Australian Mortgage and Loan Information

Bank errors can occur at all stages of your home loan application and administration. Home Loan Bank Errors are costly.

A little bit of homework before you commit to a home loan can save you hundreds of dollars per month on your mortgage payments. Using free home loan calculators like the Commonwealth Banks home loan calculator will help you get a quick understanding of your required budget and provide some evidence in case a bank tries to overcharge.

Playing around with the figures will also let you know the result of future interest rate rises.

There are other free calculators available including personal loan and debt consolidation all worth a look.

Another calculator that can save you money is the Mortgage Watchdog home loan statement checker. You can download a free trial and check your statements for errors very easily.

Have we seen the last of the RBA interest rate rise’s for 2010? I hope so. Yes, homes are more expensive, but I now think wage’s will adjust.

Australian’s that I come in contact with seem to have overcome their addiction to retail therapy.

If you are working in retail, you may find you will be doing more hours and being asked by your boss to do some unusual promotion.

From the media releases › 2010 › Statement by Glenn Stevens, RBA Governor: Monetary Policy Decision:

“With the risk of serious economic contraction in Australia having passed some time ago, the Board has been adjusting the cash rate towards levels that would be consistent with interest rates to borrowers being close to the average experience over the past decade or more. The Board expects that, as a result of today’s decision, rates for most borrowers will be around average levels. This represents a significant adjustment from the very expansionary settings reached a year ago.

The Board will continue to assess prospects for demand and inflation, and set monetary policy as needed to achieve an average inflation rate of 2–3 per cent over time.”]

The message is mixed, but my gut feeling is the board think the economy is in a boom/bust wave. The RBA understands that “Mining” is not a sustainable industry. It produces very few real jobs and uses massive amounts of public sponsored infrastructure. When the ore runs out or a new product replaces the old “made from iron”, the mining executives will probably go back to banking and the workers on the dole. Property price’s will adjust and a new cycle will start.

As home buyer’s and a property investor’s we can only deal with our own micro economies. We have to talk to our mortgage brokers and bankers and get the best deal we can for our circumstances.

Oh! And please check your loan statements for errors. I recently got charged twice for a line fee on one of my loans. It took three weeks to get it refunded. Interest rate increases are a prime time for lenders to make errors.

Reputable Mortgage Broker.

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.

$53 billion from stamp duty?

Talk about making money out of misery! The world wide housing price bubble is the source of all the recent financial turmoil, threatening our very way of life. Yet State and Territory governments across Australia have raised $53 billion from stamp duty on property purchases for both residential and commercial property over the past five years according to report just released by Bankwest.

Like many I have felt the pain of State Government fees such as mortgage stamp duty, title transfer fee and property stamp duty. You cannot avoid them, they are just a part of doing business in Australia. However, was not the GST going to lead to abolishment of all these State Government taxes and charges? The recent First Home Owners Boost is really just a transfer of funds from Federal to State Government coffers, as it mainly goes to pay the stamp duty!

As expensive as stamp duty is, I do not think it is a contributor to the housing price bubble as it is called by the popular press. The main reason is without doubt the easing of home loan mortgage lending criteria. In fact the easing of lending criteria full stop. The lender’s have let loose a wave of credit fuelled consumer demand on a limited finite resource of desirable property. The result: State Governments with fat budget surplus to waste and home ownership out of reach for future generations. At least interest rates are coming down!

Why not spend some of this money creating jobs in manufacturing or environmental salvage? My local engineering works and the Murray river could do with some help.

Don’t forget to take stamp duty and other government fees into account when you do your home loan calculations.

Fantastic software that will check your bank loan statements for errors.

There is a better than even chance that you could be losing hundreds of dollars due to bank errors without you even knowing it. The Mortgage Watchdog loan statement checking software can bring these errors to light and provide proof for banks and other lenders to force rebates and corrections.

The popularity of the Mortgage Watchdog software is growing rapidly, as happy users recommend it to their friends and family. The Mortgage Watchdog software has also been featured on the free to air television network current affair’s programs like the 7.30 report and 4 Corners and the ABC, Today To Night on 7 and A Current Affair on 9.

The Mortgage Watchdog bank loan statement checking software is Australian made but has a world wide application. American, British, French, German, Chinese, Japanese etc all banks operate basically on the same system as Australia so results will be comparable.

For more information a visit to the Mortgage Watchdog website is essential. You will find detailed information and operating instructions plus, a large number of credible video testimonials from customers who have been able to use the software to get back thousands of dollars of bank loan overcharges. There is also an incredible “no risk” purchase offering.

For more information, please visit the Mortgage Watchdog website.

Useful resources for preparing to take out a home loan or purchase a property are listed below.

Educating yourself in the different aspects of purchasing a property is the only way to guarantee that you get the best possible deal. Nearly all the other players involved in your property related transaction have their own interests at heart and you are fooling yourself if you think otherwise.

With the large amount of money involved it is a case of “Buyer Beware”. No amount of government or industry regulation is going to protect you from making errors or mistakes.

Use the following resources to increase your knowledge and help you in making decisions. Buy a couple of good books from our recommended list – they contain a wealth of information that would take a lifetime to accumulate, and the cost is insignificant compared to the money lost if you get things wrong. Find out what LVR is? It is an important term.

The resources listed below are all resources that I have used myself and have personal experience with, including the books which I own, have read, and regularly refer to as I buy and sell property. Internalising this mortgage, home loan and property information will also help you decide which professionals you make part of your property wealth creating team.

Home Loan Resources
Home Loan Rates
Information on current home loan interest rates in Australia.
Borrowers Check List
What you need to have ready before you approach a lender or mortgage broker.
Credit Comparison Rates
All loans are not equal so how do you compare loans?
Mortgage Calculators
Check out different mortgage repayment scenarios. See also the PC based software and loan calculators below.
Property Related Web-sites
Australian web-sites with useful resources.
Loan/Mortgage Brokers
Helpful Brokers who will find the best loan for your personal circumstances.
Recommended Books
A book list and reviews of Property related books by Australian Authors.
Mortgage Calculator – PC based software
The banks do not want you to use this software because of the refunds they have had to make to users. If you have an existing mortgage then it will pay you to buy this particular mortgage calculator instead of using the free bank calculators. Not only can you do “what if” scenario’s but you can check whether the bank has been ripping you off with your mortgage.

Loan Calculators | Australia

Do you know the shocking truth about borrowing from a bank……

Over half of monthly bank statements contain errors!

Whether you deal with a mortgage broker, or one of the major lenders, have a standard variable home loan mortgage, fixed rate home loan mortgage, construction loan, line of credit home loan, debt consolidation home loan mortgage, credit card linked home loan mortgage, offset account linked homeloan mortgage, split home loan facility, reverse mortgage, homestart home loan mortgage, one year discount variable home loan, low doc home loan, no doc home loan, investment property mortgage, first homebuyers mortgage, first home buyers home loan and so on, you need to be diligent and on alert for loan statement errors. Check the historical rates over the last 40 years, you will see there are many opportunities for major lenders to make mistakes.

It has happened to me. My bank overcharged me, so………….

Never accept the repayments specified by your lender as being correct.

In November 2005 the National Australia Bank (NAB) admitted it had been overcharging 50,000 customers for about 13 years and that it was going to hand back $21.6 million dollars. In this instance the overcharging mistake largely affected business customers with fixed interest rate loans.

If you have a home loan with any lender including the major one’s like NAB, Westpac, CBA, St George, ANZ and Members Equity there is at least a 50% probability you may have been overcharged. Lenders do what they can to limit mistakes, but errors still occur.

I use Mortgage Watchdog, mortgage statement checking software to check my statements. It has served me well.

The banks do not want you to use this software because of the refunds they have had to make to users. If you have an existing mortgage then it will pay you to buy this particular mortgage calculator instead of using the free bank calculators. Not only can you do “what if” scenario’s but you can check whether the bank has been ripping you off with your existing mortgage and get a refund. More on the super Mortgage Calculator and Checker here…

The software has been seen on…
- A Current Affair
- Money
- 7:30 Report
- 4 Corners
- Today Tonight
and there are over 300,000 copies in use.

The Home Deluxe Bundle consists of the following programs:
1. The Home Loan Checker (checks the interest calculations on your home loan/mortgage, including line of credit loans)
2. The Investment Forecaster (shows the additional interest you may earn over a period of time at a certain rate of interest or at various rates of interest).
3. The Mistake Compounder (calculates what a bank error at some time in the past is actually worth now)
4. The Home Loan Forecaster (allows you to determine what your repayments would be at different interest rates, payment modes and loan amounts)
5. The Offset Account Checker (calculates the interest on your savings account that should be offset against your mortgage account)
6. The Effective Rate Converter (shows the “true rate” that your lender is charging

They are also offering the following incentives to purchase: (Quoted from the Mortgage Watchdog website)

1)Bonus #1 How To Pay Off Your Home Loan In No Time Flat.
What better way to stop the banks making mistakes on your home loan than to not even have a home loan. Unfortunately this is the ONLY way to make sure they are not making errors on your statements.
“How to Pay Off Your Home Loan in No Time Flat” is loaded with the very best tips and tricks for paying off your home loan in the shortest possible time. Applying just one or two of these simple to implement ideas can take years off your home loan saving you thousands and thousands of dollars.
Alone this information is worth $59 but it’s yours FREE

Bonus #2 How To Instantly Add Over $10,000 To
Your Net Worth …. Guaranteed Gift Certificate.
Quick Facts: The Ombudsman’s report into property valuations found..
80% of properties are undervalued – that’s right, 4 out of 5 properties were given a lower value than they were really worth.
35% of sales valuation figures were wrong by more than 15% – if your property is worth $300,000 you have a 1 in 3 chance that your property valuation was wrong by over $45,000.
The EquityMagicPro system guarantees to increase your next home valuation by OVER $10,000. This system can be used on your existing home, your investment property or even a property you are about to buy. A higher valuation will mean reduced costs and more money you can use for your investing.

To submit a finance application without using this system can cost you thousands and thousands of dollars … and it may even show you some equity you didn’t even know you had.
We have arranged a $100 gift certificate for you to this “must have” system for anyone who owns real estate.

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$ How To Design an Insurance Plan that Solves the
Banking Function
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$ The Retirement Trap
. . .and so much more! There are 84 jam-packed pages containing financial blueprints that, if applied, can open up a whole new world for you and those you care about.
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Hey, let’s face it. There are certain situations in life that we just don’t feel equipped to handle. Like death, taxes and selling your property.

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In a nutshell, you just need knowledge. And, you will find it in Selling Your Own Home Made Easy. Knowledge like:
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$ The answers to these burning questions and many more are just
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Bonus #6 Fixer Upper Fortunes.
Unlike those pricey “infomercials” that you see on TV, “Fixer-Upper” properties will teach you exactly what you need to do
to amass a fortune buying and selling properties that need a little TLC.

Discover how and why it is that over 80% of all millionaires made their money in real estate.

Learn how to develop a winning “game plan”
Why you should only purchase “ugly ducklings”

Answers to these questions and hundreds more are available in “Fixer-Upper” properties.
Normally $25 – yours FREE when you order.
That’s $259 worth of FREE bonuses, yours to keep just for ordering the software!
At $198, this is by far the most cost effective way to check on the banks and get all your money back from them; plus $259 worth of insider knowledge just for ordering before August 11, 2008 . Better still you can order the software totally risk free with a $250 Success Guarantee (see details of this amazing guarantee below). Just compare it with the alternatives….
Do nothing and you are likely to pay 7 times this amount in overcharges this year.
Pay a statement checking company to check just 6 months of statements for you and you will spend more than double the cost of the software.
Ask your bank to check your statements for you and in just two hours you will be charged more than double the cost of the software.
There really is no comparison, Mortgage Watchdog is streets ahead of the alternatives.
Find errors in your bank statements or
We’ll give you $250 for wasting your time.

Be your own mortgage coach, help your familiy members, but check your statements.