Australian Mortgage and Loan Information

The major banks and other lenders are making it almost impossible for mortgage brokers to access low doc loans for their clients.

This is part of a push by lenders to manage their risk in this area, and make more money on their existing portfolios. The message is: if you currently have a low doc loan, you will be paying a higher interest rate in the near future.

Personally I think this is a bad thing. Low doc or liar’s loans as they are sometimes known have really helped the Australian real estate and property market over the last 10 years. They have also helped establish the mortgage broker as our preferred professional when it comes to organising our home loan and investor finance.

Your best bet moving forward is to convert your existing low doc loan to a full doc loan as soon as possible to avoid punitive action by your lender in the guise of a higher rate.

Please remember your lender is not really a friend, you are just a business transaction to the company. Treat them the same. Demand satisfactory service standards and check up on them as they check up on you. Us a loan statement checker often and review your loan PDS frequently.

Unfortunately my much wished for defection from home loan copy-cat ism of one of the big four Australian Banks has failed to materialise, at least in this short term. I trust my source, I think it will only be a matter of time before you will be offered a distinct choice among the big four.

In the mean time if you are hunting for a new loan, ask your mortgage broker about the various banking/home loan package deals available. Many packages offer savings of up to .7% on standard variable loans and lines of credit. The catch is the annual fee, which sometimes is in excess of $350. However when you consider the savings in transaction account fees and loan interest if you are borrowing more than $250,000 you should be well ahead.

Before you dump your current lender, It would be judicious to inquire about transferring your existing home loan to a package with them. You could save thousands in fees and charges generated by a transfer of lender. I would also consider using some mortgage checking software to check the accuracy of your loan and credit card statements before you cast your current lender adrift. Please also read your current loan documents and try and get an understanding of what you currently have.

Be careful what you wish for? The chances are you will get it!

Once again, the popular media is full of claims that many home loan statements contain massive calculation errors. They say the simple mistakes banks and other lenders make are costing home loan borrowers big time. Incorrect date on entries, wrong interest rate, doubling up on fees and missing deposits seem to be the main culprits.

I feel like shouting at the TV when this stuff rears its head again. Get yourself some loan checking software please.

The software has been seen on…
A Current Affair
Money
7:30 Report
4 Corners
Today Tonight

If you don’t want to check your statements, be aware you may be paying a lot more of your hard earned cash to the bank than you need to. For goodness sake keep a close eye on your home loan statements.

Government stimulus package and historically low lending interest rates will buy some time, but the risk of a massive correction in Australian house and commercial property prices is as high as it has ever been since the great depression. Over valued and in many cases in poor condition, Australian property has become decidedly on the nose internationally.

The International Monetary Fund has for some time voiced a considered opinion that: “Australian property is among the most overvalued in the developed world.“ International investors have heeded the IMF’s warning and are quitting their Australian holdings in the droves. New enquiries have all but dried up.

February 2009 is the perfect time to ready yourself for the turbulent time ahead. Consolidate your debts, sign your tenants to a longer lease, crack down on tardy payers. Repair and maintain your properties to keep them in top condition. Check your mortgage interest rate, get the lowest rate mortgage available or convert to interest only if you can and get some quality mortgage checking software.

Check your statements be careful with your id.

Internet Banking is an important tool for most home mortgage holders. You can keep track of your payments, withdawals and loan limits easily with just a click from your mouse, however with the growing band of online pirates targeting Australian Banks, online banking is getting very risky.

Along with the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and the United States., Australia is one of the most targeted countries for identity theft in the world. The pirates are getting more numerous and more brazen by the minute, so please don’t think you are immune.

I recently became a victim of these pirates. Their scheme was simple: a pop up informed me I had malware and that for X dollars I could remove it and at the same time upgrade my current anti virus software for a discount price. I was sucked in as all the icons and info mirrored my current security provider. The Trojan program installed itself and made ready to steal my financial and identity information. Luckily I realised my error in a short space of time and was able to cancel the transaction and remove the malware.

A study conducted by AusCERT earlier this year found about one in six Australian home computers is compromised by malware. AusCERT stands for Australian Computer Emergency Response Team. The general manager of AusCERT Mr Graham Ingram stated recently: “Where once a web user had to click a web or email link to become infected, now a visit to a trusted site could deliver what is known as a “drive-by download”. “Their target I your personal data. The ability to impersonate someone gives thieves access to bank accounts and corporate secrets that can be used to even manipulate share prices.”

I don’t condone giving into the pirates, the convenience of internet banking is worth to much. All I can suggest is that you are vigilant and make sure you have a reputable anti virus like Norton 360 or
Pc-cillin and check your statements regularly for errors as well as for fraudulent transactions,

Home loan and mortgage holders are at more risk than ever of getting overcharged interest and fees by their lenders. Essentially, getting ripped off by their home loan lenders.

The reduction in staff and extra pressure on the remaining staff have increased the possibility that lenders will make mistakes on your accounts. With interest rates falling, there is an even bigger chance that the mistakes will be in favour of your lender.

Be vigilant with your credit and home loan statements. For some years now I have been using a PC based software package made here in Australia called Mortgage Watchdog.

Mortgage Watchdog software is easy to install and use. It also has the credibility for Banks and other lenders to authorise refunds based on its calculations.

If you have a current mortgage or you have been lucky enough to have paid one out recently, I suggest you check out your lenders calculations. Put Mortgage Watchdog on your Christmas list.

Has your bank overcharged you? – Download this mortgage software to check your interest charges and claim your refund today!

In these uncertain times I have few home truths for you to consider.

Seek, find and stick with a reliable and loyal partner. Life is a lot easier when shared with a trusted, respected life partner.

Take good care of your loved ones.

Buy a house and make it your home.

Make your work something you enjoy and worthy of your time and talent.

Save some of the money you make in a deposit account for a rainy day.

When ever you transact with people, be generous and give them more than they expect, cheerfully!

Be honest, loyal and true to yourself and others, in other words; treat everyone you meet the way you want to be treated yourself.

Become the most positive, decisive, enthusiastic self-starter you know and set yourself the goal of constantly improving. Adjust your self talk to reflect this.

Forget about blaming others. Accept that sometimes you will be wrong. The blame game is for the evil, let them keep it, you are more worthy, so take personal responsibility for every area of your life and overcome mistakes, you know you can.

Decide to become wealthy.

Create some life goals, don’t always make them about money.

Take your opportunities, be bold and courageous about the things you want, it is human nature to regret the things you didn’t do, more than the ones you did.

Look up the word discipline in the dictionary. Apply the meaning to everything you do.

Persist with your goals.

Persist, persist, persist, anything worthwhile is never easy.

Use property to create wealth. It is real.

Check your mortgage statements for mistakes. Consider Mortgage Watchdog PC based loan statement checking software. I use it. With interest rates changing there is a greater opportunity for lenders to make mistakes. You could lose hundreds or thousands of dollars in overcharges on your mortgage. It is during periods of major change like we are currently experiencing or when you refinance a mortgage that many errors and large ones at that, occur in your loan statements.

The average life of a home loan is now just 4 years. Refinancing into a new loan product, enhances the propability for errors to occur and they could cost you significant sums of money.

Mortgage Watchdog’s Home Deluxe Bundle will help you find errors in your statements when you mortgage refinance. In fact we are so confident that you will find errors when you mortgage refinance that we even offer a Success Guarantee.

Before you consider a mortgage refinance it may pay to check your old statements. A recent survey of over 200 bank statements from 18 different lenders found that over 54% of loan statements contain errors. Not too surprisingly the vast majority of these errors favour the lenders. Hundreds of thousands of Australians are potentially affected by the problem and are actually owed money buy their lender.

More information on interest rate changes and mortgage refinance errors.