time?
It depends what kind of product you have. If you’re concerned about rising rates, perhaps you should consider a fixed rate home loan, where repayments are fixed for a period from 1 to 5 years.

Why do some lenders charge more than others for lending the same amount of money?
Banks and other lenders pay different amounts for the money they on-lend to you, they have different overhead structures and different profit expectations. All these factors affect how much they charge to lend people money.

What documentation do I need to refinance?
The last 3 – 6 months of mortgage statements is sufficient to begin this process. An AFG broker can advise on other documentation.

Make sure your loan is in the green zone with our Mortgage Indicator

The mortgage market is competitive and always on the move, and things in your life are probably on the move too. My role as a mortgage broker is to ensure my clients have the right home loan to meet their needs. And as things change, either with your situation or with the lending landscape, a regular review makes sure that your loan is still the right fit.

To get an idea of when it might be time to take a look around, our Mortgage indicator is a super simple place to start. If you answer any of our questions below with a ‘yes’, then you’re heading into the red zone where it is time for a quick catch-up to make sure your finance solution is still the right fit. The more questions you answer yes to, the more important it is to get cracking on a review.

• Are you thinking about renovating your home?
• Are you thinking about moving house or even caught yourself scanning real estate sites or the for sale section of the paper?
• Has life changed for you since you took out your loan? Is your relationship status still the same, have you changed jobs or increased your salary or are there any new children in your home?
• Do you have a few spare dollars each week you could use to pay down your home loan faster and save on repayments?
• Do you have any money left over each month to potentially start a small investment fund?
• Have you thought about consolidating your debts? If you have a credit card you just can’t pay down or a car or personal loan, you might save by rolling these debts into one.
• Are you concerned about being able to meet your current loan repayments?