Leading direct lender MyRate.com.au is once again pushing ahead with their annual ‘Review Your Home Loan Day’. 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.”
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?”
MyRate.com.au is encouraging all home loan holders to 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 review their home loan, 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.
You can also read about MyRate customer reviews at www.myratereview.com.au
The MyRate team
