AUSTRALIAN HOME LOANS IN DESPERATE NEED OF A
HEALTH CHECK
4th annual ‘Check Your Home Loan Day’ on June 24
Wednesday 9 June 2010
Continuing rate rises could see the number of first home buyers currently under mortgage stress increase
from 40% to 50%* by the end of the year. However in many instances, a simple review of personal finances
could help to avoid this. In fact, ALL borrowers would benefit from a home loan health check.
Leading direct lender MyRate.com.au is once again pushing ahead with their annual ‘Check Your Home Loan
Day’ on Thursday June 24. Managing Director Kevin Sherman says “Giving your home loan the ‘once over’
every year could save you thousands of dollars or give you the peace of mind that your current loan is working
well for you”.
Consumers need to take control of their finances and spend 20 minutes once a year researching what other
offers exist. With so many independent comparison sites out there, comparing products has become really
easy. “One thing to watch out for” warns Sherman “is that some smaller lenders are very slow to update their
product details in comparison tables so consumers should always click through to the various lender sites in
order to confirm the details.” Consumers should also be wary of any lender whose website does not make
their rates and fees readily available and should ensure they are dealing with someone reputable. Online
consumer reviews and customer testimonials are a great way to read up on the experiences of other
borrowers and can help to form a view of any new lender you may be considering. The following sites are a
good place to start: Mozo.com.au and Whistleout.com.au.
“During the downturn of the Global Financial Crisis, many Australians opted for a product from one of the big
four banks. This means that many consumers are sitting with a home loan that has a higher interest rate,
excessive fees and delivers lower levels of customer service than other products out there.”
“Savvy consumers recognise that direct focused businesses provide a better deal than their traditional
competitors as they operate with lower overheads and remove any middlemen,” adds Sherman. “For
example, the average standard variable rate home loan from the big four banks has a comparison rate almost
one percent higher than MyRate’s - switching could mean a saving of over $100,000 on a $300,000 loan over
30 years.”
In line with this, June 24 marks the fourth annual MyRate.com.au ‘Check Your Home Loan Day’ – a day when
borrowers are reminded to devote twenty minutes to review their current home loan arrangements. As
consumers, we spend hours doing price comparisons on mobile phone plans, best travel prices, and looking
around for cheaper petrol. However the savings associated with our home loan dwarf these smaller savings.
Refinancing your more expensive home loan is often a very simple process and the thousands of dollars of
potential savings are well worth the effort. Sherman ends by posing the following question, “If you haven’t
switched to a securely funded lower rate home loan with no fees then simply ask yourself - why not?”
On June 24, MyRate.com.au is encouraging all home loan holders to put the day in their diary and ask
themselves the following questions:
CHECK YOUR HOME LOAN CHECK LIST
Are there lower interest rates elsewhere than what I am being charged?
Are there more flexible home loans allowing unlimited additional repayments and redraws with no
fees?
Are there home loans with fewer fees?
Am I coping with repayments and do I want to consider reducing them by extending the loan term or
reducing my interest rate?
Can I manage my loan online or by phone and access features like BPay and direct debit/salary
crediting?
Am I happy with my finance institution’s customer service?
To make life easier for those wishing to check their home loan on June 24th, MyRate.com.au features a
Refinance Centre online that shows how much money could be saved if you refinanced your loan. And for
those wishing to keep making the same monthly repayments, how much sooner you could have your home
loan paid off by reducing the interest rate of your home loan.
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ends -
INTERVIEWS: Contact Natalie Ball (02) 9240 8132
* latest Fujitsu Mortgage Stress Report
ABOUT MYRATE.COM.AU
MyRate.com.au is Australia’s leading direct home loan lender, funded by ING Bank (Australia) Limited. MyRate's fully featured standard variable
rate home loan rate is now 6.63%p.a. (or 6.59% pa for loans above $600k) with no fees on standard applications - one of the lowest in the country.
MyRate also boasts a fast turnaround with a 5 day formal approval guarantee.
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