Just now I got this email from Athena…
You've been dropped!
At 2.30pm today, the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) announced a drop in the cash rate of 0.15%. We’ve decided to pass on the entire rate cut to you straight away.
Thats why I love them…
The more you pay down your loan, the more we’ll lower your rate. Automatically. It’s an Aussie first!
Pay down your loan sooner with:
ZERO Athena fees
Free Redraw
Automatic rate match
Drop your own rate
$250 credit each for referee and referrer.
Yeah St George did 4k recently. Maybe even now.
It took a while but I got a rate cut (left Bankwest) and 4K for my trouble (minus about 1k in total fees new and old bank)
What are the steps?
https://www.stgeorge.com.au/personal/home-loans/refinancing
I’m not associated. Just apply online and someone will contact you eventually and tell you what they need. Getting all your expenses figured out first would help.
With bankwest as well on the complete home loan package. Did you go across at the 80% LVR to a similar St George (with offset)? Or different product? Keen to know how you find it. Bankwest also wouldn't lower our rates beyond 3.03% unless we paid down to 80% - even then it was 2.83% pre rate cut.
Keen to see where else we can go with an offset.
if only st george werent part of the westpac group :(
Ah forgot about that. That was pretty bad of Westpac.
I know this is variable but given the base rate is now only 0.1% I don’t think it can be lower any time soon.
If the other banks lower their fixed rates by just 0.1%, e.g. 2.09% for 2 years, then you still end up better as the $4,000 cash back (which is pretty normal lately and I assume all true Ozbargainers have been aware of) would save you a further 0.50% rate for a 400k loan, and your effective rate over the fixed 2 years would be just 1.5%-1.6%.
You also get to deal with a real bank with full services such as offset accounts…
Also I haven’t tried but it seems seasoned Ozbargainers may stick to variable loans only and jump to the next bank after 6 months for the next cash back deals.
Good point on sticking with variable. I’m on variable and refinancing every 2-3 months.
Did you get new cash back every time? Also does getting credit check every 2-3 months afftect your ability to get new loans in anyway?
Yes, got a cashback each time. My credit score has gone down but not to the point where it’s stopped me for being approved.
@El-Rhi: Are the cashbacks not subject to clawback periods set by the lender, to discourage borrowers from refinancing too frequently?
Not for an investment property - what are the restrictions for the redraw facility?
I understand that money in redraw will reduce the amount of interest I pay monthly.
Say $800k purchase, 75% LVR, $600k loan.
If I put $400k in redraw then interest is calculated based on $200k loan (25% LVR).
Assuming I still pay the same P&I monthly, 8 months later can I withdraw $400k?
Redraw money not count for LVR calculation
I will definitely wait to see what offers are about to come out.
I used to be with Athena - some good points but was a mixed experience.
The best part is they usually pass on rate cuts instantly - they passed a partial on only once when I was with them. Really scummy practice the other lenders sitting on these.
Redraw - not sure if this has changed since 7-8 months ago but they only allowed in maximum of $20k.
Statements - you get one every six months. No way of getting a statement earlier than this, other lenders do not like screenshot of the internet banking portal to evidence your borrowing.
Paperwork - done through electronic signatures and having to print yourself and send to a third party called legal stream. A number of follow ups through a contact Center required to check everything was ok despite hand delivering to legal stream.
The biggest negative was chasing them for 4 days for a investment loan query only to receive a generic sorry we cannot help because of the COVID situation unfolding. It was like Telco service for something important as home/investment loan facilities. Took the application to HSBC who ended up being cheaper as I fixed a portion of it, and had refinance and preapproval sorted in 1/2 of the time of the Athena application with a lot less hassle. Everyone’s mileage may vary but I won’t be rushing back to them.
How much did you have in your redraw?
I'm keen to find out and could you request for another redraw?
I made the mistake of financing over to Athena for a lower amount than the lender before them.
Athena would not allow me to increase my loan facility with them even though I was only borrowing half the value of my home.
So if you put $40k in your redraw and the max they allowed you to withdraw was still $20k?
@wjb: Sorry to clarify
If you have 200k in your redraw you need to do 10 transactions of 20k to move it out.
If you get a loan with them for example 500k and you have redraw available of 200k, it was difficult to increase the size of the 500k loan to tap into additional redraw.
Love Athena! Best move I have ever made.
I'm assuming there's something wrong with loans.com.au at 1.99% LVR <= 80% ?
Edit: ok I see it's for 12 months only, dodgy advertising
they have a bit of a reputation for rate creep too
how to get 2.19 % out of westpac if you are already with them?
U can’t switch to that flexi loan for existing? That’s honeymoon rate as I read it but in 2 yrs u probably will look again anyway
Homestar finance is 1.79% with offset account ~~ 60% LVR
https://homestarfinance.com.au/star-gold
Saw it on facebook post
TicToc is 2.19% too with the added benefit of an optional offset and you can walk into an Adelaide or Bendigo Bank and withdraw/deposit cash.
TicToc are pretty bad with passing cuts to existing customers. I signed up late 2019 and my rate is 2.69%
Yeah, got to agree with you there. Also late 2019, 2.59%. When they do pass cuts, it takes 1-2 months to be effective as well
Seems they stopped passing over the new customers rate to existing. They used to.
So you going to jump ship? I'm going to look out for a similar new loan (offset, no annual fee, etc) with cashback. Possibly the suncorp offer but details are sketchy.
I keep reading in the news that home loan providers may be in trouble as the "repayment holiday" period ends. If a loan provider does go into administration, what is the situation with money in offset accounts? Does it get subtracted from the loan when you transfer the loan away, or do you become an unsecured creditor with the home loan provider?
with westpac is it better having an offset account? considering they rate is higher than their normal packages?
We went with Westpac with our home application.
They matched the offset account package rate to their basic home loan without even asking.
how recent?
Settled in the last month.
NB: The old rate of the basic package, now their new 2.19% rate introductory offer.
People shouldn't make the mistake thinking that their money is safe in a bank. The $250k bank deposit guarantee isn't going to prevent the banks taking your money. The APRA made sure of that. The banks can legally take your money and use them to buy their own stocks making you a shareholder.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-16/coronavirus-crisis-he…
I'll link the legislation later.
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislat…
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018A00010
What are you proposing we do with this information ?
Don't buy a house with a mortgage, and live on a park bench instead ?
Draw all your money from the bank and put it under your bed ?
Not keeping ones money in banks is a start.
Got some deal on tin foil hats?
This is absurd. The incident the article references was in Cyprus, not a bastion of strong financial markets. The fact the senate was investigating it doesn’t mean it could happen. If you want to keep your money under the mattress, please provide your address below.
@Bozman: BTW. It wouldn't be the first time for the government to take possession of peoples assets. The Gold Tax Act 1939 was enacted and enforced for 11 years requiring people to surrender 1/2 of their gold for every transaction over 9 Australian lb per troy.
You're missing the fact that even if the $250K bank guarantee didn't exist at all, the banks are still by far the safest place to keep your money.
@Nom: How safe do you think your funds are when there is a bank run? You do realise that the bank doesn't hold your deposit. The RBA removed the SRD (Statutory Reserve Deposit) requirement for banks back in 1988. This means the banks can lend out money that they don't have. You lend them $250k and they turn around and lend $1.25m to five borrowers.
OP, what is DTI for Athena?
Just follow this web, you can get idea about it.. you don't have to give your name or any personal identification..
https://www.athena.com.au/start
Another thing to note is that redraw accounts are not part of the government guarantee scheme. https://moneysmart.gov.au/glossary/australian-government-gua…
Agreed, particularly in the current market where cash backs are becoming common. I am waiting to see if Westpac pass on the cut for the 2.29 variable with 3K CB