Owner Occupier Variable Home Loan 2.19% (60 - 70% LVR), 2.24% (70% - 80% LVR) @ Athena Home Loans

124

Go to Deal

LNight Wachman on 13/05/2022 - 23:48 athena.com.au (257 clicks)
Last edited 14/05/2022 - 00:28 by 1 other user

Athena Home Loans is now offering owner occupier home loans at the following rates:

'Celebrate' 2.14% (<60% LVR)
'Evaporate' 2.19% (60 - 70% LVR);
'Liberate' 2.24% (70% - 80% LVR).

I have had my loans with Athena now for 4 years.

The pros of having your loan with Athena are:

• they do not charge any fees, unlike many other smaller lenders. For example Tic-Toc charges a $10 monthly offset account fee, whereas Athena offers a free offset account;

• they guarantee that the rate you get as an existing customer is the same rate which they market to new customers. Many other small lenders (e.g U-Bank and Loans.com) start you on a cheap rate but after a little while, bump you up whilst still marketing the cheap rate you started on to new customers;

• the rates they offer are among the cheapest of any lender;

• they give new customers a $250 bonus if the new customer enters a referral code in their loan application given to them by an existing customer;

• the application process is simple and intuitive.

The cons of going with Athena are:

• they are very strict and conservative in their serviceability assessments and lending critera. For example, they would not recognise my rental income on my self-managed investment property, despite the income being shown on my tax returns;

• they won't give you the same borrowing capacity as the bigger lenders (so you will get approved for less than what you would with a bigger lender);

• they do not lend to you unless you at least have a 20% deposit;

• they do not lend for off-the-plan apartments, construction loans, or in certain locations;

• they don't do split loans.

If you can get through, the savings are really good. You won't need to keep calling every 6 months to fight to have your rate reduced which is what I was doing with my previous lender.

Related Stores

Athena Home Loan

• 

  Tyrx on 14/05/2022 - 00:08

  Athena is reliant on debt funding and wholesale markets for funding the loans, which is the worst type of lender to be with in an environment where interest rates are rising. Lots of people here aren't old enough to remember what went down during the GFC with such lenders…

  Besides, with the exception of osko (outgoing only) TicToc is better in every aspect if you strip away the fancy marketing.

• 

  Night Wachman on 14/05/2022 - 00:18

  +4

  Hi Tryx

  The GFC was caused by irresponsible lending. US lenders were lending people with no job and no assets money that they could not afford to repay, and they were packaging up those bad debts and selling them as investment vehicles to banks and super funds. A lot of people could not afford to repay those loans, and defaulted at the same time. Then when the lenders tried to repossess the properties and sell them, no one wanted to buy them and the lenders lost money (hence why they call it sub-prime lending). The difference here is that Athena are extremely conservative in who they lend to and in how much they lend. On average, Athena borrowers are about $40K ahead on their loan repayments.

  Many lenders are reliant on debt funding and wholesale markets for their loans. If Athena suddenly decides to radically jack up its rates beyond the RBA rate rises (which they won't because that would destroy their business), it is easy to refinance out to a different lender. The cost of refinancing to a different lender is about $500. That's a risk that is worth taking for many people who are paying more than that in extra fees and interest with their current lender.

  Also, not a single lender in Australia went bust during the GFC. Nor did any lender drastically jack up rates.

  • 

    Tyrx on 14/05/2022 - 00:46

    -4

    I'm well aware of the reasons behind why the GFC occurred and its relevance to Australia - I don't need a lesson in that. You have to be either completely ignorant or wilfully misleading to pretend that the non-bank mortgage market in Australia didn't experience a full-scale retreat during the GFC. The only ones who survived (aka didn't wind up their loaning business, or get purchased out for their customer books due to not being profitable) were the businesses who focused on brokering mortgages.

    Many lenders are reliant on debt funding and wholesale markets for their loans. If Athena suddenly decides to radically jack up its rates beyond the RBA rate rises (which they won't because that would destroy their business)

    It's the fact that they rely LESS on those markets which will allow them to maintain better rates and maintain profitable margins in those type of economic environments. Traditional banks have several mechanisms (e.g. customer deposits) which allow them to fundamentally deal better with those environments. Non-bank lenders simply will not be able to compete with the lower funding costs compared to traditional bank, and when margins start to become pressured, the cracks will start to show.

    it is easy to refinance out to a different lender.

    Ah. So you were not around in 2008 then. It's easy to refinance out now. Not so much when the business fires all their staff and is running on skeleton crews while they find someone willing to purchase their books.

    Athena borrowers are about $40K ahead on their loan repayments

    This is oddly specific. Do you work for Athena? You only show up to post comments on Athena "deals".

    • 

      Night Wachman on 14/05/2022 - 00:55

      Hi Tyrx, I was around when the GFC hit and I remember it clearly. Can you please point me to an example of where a lender drastically increased its interest rates at that time? I don't recall it ever happening, but happy to be corrected.

      It should also be kept in mind that non-bank lenders have significant cost efficiencies which banks do not (e.g no brick and mortar locations and lower head counts).

      I disagree with the suggestion that non-bank lenders will not be able to compete if interest rates rise. Rises in cash rates affect all lenders. I believe that things will remain pretty much the same except you add 0.25% to the rate (whether it is a bank or non-bank loan) each time the cash rate increases by that amount.

      I don't work for Athena. That figure I cited is published on their website. I did my due diligence before I refinanced with them. Just trying to share my experience and insights so that people can have the information to make an informed decision. I find that people tend to be scared of something different and new, which is why many allow themselves to get ripped off by the big banks.

      • 

        Tyrx on 14/05/2022 - 01:19

        Can you please point me to an example of where a lender drastically increased its interest rates at that time? I don't recall it ever happening, but happy to be corrected.

        You were the one that brought that up - I never mentioned it. The point I made was that the margins of loaning products in the non-bank mortgage market became squeezed due to them lacking a diversified funding mix to the point where loaning products were unprofitable, resulting in a mass exodus. The individuals who held loans with those companies subsequently found themselves with new lenders, and often found themselves stuck with them due to an incapability of refinancing elsewhere. There were huge issues which came with that. There was a 2008 inquiry in the house of representatives which goes into the whole sage that you should really read to "refresh" your memory.

        withdrawal of important alternative credit providers (eg, Macquarie Bank, RAMS, Virgin Money, GMAC and Seiza
        to name a few) and a dramatic reduction in the capacity of smaller providers to offer credit (eg, Adelaide Bank,
        Challenger Financial Services, Members Equity Bank, Credit Union Australia, ANZ Bank’s Origin operation,
        Resimac, and Heritage Building Society). The interested reader is referred to Part II of our submission, which
        provides a more detailed analysis of this subject. There have also been other, unforeseen, consequences, such
        as the disappearance of more than 23% of the ‘reverse mortgage’ market (via the withdrawal of Australian
        Seniors Finance and Macquarie Bank, and dramatic credit rationing by Bluestone) which is the only source of
        ‘equity release’ finance available to the asset-rich yet income-poor retiree households. As Australia’s population
        ages, these equity release solutions will become increasingly important.
        2008 Submission - HoR Inquiry into Competition in the Banking and Non-Banking Sectors

        It should also be kept in mind that non-bank lenders have significant cost efficiencies which banks do not (e.g no brick and mortar locations and lower head counts).

        I'm highly sceptical that this would change anything. The reality is that non-bank mortgage market have significantly less room to manoeuvre because of their higher funding costs. If worse comes to worse, traditional banks will reduce operational costs - although the way they structure their finances mean that said costs are somewhat isolated from their calculations on domestic mortgage product margins.

        • 

          Night Wachman on 14/05/2022 - 01:30

          @Tyrx: I don't think the return of interest rates to more normal levels (we need to remember that we are at unprecedented historic lows) is going to suddenly cause the non-bank lenders to become uncompetitive. You are referring to a global financial crisis, which I do not see as being comparable. Even then, during a global financial crisis, the interest rates offered by the non-bank lenders remained more competitive than the big banks.

          Because Athena are so conservative, if you can get a loan with them, you can refinance to anyone. So even if you are right and somehow they become uncompetitive, it will always be possible to refinance to a different lender.

    • 

      itshammer on 14/05/2022 - 07:13

      +6

      It feels like you might work for a bank and this is your competition.

      This site is about saving people money, not saving the economy

  • 

    Grok on 14/05/2022 - 01:02

    -1

    The GFC was caused by irresponsible lending. US lenders were lending people with no job and no assets money that they could not afford to repay, and they were packaging up those bad debts and selling them as investment vehicles to banks and super funds.

    It needs to be said that the banks were forced to lend money to poor people by the US government. So they got rid of the loans by packaging and selling them. The news media don’t push this point because of the administration who did it.

  • 

    PainToad on 14/05/2022 - 05:12

    lenders were lending people with no job and no assets money that they could not afford to repay

    So, exactly like what has been happening in Australia for the last 2 years thanks to countless handouts, allowing people to cash in their super (which will screw their retirement and then they’ll expect more handouts) and allowing stupidly low deposits.

• 

  clubhonda on 14/05/2022 - 00:24

  It WAS perfect during the period of falling interests, as any changes to their campaign rate is automatically applied to their existing customers' home loans. The flip side is true now, where in a rising interest rate environment, this can put you behind other banks who leave their existing customers' rates alone.

  • 

    tessel on 14/05/2022 - 08:27

    +2

    ING didn't leave my rate where it was. They happily didn't pass on rate drops unless I pestered them and even then it was minimal but now with rates going up they happily increased it.

    • 

      clubhonda on 14/05/2022 - 09:54

      +1

      Why are you even with ING still??? Most feedback suggests they are terrible to stick with and have out of cycle rate rises once they feel you in. There are tons of better lenders that don't do that that with cheap rates.

      • 

        tessel on 14/05/2022 - 10:15

        I've had no problem with them but yes their rates are lack luster to say the least. I am early into my mortgage and just a few financial changes mean it currently would, at least I think, be not that easy to refinance elsewhere. It's on my to do list definitely. I don't plan on spending much longer with them.

        • 

          cute as duck on 14/05/2022 - 10:24

          @tessel:

          I've had no problem with them

          Sounds like you did though on more than one occassion at least?

          They happily didn't pass on rate drops unless I pestered them and even then it was minimal but now with rates going up they happily increased it

          I don't plan on spending much longer with them

          I strongly recommend you look for alternatives, you can do heaps better the sooner the better

          • 

            tessel on 14/05/2022 - 11:14

            @cute as duck: As above, I am aware and looking for alternatives. Perhaps I worded things a little too strongly or some people read differently into things than I do. I have called up ING once and they gave me a better rate. clubhonda said they are "terrible to stick with". I guess it depends on how you interpret terrible. I've had no problem with customer service, their rate was better than my other options at the time. Their rates now are not better than all options out there but they, as a bank, are not what I would call "terrible". So, no, I've had no problem with them. I am aware of better rates out there and will definitely be moving. Thanks for the feedback.

• 

  Night Wachman on 14/05/2022 - 00:28

  Banks are always quick to pass on interest rate rises, and slow to pass on cuts. Everyone knows that.

  I don't see Athena jacking up their rates beyond the RBA rises. It would not make any sense, as their business model depends on them being the cheapest. They would lose all their customers if they did, since there is nothing stopping us from refinancing to another lender if they did do that.

• 

  Night Wachman on 14/05/2022 - 00:43

  Whoever reported this thread as a duplicate, I just wanted to point out that the focus of the other thread is the fee free services of a broker. My thread concerns deals obtained directly through Athena, not through the services of a broker.

• 

  Cloudream on 14/05/2022 - 01:18

  +1

  0.35% higher than homestar owner occupied <60% LVR @ 1.79%, free offset account too.

  • 

    Night Wachman on 14/05/2022 - 01:23

    I have seen some reviews saying that the rates advertised on Homestar's website lure you in, then they raise your rates, but keep the rates on their website low. Have you been with them for a while? Do you know if they do this?

    • 

      Cloudream on 14/05/2022 - 01:34

      Have you been with them for a while? Yes.
      Do you know if they do this? Nope.

      • 

        Night Wachman on 14/05/2022 - 01:36

        Nope as in you don't know. Or nope as in they don't do this?

        • 

          Cloudream on 14/05/2022 - 01:41

          @Night Wachman: I can only confirm my rate stays the same, not sure if they did it to others.

  • 

    s26f84 on 14/05/2022 - 01:23

    +1

    homestar is awfully slow. buyer beware.

  • 

    mariaB on 17/06/2022 - 20:44

    Come back to say thanks :) - moved to homestar after seeing your comment and settled my loan yesterday .. great service and super fast !!!

• 

  wisc on 14/05/2022 - 06:23

  +4

  Wow that's crap, ubank 2.09 for lvr of <80%

  Happy to be down voted if I have missed somthing (causing this neg to be removed.)

  https://www.ubank.com.au/home-loans

  • 

    Night Wachman on 14/05/2022 - 09:30

    +1

    Don’t forget that UBank suck you in and then bumps you up after a little while.

    • 

      cute as duck on 14/05/2022 - 10:27

      This was my experience, and previously out of cycle rate rise

    • 

      wisc on 14/05/2022 - 12:37

      Hasn't been my experience still on 1.99% been with them for a couple of years now.

      Biggest issue with u bank is their crap website and how long it takes money to go in and out of the home loan and no ability to stop their crasta auto payments coming out permanently. (Ie id rather transfer manually - like I told bank west I didn't want them to auto take money out of my account when i was with them and that was fine)
      Only think you can do with u bank is apply against next future payment. So if my repayments are 1 k and I pay 3k it only applies it against 1 payment.

      Pita.

  • 

    Trying2SaveABuck on 15/05/2022 - 09:50

    +1

    ubank is a good lender was with them for years never had any major issues rates were always close to the lowest you could get

  • 

    user3721 on 23/05/2022 - 16:07

    Did you have to provide your banking login and password details for the ubank application to proceed?

    • 

      wisc on 27/05/2022 - 12:28

      no that's dodgy, never do that, I'd report it to someone.

• 

  hhbb555 on 14/05/2022 - 06:52

  +1

  My broker told me westpac is doing 1.99% with $4k cashback at the moment.
  This Athena deal seems to be uninteresting in comparison

  • 

    ValouSydney on 14/05/2022 - 07:24

    Westpac 1.99% will definitely not be the comparison rate! The big banks can't be as competitive.

    • 

      Sid04 on 14/05/2022 - 08:05

      I am on 1.99% variable comparison rate at the moment. I think it will move to 2.24% next week post rate rise implementation. May be for new customer’s they will still do 1.99% based on hhbb555 comments.

  • 

    AshFon on 17/05/2022 - 13:19

    I think its not 1.99% rate, it is 1.99% discount. So current rate is 2.19%^^^ p.a. variable rate (2.53% p.a. comparison rate*) after discount.
    Ref: https://www.westpac.com.au/personal-banking/home-loans/refin…

  • 

    AshFon on 17/05/2022 - 13:36

    Hello, If this offer is still available then can you please PM me details of your broker?

• 

  sharkfan12 on 14/05/2022 - 07:51

  Yes they are cheap, but this is just their normal rates since the RBA increase. OzAdvertising

• 

  mooreshady on 14/05/2022 - 08:07

  This should be FIXED RATE FOR 4 years at least!!!

  Banks are daylight robbers.

• 

  fishandchipss on 14/05/2022 - 08:50

  Is the referral system still working? Anyone received their bonus successfully?

  • 

    cute as duck on 14/05/2022 - 10:28

    +2

    Yes, I got mine from refinancing in January. 2 weeks or so after settlement I received referral bonus in my offset account in Athena

• 

  [Deactivated] on 14/05/2022 - 08:53

  +1

  86400 offers 1.89% for LVR 60 if you don't need offset and is a part of NAB.

• 

  Hangryuman on 14/05/2022 - 09:25

  'they guarantee that the rate you get as an existing customer is the same rate which they market to new customers. Many other small lenders (e.g U-Bank and Loans.com) start you on a cheap rate but after a little while, bump you up whilst still marketing the cheap rate you started on to new customers'

  was that a pig I just saw flying past my window … ?

  • 

    cute as duck on 14/05/2022 - 10:30

    was that a pig I just saw flying past my window … ?

    It's true though. Their interest rate has always been the same for new and existing customers as far back as 4 years.

    Can you cite an example of when this didn't occur?

    • 

      Night Wachman on 15/05/2022 - 16:13

      It is written into the loan contract with Athena. They can’t offer new customers something better than existing customers

• 

  GS9891 on 14/05/2022 - 09:51

  Rejected after entering my address lol, guess they don't like anything more than 45 mins from a city.

  • 

    clubhonda on 14/05/2022 - 09:57

    Smaller banks and lenders don't do regional, which sounds like where you are living is regional. Don't expect them to lend to farms either. The less liquid the asset, the less specialised lenders to take them generally. That should not come as any surprise for anyone holding a regional property asset.

  • 

    stockastics on 14/05/2022 - 10:18

    45min by plane is long way away

    • 

      cute as duck on 14/05/2022 - 10:32

      +1

      There is an airport terminal built inside Brisbane CBD?! 😉

• 

  Dimeslots on 14/05/2022 - 11:23

  Wheres the bargain?

• 

  vince088 on 14/05/2022 - 16:18

  Does Athena have that guaranteed thing? Sorry I forgot the terminology.
  If i have 100k and they go bankrupt what will happen to my offset account? the other big 4 banks have that guarantee thing?

  • 

    Night Wachman on 14/05/2022 - 16:23

    No, they don’t have the deposit guarantee because they are not an ADI. What happens to the money in your offset if they go bust is it gets deducted from your loan balance. For example if you borrowed $200k and you have $50k in your offset, your loan balance becomes $150k. This is because the offset is actually part of the same account as the loan.

    • 

      bohn on 14/05/2022 - 17:25

      yeah, it's technically not an offset account, but an offset facility or something like that.

    • 

      vince088 on 14/05/2022 - 17:33

      Then what happens to my "150k" loan after? Another company takes over the loan?

      • 

        yojabbajabba on 14/05/2022 - 17:56

        Yes

    • 

      vince088 on 15/05/2022 - 11:34

      https://www.apra.gov.au/list-of-authorised-deposit-taking-in…

      is this the list of banks covered?

      • 

        Night Wachman on 15/05/2022 - 16:16

        Yes. But this is mainly intended to protect deposits (eg if you have a savings or term deposit). It is not as important when you have a loan

• 

  BargainHunter350 on 14/05/2022 - 21:28

  Wish they would offer multiple offset accounts….

  • 

    Night Wachman on 15/05/2022 - 10:42

    What’s the advantage of having multiple offset accounts?

    • 

      vince088 on 15/05/2022 - 11:33

      +1

      sometimes you and the spouse don't want to share a combined account.

      Example: I have 50k offset, wifey has 20k offset. you will want multiple offsets and a separate card each and the total of 70k will still offset against the home loan

      • 

        BargainHunter350 on 15/05/2022 - 16:45

        Agreed

        And then we also have a few different savings goals (combined) - I.e. holiday, Reno's etc

        So it's handy to have them seperate acc for each goal but still have everything offset the loan.

        Its the only reason I haven't switched over from Bankwest yet. They are meant to be releasing it this year, so I hope so soon.

        • 

          Night Wachman on 15/05/2022 - 20:14

          @BargainHunter350: What rate does BankWest give you?

          • 

            BargainHunter350 on 28/05/2022 - 08:02

            @Night Wachman: 2.71% at the moment

            • 

              Night Wachman on 29/05/2022 - 01:54

              @BargainHunter350: That’s a lot. Have you ever worked out how much difference that is per year in interest ?

              • 

                BargainHunter350 on 29/05/2022 - 07:57

                @Night Wachman: Yerp and a 450 annual fee. It's on a package with offsets and CC etc.

                It's about $1000 a year in extra interest I believe

                • 

                  Night Wachman on 29/05/2022 - 18:19

                  @BargainHunter350: It doesn’t sound like it is worth it. You are paying $1500 extra per year essentially for a second offset. Why not use a savings account with a big bank instead ? Wouldn’t that still work?

                  • 

                    BargainHunter350 on 30/05/2022 - 18:28

                    @Night Wachman: Thats actually pretty good point.

                    I worked out we save about $100-$120 a month with what we currently have in the offset account with bankwest which is about $1400-$1500 a year so effectively is net zero.

                    Thanks mate, I'll likely look at Athena and just get by until they do multi offset then it will really ramp it up

                    Cheers

      • 

        Night Wachman on 15/05/2022 - 20:17

        Fair enough. My wife and I share a single offset but we don’t really use it as our day to day account. Although Athena has Osko, they haven’t yet rolled out BPay and visa debit (they will later this year). So the offset is not the best option for day to day banking. (we use our big bank for daily banking).