Athena Home Loans: Variable Refinance Owner Occ P&I 3.34% (3.30% CR), Investment IO 3.84% (3.74% CR)

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Athena Home Loans: Variable Refinance Owner Occ P&I 3.34% (3.30% CR), Investment IO 3.84% (3.74% CR)

EmployeeLicedtea229 on 04/06/2019 - 14:58 athena.com.au (2245 clicks)
Last edited 04/06/2019 - 19:10 by 1 other user

Hey fellow OzBargainers. In response to the RBA dropping their cash rate by 0.25% today, Athena has passed on the full rate decrease to both their existing and new customers.

Effective immediately, this rate drop brings Athena’s rates to one of the lowest on the market at 3.34% p.a for owner occupier, principal and interest and 3.74% p.a. for investors. At this stage Athena is doing refinances only.

Variable rates are:

Owner Occupier Principal & Interest: 3.34% / 3.30% CR
Owner Occupier Interest Only: 3.84% / 3.49% CR
Investor Principal & Interest: 3.74% / 3.70% CR
Investor Interest Only: 3.84% / 3.74% CR

Loan features:
- No application, ongoing or exit fees.
- Annual loyalty bonus.
- Automatic rate-match: If Athena ever drops the rate for new customers, these lower rates will be passed on automatically to existing customers.
- Fee-free redraw.
- Speak to Australian home loan experts 7 days a week.
- Maximum LVR: 80%
- Min/max loan size: $100,000/$2,000,000

Referral Links

Referral: random (81)

$250 credit each for referee and referrer.

Financial Home Loan Refinance

2 Jul 2019 4:32pm

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Athena Home Loan

closed Comments

- - - - z0idberg on 04/06/2019 - 16:51
        
        +1
        
        @[Deactivated]: Then you will be refinancing at the end of the 1 year so in the same boat as someone on variable anyway.
        
        I assume the comparison rate includes the $395 annual fee for Greater and possibly the $300 discharge fee too.
        
        [Deactivated] on 04/06/2019 - 17:01
        
        -2
        
        @z0idberg: Yes. Hence this is not a deal given so many factors that varies.
        
        Yes, the fees will become part of the cost. Generally $1k for discharging, valuation and new bank's admin fee.
        
        Based on
        - $1mio loan, $1k is merely 0.1%
        - 500k, 0.2%
        - 250k, 0.4%
        
        For a one year period, only a better deal for smaller loans.
        
        Have an upvote for providing facts.
        
        gimmeabreak on 04/06/2019 - 19:37
        
        @[Deactivated]: Not all people can know now whether they can refinance out in a year.
- Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 04/06/2019 - 17:20
  
  +1
  
  Hey googleyahoo69, thanks for raising these points!
  
  We don't have an offset but we do have a fee-free redraw! It makes life easier, avoids the costs of an offset, and pays off your loan faster. Athena reduces the amount of your home loan balance by 100% of the amount in your Redraw.
  With Greater Bank's fixed rate, make sure you do your research and look into the fine print and fees. Greater Bank charges an annual fee, legal fee and a $300 discharge fee when you want to leave them. Their fixed rate product doesn’t allow additional repayments and as phunkydude mentioned below, the comparison rate is 4.62%. Special introductory rates tend to revert back to a higher rate after the intro period. With Greater Bank I believe it reverts to a variable rate which is currently over 4%. At Athena, we will never raise rates unnecessarily for our customers - all customers get our best rates upfront that stay great.
  
  Athena has a redraw account and this operates as a redraw into the loan itself, this is not a separate deposit account like an offset. Government guarantees are specific to deposit accounts, not redraw accounts. If something highly unusual was to happen to lenders like Athena with customers who have a redraw account then it's most likely nothing would change. Your debt and redraw would be taken on by our back up servicer and continue as they are. In a worst case scenario, the redraw might be consumed into the loan itself to reduce the balance (i.e. you had a loan of $250,000 and a redraw of $50,000 in addition – you could end up with a loan of $200,000). This means you don’t lose the money, and you pay down your debt sooner. If this didn’t suit your purposes you could apply to release the equity from the loan again. This is super unlikely to happen and Athena is focussed on putting customers needs first and has some serious backing so is here to stay. And at any point in time if you don’t love Athena, you can leave us for no cost at all ☺
  - [Deactivated] on 04/06/2019 - 18:26
    
    +1
    
    Not the full picture. Pricing of a loan is per wholesale funding + spread. There are two main forms of wholesale funding, one - borrow from money market, two - issue RMBS per loan book. Like said earlier, wholesale funding will depend on market liquidity, and it can go up very quickly as soon liquidty dries up. Two - RMBS will heavily depends on rating of the bond which links to asset pool and default rate. The current market condition RMBS is not looking good.
    
    ADI cost more to borrow due to APRA requirement that imposes capital ratio and require certain tier 1 and tier 2 assets. Hence less available funds to lend.
    
    Was said earlier, overall fee is app $1k and is a relatively small portion to loan size. In order to break even on 250k loan, 3.4% is comparable for the one year period vs 2.99% one year fixed.
    
    Misleading statement. Redraw will not work for investment loans and NOT in the same league as offset facility. Redraw facility is as good as refinancing from ATO's point of view for tax purposes.
    - gimmeabreak on 04/06/2019 - 18:32
      
      -1
      
      ^^^ trying hard to sound smart but actually doesn't understand.
    - gimmeabreak on 04/06/2019 - 18:37
      
      They haven't given accounting advice they have simply offered an investment loan that may have a redraw facility. Stop being a dick.
      - [Deactivated] on 04/06/2019 - 18:43
        
        @gimmeabreak: Nor I have said it's accounting advice. Merely pointing out facts.
        
        gimmeabreak on 04/06/2019 - 18:54
        
        @[Deactivated]: OMG I hope you are not advising people in any capacity as an accountant, a financial planner or a mortgage broker. FFS
  - gimmeabreak on 04/06/2019 - 18:29
    
    and for point 2 isn't this the case even for offset accounts with ADIs as their all monies clause could be put in place before any government guarantee?
    - [Deactivated] on 04/06/2019 - 18:34
      
      No. any deposit with a single ADI upto $250k is automatically guaranteed by the government.
      
      https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/managing-your-money/banking
      - gimmeabreak on 04/06/2019 - 18:38
        
        @[Deactivated]: read what I said smartarse around all monies clause. Do you know what that is?
        
        [Deactivated] on 04/06/2019 - 18:43
        
        @gimmeabreak: All monies clause applies to all debt owed. Relevance?
        
        In the scanrio that a non ADI lending goes belly up, debts owed to the financier are sold off as (as asset generating income), and equity owed to investor are treated as debt low down the pecking order (ie - unsecured debt). No protection on money invested with non ADI lender.
      - gimmeabreak on 04/06/2019 - 18:43
        
        @[Deactivated]: I am actually asking the question of them, not you, does any all monies clause supercede the guarantee. You have dribbled so much inaccuracy above I don't trust anything you say.
        
        gimmeabreak on 04/06/2019 - 21:56
        
        @gimmeabreak: and I'll clarify where I am going with this - and I could be wrong that is why I am asking the OP.
        
        The Financial Claims Scheme guarantees the amount in the ADI account up to $250k. So that stops the bank saying you still owe us for the full $500k mortgage, or you still owe whoever we sold that mortgage to the full $500k, but wouldn't you know it we lost your $250k offset savings account. That's what it stops is the having it both ways.
        
        It doesn't stop a bank that knows it is in trouble to say to you hey because of the large recession we are going through right now and the fact we can see in your offset account that your salary has stopped going in - We know that your circumstances have changed. Did you lose your job? (sheepishly client says - Yes)
        
        Well guess what you didn't tell us and that is a specific clause in our loan contract to you which you have now breached. You are required to inform us immediately of a change in your circumstances. That is a default on the loan. We are going to sell your house before the market goes completely kaput. But but but that is unconscionable and a breach of NCCP! Take it to APRA they say. But I've got $250k in my offset! Bank - yes we know and under current legislation we have control of that account as that ADI account is with us the same ADI that has your house as security and you no longer can make any withdrawals.
        
        The last bit is why it is still relevant to All Monies as the ADI account is still a controlled security as it is under the same ADI as the mortgage. It doesn't need to be specified as a security in the loan agreement.
        
        You read your contracts. The above is exactly what I believe CAN happen. It would be very close to armageddon if it did but it is exactly what they can do.
        
        Offsets are better than redraws but they are not a panacea. Redraw amounts can be pulled from your hands now without any problem, offsets just take a few steps closer to the brink to be taken.
igoforthebest on 04/06/2019 - 17:01

+1

I dont think my LVR is 80% in this current market :(
oscargamer on 04/06/2019 - 17:11

+1

Be aware also that if you live outside cities, it's not for you. Which is a shame, as I would love to swap into this, but they don't "do" my area.

My city only has 34000 people, so it's not really a city, is it? or is it?
[Deactivated] on 04/06/2019 - 17:53

+1

I like these guys, but they don't offer a real offset, which is a deal breaker.
Punkboy on 04/06/2019 - 18:24

Do you offer any SMSF products?
- Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 04/06/2019 - 21:48
  
  Hey Punkboy, sorry we currently don't offer SMSF loans.
[Deactivated] on 04/06/2019 - 18:39

Cant get a loan with athena in my area unfortunately
tightm8 on 04/06/2019 - 18:44

+12

Standard Ozbargain

Asking OP if the home loan has a billion features despite being one of the lowest rates available on the market. The reason these guys can offer such rates is they're simple vanilla loans and online only.

Kind of reminds me of the TV deals.

4K Samsung 75 inch @$1.6k, questions asked in comments: why not 8k, why not 300hz refresh with 18bit Hdr.. Etc etc

Read the Athena terms, it's not hard.

On a side note, I think it's a cracker deal, the interest only rates are amazing
R1ngSt1nger on 04/06/2019 - 18:47

Do you offer construction loans in postcode 3956?
- Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 04/06/2019 - 21:48
  
  Hey SavageCarrot, sorry we currently don't offer construction loans.
  - R1ngSt1nger on 04/06/2019 - 22:01
    
    Thank you.
Always think price on 04/06/2019 - 19:08

+3

I am new to this whole refinancing game… But isn't reduce home loans a better deal? I could be missing something though and I'll be the first to call out that I am not the most savvy in this topic.
https://www.reduceloans.com.au/refinance/
- Stahh on 04/06/2019 - 19:47
  
  Wow 3.19 with offset(+0.05) and basically no fees at all. Seems great
- d-hunterz on 04/06/2019 - 19:54
  
  +1
  
  I was about to ask the same question, even passed on my details to reduce loans for application. They offer 3.19% and if you want to add offset its another 0.05%. I will be really happy if I get 3.24% with offset.
  
  Would love Athena Rep's clarification on this?
  - marcnunes on 04/06/2019 - 21:22
    
    +5
    
    I am with reduced. Once you get in, they will increase your interest.
    They are as greedy as the main banks, but so far they advertise 3.19% while I am at 3.59%
    A few months ago when I asked to be moved to 3.44% which was even higher than what they were offering to new customers, they said they would contact me back and I have been waiting since.
    Athena seems not to penalise old customers and this is a game change…I check if it is a good time to refinance but guess what, reduce home loans will charge me $800 for a discharge fee.
    - Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 04/06/2019 - 22:00
      
      +1
      
      Hey marcnunes, thanks for sharing your experience. And you're right! At Athena, we're don't believe in penalising any of our customers, which is why we don't charge customers fees, we will reward you for making your repayments on time with an annual loyalty bonus and we have automatic rate-match. With our automatic rate-match, if we ever drop the rates for new customers, we'll pass these lower rates on automatically for our existing customers on our like-for-like loans.
      
      It's not good to hear that Reduce will charge you a discharge fee. When you're shopping around, calculate how much you can save on lower rates. Chances are that the savings you'll get from refinancing will make the discharge fee worth paying for.
- Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 04/06/2019 - 21:09
  
  Hey Always think price, there might be cheaper rates in the market but make sure you do your research and don't get lured in by rate bait. It's not unusual for lenders to lure in new customers with an attractive "special" rate, only to hike it up later down the track. Consider if they've given the same rate to existing customers too. From the fine print, looks like Reduce Home Loans are giving this rate to new customers only. Check their fees too - it's mostly no fees with some caveats but I couldn't find their discharge fee info easily.
  
  At Athena, we'll always be straight up with our rates and encourage, not penalise you, to pay off your home loan faster! All of our customers (new and existing) get our best rates upfront and we have an automatic rate-match which means if we ever drop the rate for new customers, we'll pass it on automatically for existing customers on our like-for-like loans. Basically what we did today!
- makeahit on 04/06/2019 - 21:25
  
  Although ReduceLoans advertise $0 exit fee, there is $895 discharge fee. I don't know how they can advertise like this with the high discharge fee.
  
  What about Athena loan? Do they charge any hidden discharge fee? UBank is the only bank that does not charge any exit/discharge fee as far as I know.
  - Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 04/06/2019 - 21:46
    
    +1
    
    Hey makeahit, we don't charge customers fees! No application, ongoing, legal, settlement, valuation, redraw or exit fees.
    - marcnunes on 04/06/2019 - 23:48
      
      They used to be good when they first came him. Like many lenders. Somehow they change after sometime in the market. So athena does not charge discharge fees, evaluation fees, application fees?
      How long does it take to get an estimation of a house valuation from you guys?
Honesty on 04/06/2019 - 19:21

I had my home loan refinanced. Was very easy to deal with and communication was the best part. As long as you have all your documents, very easy process.
- movieman on 04/06/2019 - 19:32
  
  Hello Honesty,
  
  What paper forms / ID check / witnessed signatures / insurance noting them as an interested party were required?
  
  Also, what rate did you get, as I believe initially they offered 0.10% below their published rates for the early adopters.
movieman on 04/06/2019 - 19:30

+1

Athena offer $500 referral to existing customers who refer someone across…
Just putting it out there..!
- Numpty21 on 04/06/2019 - 21:27
  
  50/50??
Rizzler on 04/06/2019 - 20:22

Does anyone know if ING has passed on the rate cut to existing customers??
- Numpty21 on 04/06/2019 - 20:24
  
  A quick google search shows they dropped by 0.17%
  - Rizzler on 04/06/2019 - 20:31
    
    For new customers….
    - Numpty21 on 04/06/2019 - 20:34
      
      “ING announced their cuts on 29 May, cutting all owner-occupier rates by 17 basis points“
      - kev98 on 05/06/2019 - 06:14
        
        @Numpty21: And not for investment loans. Typical. ING are crap
        
        vishmanj on 05/06/2019 - 07:13
        
        +4
        
        @kev98: ING used to be good, since Scott Pape in his Barefoot Investor book gave them a good wrap…they don't care about existing customers. They are getting many customers via that book.
        
        Rizzler on 05/06/2019 - 17:16
        
        @vishmanj: Exactly how I feel as an ING customer.
        
        As soon as I can change, I will.
    - mitchellp on 05/06/2019 - 17:28
      
      yeah ING are terrible to their existing customers. I will never go with them again, because my rate is way higher than for new customers and they will charge approx $600 to leave them.
  - PeppermintGrove on 04/06/2019 - 23:56
    
    +1
    
    This is announced before today's rate drop and only offered to new customers. We're waiting on a call from their Customer Retention team about getting a lower rate. They've hiked up the rate twice in the last year alone, and unless they scale that back to at least match what they're offering to new customers, we're out of here.
    
    As for whether they're passing any or all of today's rate cut, the rep is saying "the board is meeting tomorrow".
Damannation on 04/06/2019 - 20:25

+1

Looks like a pretty good rate, shame they only do <80% LVR. Puts me out haha
YellowKnight on 04/06/2019 - 20:29

Does this beat out the previous best deal from Bank of Sydney a couple of years ago?

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/261924

Or does the hassle of not having an actual bank to deal with, offset accounts and etc. sort of negate the deal?
Maxdax on 04/06/2019 - 20:53

currently with CBA and soon to go down to 3.57% after the rate drops on 25th, the best advantage with CBA is that money held in redraw can reduce repayments so good for cash flow, not with Athena. So if you start with $1M and win the lotto and put 900k back, repayments are still at $1M ( correct me if I'm wrong), CBA can/will reduce to 100k and they will increase it IF you dip in your redraw, and you can reduce your repayments online without speaking to anyone. Also, how do I use the equity to buy my next property as Atena don't do new loans (yet), so not really suitable if you are an investor or looking to upgrade using existing property(?) You may have to go to another bank which might require you to refinance if they are not able to go second on the CT. Also not having an offset is a big disadvantage even with PPOR cause all of us have our daily transaction accounts and normally everyone keeps some amount there. If this is not an offset, it then doesn't save interest on your mortgage, over 30 years it could be a good 4 digit figure you may pay extra on the loan. These are some of the basic features and I haven't even gone into multiple offsets, free credit cards etc ( which I all currently use), so doesn't make sense for me but YMMV
- siuol on 05/06/2019 - 12:37
  
  Thanks for the insight, do you happen to know the rate for investment property with CBA P&I?
newbiesh on 04/06/2019 - 21:45

+1

I considered them contacted them and they were very fast responding etc.
I couldn't go with them as I needed 100% offset account unfortunately
tokziktigah on 04/06/2019 - 22:36

+1

Would be keen in the future if they had an offset account!
Lancerx on 04/06/2019 - 22:46

+1

no offset account I guess?
- kev98 on 05/06/2019 - 06:15
  
  no
khell on 05/06/2019 - 02:07

+1

Please please please come out with an offset account. As an investor switching to you is never going to happen if you only offer a redraw.
xorprime on 05/06/2019 - 08:36

I received an email from Athena immediately after the RBA rate announcement telling me that my repayment is now $100 cheaper because they passed the rate decrease in full.

@Athena, please make an offset account though their redraw is almost similar to offset by offsetting your interest payment. It is just slow on drawing and depositing because it is not a transaction account.
- [Deactivated] on 05/06/2019 - 11:46
  
  +1
  
  If you ever turn the property into an investment property, there are negative tax implications if you used a redraw instead of an offset and need to use that money elsewhere for non-deductible purposes (eg buying a new home to live in).
  
  It won't matter that much assuming you're 100% certain you will never ever move without selling. If you do it could cost you tens of thousands of dollars by having a redraw instead of an offset.
sj2can on 05/06/2019 - 10:16

Say there's another 25bps cut in ~Aug, what are people's opinions on how that will reflect in the SVR rates… Are we likely to see any further reduction? i.e. I hear comments that because of banks overseas funding, rates can't go much lower.
big bill broonzy on 05/06/2019 - 12:58

+1

I'm paying 3.75 with HSBC :( they jacked it up form 3.65 only 6 months in. This seems like a great deal.
- joerd on 10/06/2019 - 16:07
  
  yeah i asked them to go down after they jacked up to 3.75 from 3.70- ideally to what they offer new customers. got told best they could do was 3.7 unless I borrowed another 50k. Seems like the sort of stuff royal commission wasnt too keen on…
oleglap on 05/06/2019 - 13:00

I might be stupid but I don't understand the maths behind comparison rate…
3.34% - 0.01% loyalty = 3.33%…and given that my understanding is being a 5-year discount, that 0.01% has to be amortised over the 25 year comparison period - so in reality it's something like 0.002% discount over the life of the loan (slightly more because of higher principal at the start than the end of repayment term).

I get there there are no Athena fees (although there are still government fees of $260 - $440) but I don't understand where the other 0.03% discount comes from…
- aleayr on 05/06/2019 - 19:40
  
  +2
  
  The loyalty discount is 0.01% per year up to 5 years. So 3.34% becomes 3.29% after 5 years, that's why the comparison rate is 3.30%. It's not a 0.01% discount for a 5 year period.
  - oleglap on 06/06/2019 - 00:36
    
    So it's 0.01% in first year,
    0.02% in second year,
    0.03% in third year,
    0.04% in fourth year,
    0.05% in fifth year,
    0.05% in sixth year and beyond?
    
    Or does it start with zero in first and then kicks in the second year?
    
    I can't seem to find any of this info on their website. They way I read it initially was you get 0.01% off for first 5 years, but your explanation makes more sense given the loyalty part.
    - Numpty21 on 06/06/2019 - 09:25
      
      +1
      
      Loyalty bonus
      
      Make all your repayments on time and we’ll reward you with a 0.01% discount for each of the first 5 years you’re with us. That adds up to a massive 0.05% off the life of your loan by year 5!
    - aleayr on 06/06/2019 - 13:34
      
      +2
      
      Numpty21 has given the text of the loyalty bonus, from https://www.athena.com.au/home-loans (under the Loyalty bonus section), which makes it clearer :)
      
      As for what it is in each year, I believe it's 0.01% at the end of year 1/start of year 2, and then accumulates from there (it wouldn't make sense to me for a 'loyalty' bonus to start as soon as you took out the loan)
      
      So, advertised 3.34% rate for year 1.
      3.33% (0.01% discount) for year 2 (been with Athena for 1 year).
      3.32% (0.02% discount) for year 3 (been with Athena for 2 years).
      3.31% (0.03% discount) for year 4 (been with Athena for 3 years).
      3.30% (0.04% discount) for year 5 (been with Athena for 4 years).
      3.29% (0.05% discount) for year 6 (been with Athena for 5 years).
      
      Hope that makes sense.
hishaken on 05/06/2019 - 18:13

offset account?
- Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 11/06/2019 - 10:19
  
  Hey hishaken, while we don't have a technical separate offset account (like the banks do), what we do have is a fee free redraw facility. So you can make extra repayments into your redraw and it will instantly reduce your principal balance and the interest you’re charged by 100% of the amount you put in. You can access your redraw anytime and it's fee free to use. You can read more info on our redraw here: https://www.athena.com.au/learn/redraw
Ihansama on 06/06/2019 - 11:06

3.19% at Reduce Home Loans
- sme73 on 07/06/2019 - 11:50
  
  No redraw on that and some considerations > https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/428882#comment-6788194
  - Gerry H on 11/06/2019 - 08:55
    
    yes thats what im worried about. read similar things on whirlpool too. wat do existing customers of athena experience with rate rise?
Lfc5cups on 09/06/2019 - 20:07

When are you planning to participate in the NPP?
- Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 11/06/2019 - 13:24
  
  +1
  
  Hey Lfc5cups, we have this on our roadmap but don't have an estimated timing to share yet.
  - Lfc5cups on 12/06/2019 - 15:42
    
    +1
    
    Thanks. This will make a huge difference to lack of offset account if there is no wait of 2-3 days to move money in/out.
joerd on 10/06/2019 - 16:06

looks good. However The online calculator appears to be incorrect on the website (have checked it against a few other banks/CU. The repayment figure (either weekly, fortnightly or Monthly) is higher. can you confirm?
- Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 11/06/2019 - 10:15
  
  Hey joerd. Our weekly and fortnightly repayments are higher because lenders calculate weekly and fortnightly in different ways. We take your monthly repayment and divide it by 2 for fortnightly and 4 for weekly, and that’s what you pay every week or fortnight. It means you pay off more of your loan faster than other lenders who take the total annual repayments and divide by 26 or 52. It all adds up so you end up getting an extra month ahead on your repayments per year, which can save up to 4 years on your loan. The extra goes into your redraw that you can access whenever you want.
  
  With monthly repayment, we calculate it using a standard loan “amortisation” approach. This is the way lenders take the loan amount, plus the interest over the life of the loan and divide it into the term to get a standard repayment amount. This repayment amount never changes over the life of the loan unless something else changes (like your borrowing amount, or interest rates).
  
  Does your repayment figure look higher for monthly too?
  - joerd on 11/06/2019 - 12:17
    
    Yep. The bank i'm with divide the monthly rate by two and place the funds in a holding account until the monthly sweeps the full amount(after 2nd fortnightly payment). However their calculator shows a lesser amount if you pay fortnightly because it's a true fortnight not a half monthly (despite the payment being half monthly and there being no way for the payment to be a true fortnight)
    
    Is there a way to have the fortnightly payment applied to loan balance? Reason I ask is because for cashflow purposes I'd prefer a slightly smaller amount (fortnight vs half monthly) so i can use those surplus funds to invest in ASX200. In current scenario the surplus just shows up randomly
    
    Also do you still offer the 3.24% ?
    
    I think the best I get with incumbent is going to be 3.48% but they are a big lender so have less propensity to increase (outside of RBA rate increase). If i can get at least a 0.2% discount on incumbent that probably enough reason to shift.
    - Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 11/06/2019 - 16:08
      
      Hey joerd, I'd recommend you speak with our Loan Experts team regarding your situation as they'll be able to let you know straight away if that would be possible. You can buzz them on 13 35 35, SMS on 0429 333 555 or email [email protected].
      
      Our current OO P&I rate is 3.34%. Customers who switched over to us on the OO P&I during our opening offer would be getting 3.24% since they got their loyalty bonus upfront and doubled. Our opening offer ended in March so it's not available anymore.
      
      I'm not sure about big lenders having less propensity to increase their rates (outside of an RBA rate increase). Based on a few Ozbargainers' anecdotes here with some big lenders and comments in a few other home loan bargain posts, it doesn't seem uncommon for them to raise their rates and often without sufficient explanation. Just be careful of rate bait where they get you in with an attractive lower rates but hike it up later while offering new customers a lower rate.
      
      We're not like this at Athena. A core part of our offering is to have one of the best rates in the market for all of our customers, new and existing. We want to offer better value and service than the big four banks and even better than other online lenders out there. Simply put, we won’t be raising rates unnecessarily. We value our existing customers and don’t believe it’s fair to provide discounts for new customers while making our loyal customers pay more for their loans. We don’t charge any fees to get in and no exit fee. We partly charge no exit as a commitment to always staying super sharp.
      - joerd on 12/06/2019 - 09:23
        
        +1
        
        @icedtea229: Thanks for your answers- appreciate the information.
Gerry H on 11/06/2019 - 08:54

are there fixed rates? hows existing customers experience? i read about some small loaners raising the variable rate after sucking them in with very low rates. do existing customers experience unusual rate rise unrelated to RBA?
ozshaz on 19/06/2019 - 13:47

@icedtea229: Thanks for the great rates.

One quick question, APRA had proposed to reduce the mortgage lending test rates - https://www.apra.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/apra-pro…

When is Athena planning to implement those recommendations ? Any idea? Thanks
- Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 19/06/2019 - 15:34
  
  Hey ozshaz! We think this is positive news for Australians and are keeping an eye out for APRA’s final recommendations. The consultation period for their proposal closed yesterday and we’re waiting for the final version of their guidelines so we can review what we need to do.
macfudge on 27/06/2019 - 14:41

@icedtea229 - What would you say would be general turn around time on an application? Assume the online application included all required paperwork and ZipID completed the day after application submitted. I'm now on 2 weeks and still not complete…. The last person I spoke to said you were "very busy" after your rate announcement but I'm really not impressed with the service so far.

Would be interested to hear if this is considered normal or not.
- Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 27/06/2019 - 15:27
  
  Hey macfudge, we've been a bit overwhelmed by all the love so we are taking longer than usual to get back to customers. Sorry the service hasn't met your expectations so far and thanks for letting us know. I can assure you that our Loan Experts are doing their best to get back to everyone asap. Currently the average turnaround time is 1-2 weeks.
  
  Could you PM me your loan application number and I can take a look into it.
  - macfudge on 27/06/2019 - 21:03
    
    +1
    
    Thanks - all good - unconditional approval just came through about 4 hours ago :-)
    - Employeeicedtea229 @ Athena Home Loan on 28/06/2019 - 09:24
      
      That's great news macfudge! Looking forward to having you join Athena :)
Numpty21 on 02/07/2019 - 15:26

+2

The RBA announced a drop in the cash rate of 0.25% and my rate has already been reduced by the full 0.25%
Well done Athena

This was posted 4 years 10 months 21 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

Athena Home Loans: Variable Refinance Owner Occ P&I 3.34% (3.30% CR), Investment IO 3.84% (3.74% CR)

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