1.99% for <60% LVR (1.99% CR). No fees, great service. Their automatic rate match is the best, don't have to always be haggling for the best rate.
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1.99% Variable Home Loan (Comparison Rate 1.99%, <= 60% LVR) @ Athena Home Loans
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CoastalScott on 10/05/2021 - 09:17 athena.com.au (1823 clicks)
Last edited 10/05/2021 - 09:25 by 1 other user
Last edited 10/05/2021 - 09:25 by 1 other user
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they offer free redraw..
Redraw is totally different with Offset.
Money in Redraw—> not your money
Money in Offset —> Your money@MuddyClear: Athena doesn't offer offset.
Edit: Why the downvote? The parent comment assumes that there is an offset account:
Withdraw money from redraw and put it in offset […]
@lgacb08: Why do you care about random people's comments mate?
I'm kidding. Not worried about the neg at all, just wanted to see if I'm missing anything.
For PPOR it's fine, for investment property, redraw can get complex if you're not careful.
There's tax implications between the two depending on your situation. It's why so many people opt for offset instead.
I never understood these tax implications. I'm using the redraw atm, so do I need to worry in any way regarding tax?
@cosjav: Do you plan on converting your property to an investment property down the track? If not, then there's nothing to worry. If you do, you can't redraw funds and claim the additional interest as tax deductible unless you use those funds towards acquiring an asset which generates taxable income.
@neilpatrickharris: Oh. What if I refinance to another provider and then change to investment property?
@cosjav: Doesn't matter. Your loan becomes contaminated. You need to keep track of it for life and pro rate the investment vs non investment portion for deductible interest calculations.
@[Deactivated]: The 5 year rule is not relevant to this. It just means that you should be able to produce records dating back 5 years, doesn’t mean that after 5 years you no longer need to keep track of the investment vs non-investment split.
@neilpatrickharris: Yes, you are right. Imagine doing an audit when there is no record. Hence ATO usually review upto 5 years. Similar with OSR.
I could be very wrong. But thats the understanding on my end.
@[Deactivated]: I still don't get this…
I have a loan with Athena and have some money in my redraw but I have never redrawn this money for the purposes of creating another loan for an Investment property.
Are you saying that the fact that I have a loan that has a redraw facility I have immediately contaminated my loan?
I guess I have used money from my redraw to pay bills and things like that but nothing in the way of another loan.
I am planning to do a knock down and rebuild of my property and build a duplex with one half becoming an investment. In order to do this though I was going to refinance and convert my loan to a construction loan which Athena doesn't support anyway. Is this going to be problematic in terms of tax?
I googled a little and could find a couple of threads here but still cant see how that applies to me:
https://www.propertychat.com.au/community/threads/fix-contam…
https://www.propertychat.com.au/community/threads/tax-tip-44…@cosjav: Speak to an accountant with regard to your own personal circumstances and get a written advice if necessary.
Forums are only so good for general information.
@cosjav: Bills for that property? Otherwise, as soon as you withdraw from an investment loan for other purposes, the interest on that loan is no longer 100% tax deductible. You would need to be keeping a spreadsheet and calulating the portion tax deductible.
@SlickMick: How is that not 100%? Does not matter how big or small the loan, it enables your business, it's your business expense..
@Den: hence the question. If it is only for bills for that property, then you're right. If he used the redraw for another purpose, then it's not.
@SlickMick: Ok, I understand but the bit I don't get is that I'm using that redraw money now for other things while it is not an investment and when I convert to investment I will no longer have a redraw and will even be with a different bank so why is my use of the redraw relevant now that it is not an investment?
@cosjav: Do I understand correctly that this loan you have redrawn from is not an investment loan, and you intend on refinancing?
I just re-read your previous comments: the new loan will be for constructing both a personal use residence and an investment property?
You'll definitely need to be able to determine what portion of the loan is for the investment property, and only that portion will be tax deductable. Sounds a bit tricky, unless it's fair to say in would be exactly 50/50. I'd recommend professional advice.
But yes, sorry for the confusion, redrawing on a non-investment loan isn't an issue, unless/ until you want it to become an investment loan.
@SlickMick: Ok thanks, yes I will be getting professional advice before starting such a project but was just wondering if I have somehow screwed things up from a tax deduction perspective for that potential future project just by using my redraw now.
I don't want the loan to become contaminated.
Use a filter
maybe antibacterial wipes can help
They are going to release offset shortly
Im with athena and got an email from them that offset will be offered sometime in 2021.
Also fixed rates will be offered in 2021
When they offer offset, I am in.
Athena will kill it when they do this.
It's the only reason I haven't moved over.
That means they become a full license bank? They needs to get ADI license in order to offer offset AFAIK.
Problem is would they be covered by Australian Government deposit guarantee scheme? If not, would the money in offset be at risk if they have financial troubles?
Money in redraw is at much more of a risk. Offset it your own money
@Birdseye: Not really, the loan owing would be smaller if something bad were to happen i.e. you won't lose any money. Just you won't have cash available.
@Birdseye: How common is it that banks would actually say to someone they can't use the redraw facility? For instance if the person lost their job, and the bank then doubted the ability of the person to make repayments? Does this actually happen or are the disadvantages of a redraw more theoretical.
@Tleyx: It seems that MeBank is not a CCR participant :)
No, CCR is not Credence Clearwater Revival.
I would like it if a bank had financial troubles,
and had a computer crash or something like that,
so that all my debt can be wiped clean.I don't need a Government guarantee in that situation !
@whyisave: At the end of the day, it is just a general ledger.
They back it up, and keep copies of all the input and output sources too, so reconciliation in a time of Disaster is not just possible, but automatic and timely.
Don't hope they'll forget your loan, or not make an adjustment if it was ever a few cents in your favour.
The only difference between a small software company and Bank is a banking license. A back-office ledger, website, business rules, security and regulatory approvals, etc. these are all a function of general operations.
@resisting the urge: I think you missed my point.
I was highlighting the concept of usury.
If you give a man a gun, he can rob a bank
If you give a man a bank, he can rob the world
Agreed, and I don't know why they don't offer home loans for properties built in the last 5 years in my area, according to their online assessment tool.
I believe offset is in the pipline for this year so keep an eye out.
Athena has had these features listed on its site as “coming soon” for over a year and so far as I can see no progress has been made?
2nd as soon as they offer a real offset i'll be jumping to them
Sure it's a great rate.
I tried them and they knocked me back for a refinance on my owner occupied house that is <50% LVR.
Reason is because an investment property I have that is neutral geard didn't fit in with my 100k income. I was $600 per month short and they referred me onto their in-house brokers to outsource my business to another bank whilst keeping commissions for themselves.Make sure you fit into their tight lending criteria before they scratch you off their list and mark your credit history.
I've taken my business elsewhere…
Same thing happened with me without the IP. And it was recorded on the credit file.
They have also upped the referral bonus from $250 to $500 for a limited time.
Any advice on decent option with offset?
They are about to release offset
I hope they do. I think they've been saying they'd release an app since 2019 which still isn't here. Also apparently someone was told fixed rates were coming but nothing yet on that front either.
Tic Toc allows you to fix your rate at 1.89 whilst still offering an offset with that loan
After Variable
Also interested to know if there are any options with multiple offset accounts?
Suncorp and Newcastle Permanent were two banks that we found that allowed multiple offsets. Apparently Macquarie was going to too according to our broker, but they took too long so we left them. There are pretty rare, but makes budgeting different buckets of funds so much easier
Thanks, we are currently with Macquarie and have multiple offset accounts (which work great).
Gonna find out what Suncorp and Newcastle Permanent's rates are…
@fortunecookie: I'm curious, but what do you use multiple offset accounts for? Struggling to understand the motivation.
@fortunecookie: Ah, OK, different strokes for different folks. I'm fine with my allocation of funds sitting in a spreadsheet and putting the cash wherever makes sense, no need for my account structure to mirror my budgetary structure, but I guess it's nice and clear if it does!
Bankwest offer this (and so I guess CBA should too)
HomeStar Finance has 1.79% variable for <=60% LVR with free offset. Have been with them for over 3 years.
It seems that HomeStar Finance is not a CCR participant :)
No, CCR is not Credence Clearwater Revival.
homestar = months of wait! refinance with the takes ages!! buyer beware
Mine was processed in a reasonable time frame. They are slower than traditional banks but the interest rates more than make up for it, IMHO
freedomlend is pretty good with offset.
variable 1.97% with offset.
some of the application fees are reimbursed, not all.
It seems that Freedomlend is not a CCR participant :)
No, CCR is not Credence Clearwater Revival.
Your point being?
What do you see the benefits of CCR participation as?
@thydzik: A lender's CCR participation has no benefit to you as a client.
That's why when a lender participants in CCR, I give it a :(
And when a lender does NOT participate in CCR, I give it a :)@tg: @thydzik: It is a change to the law, made by the rabble of ineptitude that agree to do whatever their donors would like, that should instead be maintaining the law in the interests of the people, or their constituents at least. Instead changed the law in the interests of credit providers. They are allowed to collect and share granular data over the last 2 years- but in real terms get to mine a real time feed of your ability to pay credit accounts. When you make an application or become a credit customer, they simply add your account to the list they presently check every month or so, and store output in their online consumer datastore. This gives them instant access from thereon in, so they can evaluate risk, select you for membership of an 'at-risk customer' dataset, the chance you might respond to a marketing campaign, check your suitability for a product, or sell your data on to the highest bidder.
On top of that it mandates participating institutions to share your PII.
A commercial goldmine of consumer data for the likes of Skynet, Equifax and all the other globalcorps, sold to the public on the promise that it would somehow help consumers who had a bad payment or two on their credit card and were then refused home loans from thereon in.
When I tried for a home loan I tried ubank first. They were horrible to deal with, then tried Athena.
Best thing Ive done. Thank you ubank for not replying during application process and give me the opportunity to go with athena instead.
It seems that uBank is a CCR participant :(
No, CCR is not Credence Clearwater Revival.
Can you elaborate on your CCR dislike?
Question, does the LVR take into account the amount you have in redraw on your current loan?
ie if I have $300k left on my loan and have $30k in redraw, would the LVR be based on the $270k?
No it doesn't because they see redraw as money you can take back
Oh I see, thank you!
Still a lower rate than what I'm on anyway atm, 2.65% :(
So if I refinance, should I withdraw that $30k first or will it get added onto Athena's redraw in the process?
I don't believe this isnt the case if you refinance though, because assuming mangobango doesnt take out the redraw amounts in current loan, you start a new mortgage (with Athena presumably) with a lower loan balance and cannot withdraw anymore - and thus will factor into Athena's LVR's rates..
Also ask for a in-person valuation if you think their valuation is insufficient. They "desktop" valued my house 50k less than what the in-person valuation did and resulted in me being pushed into the next LVR bracket with better rates.
No cashback or bonuses meh… a lot of other deals are offering similar rates but with $3-4k bonus sign ups.
link to one that provides same variable rates but with $3-4k signup? I looked, couldn't find any.
Just do 1 year fixed and then start planning to shift T 10 months. BoQ offers offset with fixed 1 year loans. 2.19% with 3k cash back
They're not comparable.
Fixed vs variable.
Fixed rates fees - including application, monthly, and settlement fees
Worse rates or equal depending on LVR.You'd need to link to a comparable variable rate with a sign on cashback bonus..
@lawyerz: fix vs variable - meh. It's a 1 year fixed loan. not a big deal. If I want I can refix.
Got most of my fees waived…so again meh. It was better than my other loan by .5%
definitely higher rate but it's got an offset which I've got a bit sitting in.
after 10 months, I'll switch to another provider that offers 4K cash back and repeat. If you swap regularly before 2 years you're out in front.Comparison rates are only good up to a certain value - features like an offset can make a huge difference to the value of a loan with a provider.
That's all good if those banks don't do bait and switch tactics.
I guess you can always churn and refinance
Moving to Athena home loans from loans.com.au was a good decision on my part. Loans.com.au took forever to pass on rate cuts, and new customers always had better rates and they wouldn't match.
The entire process was genuinely easy to get through. Sadly they don't do those 4k cashback other banks do and if you were hardworking enough you could probably make more money jumping from mortgage to mortgage claiming those cashbacks.
Their variable rates are probably among the best around.
I would apply, but they still dont service the sunshine coast. Or atleast my area
FYI
Athena is a CCR participant.Credence Clearwater Revival?
Comprehensive Credit Reporting
Any cashbacks around at the moment? Just did the St George one and looking to churn again.
Easy Street have had this rate for a long time and with 100% offset with much better LVR
https://www.easystreet.com.au/home-loans
1.95% 1.99%
You forgot to mention borrowing over $750 000.
Yes this is correct although not hard in this current market.
Also some feedback with them I had my on personal loan specialist who I dealt with the whole way and was very professional and easy to talk to.
It seems that Easy Street is not a CCR participant :)
No, CCR is not Credence Clearwater Revival.
took them 8 weeks then they knocked me back.. tried refinancng investment property worth 650k.. 250k left on loan.. I am a high income contractor, property rents out for 580 a week, property is positively geared and income produced well above the mortgage repayments.
Went with St George and they approved my application within a week and they are giving 4k cash back..
Still worth making the switch from 3.01% to 2.54% with them? way above the LVR lol like 85% but every $$$ counts for me
Not many can put down 40% deposit…
You forget that there are other people along in their mortgages as well… Not everyone is a new loan, many can refinance. if you have 20% down you just go onto their 80% LVR rate which itself is competitive, and as you pay off your rate drops, can't see any situation you'd lose though.
All new and existing customers are on the same rate - which the one thing I like most about Athena.
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I would really like to go with Athena… IF they offered an offset.