Circumstances can change, leaving your home loan less suitable than it was originally. A home loan health check can reveal if you’re paying too much. What’s involved? Our team at Simplify Finance can do a full home loan health check for you either in person or over the phone. They will check if your loan…

The Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged at 1.5% at its October monetary policy meeting, an outcome that was widely expected by markets and economists alike. In making this call, the RBA has resisted temptation to further lower rates, opting instead to wait until the September quarter CPI data is released to allow…

Offset accounts and redraw facilities work in similar ways; they both allow you to reduce the balance of your home loan, and therefore the interest charged, by applying extra money to your debt. Redraw facilities allow you to deposit spare income into your home loan account, allowing you to redraw a sum equal to the…

The month of August saw a flurry of activity from banks, with differing levels of rate cuts in response to the RBA’s decision to lower the official cash rate. This led to the media and consumers asking why the rate cut was not passed on in full with the response from lenders generally being that…

After this month’s cut to the official cash rate to 1.5% it is time to take advantage of the current environment to pay down your mortgage. There are many different factors borrowers need to consider when thinking about refinancing a home loan as refinancing might not be worth it if it’s only going to save…

Exit and early termination fees can put the brakes on plans to sell, to refinance, and to renovate or purchase an investment property. Here’s how to avoid them from the start. Fees charged for the early repayment of variable-rate loans were phased out by government reforms in 2011. However, fixed-rate loans may still carry these…

Stamp duty is a charge which is applied by state governments in Australia on transactions relating to the transfer of land or property. It is paid upfront and needs to be budgeted for in addition to your loan deposit. The amount of stamp duty you are required to pay differs in each state, however there…

When you’re desperately trying to save up a deposit for a home and just see the prices of property climbing and climbing, it’s difficult to remain patient. But there is another way: a guarantor can help.   If you don’t have a substantial deposit for a home loan, there are still a number of ways…

It’s easy to get carried away with the fun part of buying a property – looking at houses – but delaying the less compelling task of arranging finance will weaken your negotiating position on both the property and the loan. Looking for a property to purchase is an exciting time. Choices regarding location, size, number…

Following the lodgement of a home loan application, hopeful borrowers are often keen to know what will happen next and how long it will take for them to receive the verdict. The bad news is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer. The good news, however, is that a solid application is the key to keeping…