Refinancing your home loan

There are many benefits to refinancing your home loan, such as:

• Paying less interest over the life of the loan, saving you thousands.
• Reducing your loan term by a matter of years
• Accessing new features, like an offset sub-account to save on interest repayments and get Visa debit card, online & EFTPOS access to your money.
• Accessing equity, which is the amount you’ve paid off on your current loan.

You can refinance with the equity you have in your existing home. However, if the value has changed significantly you may need to provide deposit up to 10% of the property’s value.

Some of the key documents you will need to refinance a loan include proof of income, list of existing loans and expenses, personal identity information and list of current assets. To learn more, click here.

There are no rules on how often you can refinance your home loan. However, just consider potential fees. If you’re in a fixed-rate mortgage you may incur break costs and early exit fees. To learn more, click here.

You will need to supply documents to prove you can afford to repay the loan, including:

PAYG Payers - last two payslips

Self employed - last two years tax returns with an ATO Notice of Assessment

Three months of bank statements

Evidence of any rental income

Six months of statements for your current home loan

Three months of statements for any loans you are consolidating (ie. credit card debt)

A copy of your current Rates Notice and evidence of payment

On our end, we’ll arrange a property valuation, credit assessment and all the paperwork with your current lender.

Get more information on what documents you need to refinance your home loan.

Yes. While refinancing can save you thousands, there’s a few upfront costs to consider like exit fees, break fees, application fees, security assessment fees and settlement fees. It’s important to consider these when refinancing. To learn more, click here.

Consider refinancing when you’re trying to save on expenses. Generally, it’s a good idea to review your home loan at least annually and consider refinancing when the benefit of doing so outweighs the cost. To learn more, click here.

Refinancing refers to the process of replacing your current home loan with a new one in order to access additional benefits such as securing a lower interest rate, accessing home equity or consolidating debt. To learn more, click here.

Yes, refinancing can affect your credit score, as refinancing is considered to be a credit application. To learn more, click here.

The equity in your home is the difference between its market value and your remaining home loan balance.

To put it simply, this is the value of what you currently own in your home. For example, the market value of your home is $350,000 and you still owe $200,000. When you subtract the loan balance from your property value, you have equity of $150,000.

The best thing about building up your equity is that it can be accessed through home loan refinancing, allowing you to use your home as security and use these funds for other expenses.

Refinancing can be a way to use the equity in your home to invest in home improvements, or in other real estate. However, keep in mind that increasing your loan will mean an increase in your loan repayments.

Find out more about accessing equity to buy another house.