“If I hadn't talked over things in detail with my mortgage broker, I never would have saved almost $10,000 in interest on my home loan,” says Sam Roberts* of Petersham. “Let's face it, who wants to give the banks any more money than they have to?”
Sam's broker walked him through a whole lot of options, including a no-frills loan with a 12 month ‘honeymoon' rate. Sam said, “While it was appealing to pay a bit less each month, I knew I wanted to do some traveling in the next few years, and wanted to get a bit ahead on my loan. Having an offset account meant that I could build up my savings, reduce my home loan interest charges and not pay any tax on the money I had put away.”
Of course, a basic low interest rate home loan CAN make sense in the right circumstances. But don't make the mistake of thinking that the big banks always have the best interest rates. There are lots of smaller lenders out there who are keen to get your business. They often have lower overheads or different financing arrangements, and so they may be able to shave a few extra points off their home loan interest rates.
The moral of the story? It costs you nothing to talk to a mortgage broker about which types of home loans would work well for you, and it could save you thousands in interest payments and refinancing charges. What's not to love?
*Name has been changed.