Your local mortgage broker servicing Sydney's Inner City & Surry Hills
Mortgage Choice in Surry Hills is owned by Stephen Rossiter and Owen Evans - we live locally. Together with Kate Sackett we have clients throughout Australia, particularly from Sydney's eastern and inner city suburbs, including Darlinghurst, Surry Hills, Redfern, Waterloo, Alexandria, and Erskineville.
Call us on 9698 1800 to talk to one of our loan specialists and arrange an appointment. Our office is on the corner of Cleveland and Baptist Streets (Baptist is the continuation of Crown Street) in Surry Hills. We are part of the Surry Hills Shopping Centre so there is plenty of free 2 hour parking, and buses run right outside the door.
We specialise in:
First Home Buyer loans
Off-the-Plan purchase loans
Refinancing
Investment loans
Bridging loans
Deposit bonds
Life & Income Protection Insurance
Home & Contents & Landlords Insurance
We are paid by the lenders, not you. And most importantly, we receive exactly the same payment, whichever lender we recommend and you choose for your home loan. So there's no financial incentive whatsoever for us to recommend one lender over another. * We truly have your interests at heart.
Why take the risk that the one bank you walk into will best suit your needs, when in one meeting with us we can compare your requirements with a wide range of Australia's biggest lenders?
We will guide you through the whole process of finding a suitable loan all the way through to settlement and complete many of the forms on your behalf.
* This information refers only to loans provided by our panel of up to 24 lenders with whom Mortgage Choice has an arrangement, under which it receives commissions and other payments.
TOP TIPS - THE RISE OF REFINANCING
With borrowers increasingly knowledgeable about the availability and benefits of using household equity to gain further assets or for financial consolidation, refinancing continues to attract a larger following as a market option.
There are several reasons refinancing has become a more prominent player in the market.
With a greater number of consumers realising the opportunities associated with using the equity in their homes to refinance, our broker network - in line with the home loan market - is seeing more people take advantage of this feature. There are many reasons, including consolidating debts, buying an investment property, car or boat, taking a holiday, undertaking home improvements, buying shares, accessing funds for education, or simply looking at a cheaper home loan product.
The advantage of refinancing is to either obtain extra capital to improve one's lifestyle, or to convert multiple debts into one single loan. This can be paid off monthly usually at a lower rate of interest defining one's liabilities and more importantly, peace of mind.
However, despite the opportunities available through refinancing, there are many important factors to consider before deciding to refinance your current loan.
Not a high percentage of consumers refinance simply to change loans. The reason for this is switching loans often incurs significant costs such as exit or break fees, loan stamp duty, registration fees, mortgage insurance and account fees, so it often cheaper for a consumer to stay with the loan product they originally chose.
Australia's leading mortgage broker, Mortgage Choice has developed ‘seven sensible steps' for consumers to follow when they are considering refinancing:
Establish why you want to refinance.
Confirm the following aspects of your existing loan: current interest rate paid and the type of rate (variable or fixed), ongoing fees on the loan account, what features you currently have available and are using e.g. redraw, offset, lump sum reductions.
Determine the costs of refinancing " it may be cheaper to keep your existing loan, rather than pay application fees, loan stamp duty, mortgage insurance, registration fees, account fees, discharge or exist fees.
Decide what aspects of the loan are most important, ie. do you want the cheapest loan no matter what? What features do you ‘need' as opposed to ‘want'.
Consider options from all types of lenders " the best option for the may be from a lender you are not familiar with.
Future requirements " how flexible will the product be if your plans or circumstances change?
Testimonials
Just a short note of sincere thanks for helping out with a new loan. To be honest and upfront, l have never used a mortgage broker before and have always made my own enquiries and research. I thought this time l would try a broker, and was pleasantly surprised. The accessibility to such a wide range of lenders, giving me so many options would not have been possible without your services.
The loan application was a breeze – and your recommendations made choosing a loan-product simple. What l admired most was the constant follow-up by your office.
Every stage was explained during the approval process and felt l was a priority at all times, from start-to-end. I cannot fault your professional services and doubt any of the banks can match your commitment to its customers.
I have no hesitation in recommending your services to anyone needing a mortgage.
Please extend my thanks also to Owen and Susie.
Sincerely
Manni (Surry Hills) January 2010
Susie, thank you so much for all of your hard work in getting this across the line for us! We were successful in securing the property and at a price less than we were prepared to pay. Antony and I are over the moon and very grateful for the hard work and support that Stephen and your team have given us! You guys rock!
Laura & Antony (Bronte) February 2010
Mortgage Choice is the best. They got me a fully approved loan within a week, which was exactly what I needed in order to get the FHOG. How could anyone else have done it? Mei (Alexandria) January 2010
Excellent service, from the initial interview right through to settlement. I would highly recommend Mortgage Choice as they actually care and ensure that settlement runs smoothly.
Phil (Beaconsfield) November 2009
Both Stephanie and I just want to thank both yourself (Stephen), Owen and Susie for all your help over the past two months. Both Stephanie and I enjoyed our experience with you guys even though buying a house is extremely stressful, so that goes to show how easy it was to work with you guys. Plus I can image it was a little bit different to other home loans with IBA being involved. So once again thank you and the house is fantastic. Oh and I would gladly pass on my recommendations to any other friends in the future. Kiel & Stephanie (Bexley) December 2009
Mortgage Choice at Surry Hills have yet again made the process of buying a house easier than expected! They do all of the ground work and make it easy for busy people to focus on finding the house they want to buy as opposed to mucking around with tricky paperwork and banks!
Erica & Julian (Balmain) December 2009
How to choose a home loan
Here are 5 essential tips that you should consider when choosing a home loan:
1. Interest rates
Interest rate is obviously important, but remember that you are not simply looking for the home loan with the lowest interest rate because there are many other considerations.
For example, the mortgage lender with the ‘best’ interest rate may have high ongoing fees and therefore your home loan may cost you more in the long term than a similar one with a higher interest rate.
Be sure to consider ‘break and switch’ costs as well because if you decide to pay out your home loan or refinance before time will you be charged exorbitant fees to do so.
Also, be wary of an introductory rate. It may be ‘cheap’ at the start but it may also revert to a much higher rate after once the introductory term has finished. You should try to negotiate an interest rate discount with your mortgage lender over the longer term.
2. Features and flexibility
What are the home loan features that you need? Home loans with the ‘best’ interest rate may not have all the features you need or be as flexible as you need it to be. For example, do you want the ability to pay extra so you can prepare yourself for future rate rises and also create a buffer if your financial circumstances change?
You also need to consider the accessibility of your mortgage lender in terms of ATM, internet, face-to-face contact, etc. Decide what you need and ask whether your chosen home loan lender has the features available.
3. Consider the current home loan approval times
Is your home loan approval time critical? If so, the lender with the ‘best’ home loan may not be able to get your loan approved in time. During peak processing periods, lender service times can vary between 2 to 20 working days.
4. Compare home loan products
Visit a reputable mortgage broker with more than 20 lenders on their panel. This way, you can research and compare a broad range of home loans and lenders all within the one visit.