Australian Mortgage and Loan Information

• Typical application fee: $600 to $800 (May be less if you already have a loan).

• Be prepared to pay a higher application fee if you are buying a unit or property off the plan.

• If you plan to repay or refinance your loan within 4 years from the date of first loan drawing, you may also be slugged a “Deferred Establishment Fee”. This fee can vary from $700 to $2000 depending on the lending institution.

• Loan service fees: Usually $8 to $10 per month.

• Settlement attendance fee, usually $150 to $350.

• If you are changing lenders, you will also usually have to pay a security discharge fee of between: $350 and $1000 for the privilege.

• Be prepared to pay big if you want out of a fixed rate loan early. Lenders usually will not give any leeway to contract breakers. Picking the direction of home loan rates can be tricky. Just look at the historical rates for the last 50 years.

This is just a snapshot of the fees you can expect when taking out a new fixed rate home loan or changing from a standard variable home loan to a fixed rate home loan. Be sure to get a comprehensive list of fees from your lender or mortgage broker before you sign on the dotted line.

Australian Bureau of Statistics, population data for the 12 months ending June 2009 shows that, Australia’s population has posted its highest 12 month gain in 40 years. Our population exploded by approximately 443,000 or 2.1% to 21,875,000. Even though we are down on the new baby count, the fact that we are living longer has helped this figure along as has the approximately 286,000 new migrants.

I interpret this data to mean that our residential property market will bounce back strongly over the medium to long term particularly in the beachside and leafy established suburbs.

My mail is a good percentage of the migrants are reasonably well healed folk looking for a little sunshine and a little less militant religious fervor.

Consider taking on a little debt and get yourself a piece of this good earth is my tip. I will not be surprised if values doubled in these areas over the next 5 to 10 years, because of demand.

Find a decent mortgage broker you can make a professional conection with. Even consider an equity finance mortgage. Remember, if the property value doubles, you will be sitting pretty.

I also recomend you take some insurance on your income and look to diversify your income.  A hobby can sometimes be a great way to supplement your family income.

Pay off your mortgage using the internet and your home pc.

Rate Hiked Again.

Australian Home Loan Interest Rates Hiked 25 Basis Points

The RBA board has decided in its wisdom to raise official interest rates again. The third time in three months. The reasons are not plain to ordinary small business people or home mortgage holders and in my opinion, way to optimistic. The financial crisis is far from over at street level. Lending is tight and many properties very much overvalued.

The latest rate increase means a person who has a 30 year $300,000 mortgage is now going to pay $150 more per month than they would have before this latest hat-trick of interest rate hikes.

So how can you keep your sanity and reduce the effect of these rude, unnecessary and Christmas Grinch like increases?

Increase Your Loan Term:
Contact your broker or lender and see if you can stretch your payments over a longer period. This will lower your current monthly payments and assist your cash flow. The drawback is unless you can eventually pay more monthly, you will pay more interest to your lender over time.

Switch To A No Frills Loan:
Consider switching your home loan mortgage to a no frills operator like MyRate. You don’t really need a branch network to help manage you home loan, you have the Internet. The rate will be lower the only hassle may be getting your current lender to co-operate quickly.

Consolidate Your Personal Borrowing:
It may be a good time to assess the need for those credit cards. Fold your debt into your home loan and cut up the cards. You may not feel as affluent, but you may just enjoy your life a little more without the financial pressure. If your current lender wont help, get a reputable broker to help you.

Fix Your Rate:
You may think the horse has bolted here, but maybe fixing half your loan will at least give you some certainty moving forward, without getting caught out if rates fall, if the financial crisis/credit squeeze worsens.

Earn So Extra Cash:
Start a home based business in your spare time and use the profits to pay off your mortgage.
A Kiwi named Mark Ling has a few ideas. I am currently trying to copy his methods. An extra $500 per month will come in very handy to thwart the RBA and the Lizard conspiracy.

Or you could sit back, do nothing and see if the predictions about 2012 are correct. If they are the mortgage will not be such a worry.

Reflecting on the fees charged on a clients home loan I thought I would look up the RBA to see if there was any info on how much bank fees had increased over the last decade.

What I found makes interesting reading in light of the massive cuts to local jobs and outsourcing to foreign countries the banks and other financial institutions have proudly touted as the reason we “Australians enjoy the best value for money banking in the world.”

From the Reserve Bank Of Australia, Statistical Tables:

Average home loan fee income per Australian Household.

1997 $302 per household

2008 $1045 per household

That is a 246% increase in 11 years. 22.5% per year!

I guess loans are bigger now, but this is fees, not interest.
If you are getting gouged by high home loan fees consider refinance to MyRate.com.au.

Transaction account fees per Australian Household.

1997 $431 per household

2008 $1792 per household

That is a 315% increase in 11 years. 28.5% per year!

Increase must be for all the convenient services they offer? We are being gouged.

Credit Card Fees per Australian Household.

1997 $135 per household

2008 $332 per household

That is a 146% increase in 11 years. 13% per year!

Competition is keeping these fees under relative control.

Total bank Fees for all Accounts and Loans per Australian Household.

1997 $1160 per household

2008 $4845 per household

That is a 317% increase in 11 years. 29% per year!

So the big four major banks cry poor, do not pass on RBA interest rate cuts, increase home loan rates above RBA increases, continue to send jobs off shore and use 1950’s like lending practices. So much for CPI and the reasons we need high home loan rates. Bank fees are a catalyst, just like fuel costs, for bringing inflationary pressure to bear on home buying Aussie battlers. I say we need more competition in the banking sector.

Please check your loan statements for errors, I recommend you do it every month. If you get your statement six monthly, get access to transactions on-line and check them monthly. Fee income as you can see is a bounty for banks, don’t let them pirate more of your hard earned income than they are entitled too.

The RBA controls interest rates to an extent, and historically rates are not that volitile compared to other developed countries.

I received the following email from my mortgage broker today. Because of my diverse income streams I used lo doc for one of my loans. He is touting for business I am sure, but the letter also drives home the fact that we have a very different lending environment going forward into 2010.

Here’s the letter:

“I am sending you this email to advise you of some SIGNIFICANT changes that have occurred in the Low Doc market over the last few months.

4/ If you want to buy another Investment property”

I personally think we are returning to the nasty old days like in the 70’s, this means less people able to get loans and a stagnant property sector. I hope I am wrong. Take a look at interest rates in the 70’s, they are high, but not that bad. People just could not get a loan and banks were stupidly tough with lending. However the bankers of that day did not enjoy the extreme bonuses of their counterparts today, so I am guessing the rouges of Martin Place and Collins Street will find a way to gain from others misery.

Now, may just be the time to fix some of your loans for a year or two.

If you are considering an investment property real-estate purchase between now and Christmas, it will be imperative that you get some sort of pre-approval from your lender. Better still ask a competent mortgage broker to secure you pre-approval. In writing!

The Reserve Bank seem hell bent on increasing official interest rates again, (the popular media have been selling the idea for them in every news program or update) and I feel that this action may just be the trigger for a sell-off of property in the low to medium price band.

Many in this band are recent first home buyers who have paid the first home buyers bonus driven inflated market value for their property. So they have bigger than expected home loans. Added to this many have funded the exorbitant lenders mortgage insurance premiums charged on their home loans with their credit cards, personal loan or loan from family.

This means opportunity if you are cashed up and ready to move.

However, credit is tight and lenders seem reluctant to lend without creating time wasting road blocks. On the plus side your rents will be good as there is still a shortage and the people who have to sell up will need somewhere to live and with immigration adding 2000 new aussie’s a week, residential property is destine to rebound strongly over the next 20 years even if interest rates follow historical trends.

If you have a line of credit/home equity home loan, I suggest you dig out your mortgage documents and go over your rights and obligations. Pay special attention to the fine print regarding when you have to pay the loan back and when your lender can demand you pay the loan back.

With the tightening of lending criteria, many lenders are now looking at their loan books and increasing the rates on certain home loan products. In particular they are looking closely at low doc lines of credit.

My mail is they will be adding an extra basis point or two to the rate of these types of home loans and in some case’s recalling the loan altogether. If you can convert to a full doc, do so as soon as possible or speak to your mortgage broker about your options.

Finally, check your statements, lender’s, particularly major banks make mistakes whenever there is an interest rate change. Stay on top of your finances and get some loan statement checking software. I recommend a program it is reviewed on my mortgage checker web page.

Spend what you save on a holiday or some tennis lessons for the children.

Yes, It is time for a comprehensive analysis of your current home loan?

It seems all the major lenders are tinkering with their home loan offerings. They are playing their cards pretty close to their chest, but you can be assured of one thing, old loan holders will be treated like lepers’ were in the olden days once the new offering is about.

You will be getting plenty of encouragement from the tellers at the bank to speak to their home loan professional.

The “new stuff” will no doubt be irresistible, but will include new clause’s enabling the lender to boot you out of your home if you don’t comply with their current whim or fancy.

Please be prepared. Use a mortgage broker if you can. Heck, use two and play them off against each other.

Rates are on the way up, be ready.

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.