How Do I Refinance My Home Loan?
There are a few steps you can take to get the best deal in refinancing your home
loan. They are listed below:
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Find out everything about your current home loan
(such as interest rate, fees and home loan features such as offset accounts,
redraw facilities, line of credit etc) to be able to do a comparison between
your current home loan and the potential new home loan.
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Do some research on what home loan features are
available now. A lot may have changed since you took out your home loan. Decide
which home loan features you actually require.
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Contact your current lender to find out what the
exit costs of your current home loan are. This has two benefits, firstly you
find out your exit costs and secondly you send a message to your current lender
that you are shopping around for a better deal. They can then approach you with
some options on how to save you money. Normally, if you switch home loan
products with the same lender, there are reduced fees. Make sure you are happy
with your lender's service before making a decision to stick with them.
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Contact a mortgage broker or 2. Let them do most of
the work for you. Once you know what you want in a home loan, they can then go
and find a loan to suit you. Because not all Mortgage Brokers have access to
all home loan products and lenders, it is best to use more than one so you have
access to a greater pool of both bank and non-bank lenders and you can also
compare their results to see who really has your best interests at heart (and
not their commission). Remember that you can ask them what commission they get
paid for settling your home loan.
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Decide on the how much you would like to refinance
your home loan for. This may be an opportunity for you to consolidate your debt
or access the equity in your home for property investments, home renovations,
assisting with your children's education costs etc.
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Now do your calculations. Work out how long it will
take for you to start receiving a benefit, ie when do the savings of the new
interest rate outweigh the exit costs of your original home loan. Make sure
that you don't plan to move or sell your house in this time to ensure you
maximise your savings and benefits of refinancing your home loan.
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Once you have all the information you will need to
get all your documentation ready and complete the home loan application.
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Where to go from here
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