As home loan rates increase for the first time in many years, you may be wondering “how can I get a better rate on my home or investment loan?”
The answer may be as simple as picking up the phone…
One of the silver linings to emerge from the pandemic is how it’s made people more aware of their spending habits.
To start the new year off on the right foot, here’s how to be more money savvy this year.
1. Start tracking your spending
Most of us have a general idea where our money goes, like how much you spend on rent and food every week, but I bet there are transactions coming out that you may not even be aware of (oh hey there News Limited subscription I signed up for yonks ago and forgot about).
Pouring over your bank statements is kind of old school these days, not to mention time-consuming, but there are easier ways to track your spending. Pick the right bank – Like Macquarie Bank for instance – and they may actually do it automatically for you right on your mobile banking; or some Apps like Pocketbook and MoneyBrilliant will sync up with your bank account and automatically track and categorise your expenses for you so you can easily see where your money is going.
Seeing how much you’re spending can be really confronting, but it’s often the kick up the butt you need to get your money organised.
2. Get on top of your budget
Don’t have a budget yet? You’re not alone. Over a quarter of Australians don’t have a budget, according to a survey by MyState Bank, so don’t feel too bad.
Many of us prefer to wing it when it comes to budgeting and think we can figure out our spending/saving on the fly. Naturally, this approach hardly ever works. If you’ve been tracking your spending, you can easily see where you need to cut down on any expenses, like all those forgotten subscriptions.
It’s important to set realistic, achievable goals when budgeting
That might be putting $100 away each pay or cutting up the credit card and paying $100 more off your balance each pay.
Split up your financial goals into short-term and long-term. Short-term goals are achievable within six months to a year, and long-term anything longer than a year.
It may even help to nickname your bank account with the name of your goal such as ‘House Deposit’ to inspire you and ensure you think twice before taking money from it.
The trick to saving money is to be more specific about what you want to save and why. Many of us start the new year with the goal to simply save more money, however, the ambiguity of this goal can see it fall by the wayside after the first few months of the year has passed. Translate your goal from “I want to save more money this year” to “I want to save $5,000 by October.”
Science shows many of us are much more likely to be successful in keeping a financial resolution if we have a clear ‘why’ – what’s in it for you. For instance, it is important to know the motivation behind your saying $5,000 – from funding a dream wedding to a dream home.
3. Spring clean your subscriptions
Once you start tracking your spending you can’t help but see all your big money wasters, such as your weekly (or triweekly!) Uber Eats habit. Don’t overlook small transactions either because they all add up.
Note to self: cancel that News Limited subscription you never use but you’ve paid $30 a month for all year…
4. Dump your debt
Paying off interest-accruing debt is high on Australians’ list of new year money resolutions, with one in five planning to pay off their mortgage faster.
Meanwhile, 17% of consumers resolved to tackle credit card and personal loan debt.
Maybe you racked up a whole lot of credit card debt buying Christmas presents or you’ve got a car loan you want to finally pay off. Whatever it is, this is the time to write down all of your debts: what do you owe, who do you owe, what interest rate you’re being charged, and when it’s due.
Then you want to create a plan to manage the debt.
Focusing on the smallest debts can give you a sense of achievement and keep you motivated. Then once that card is paid off, close it, then add the amount you were paying on that first one to the second card – this will accelerate the repayments on the second card. Pay off then repeat
The longer you hold onto your debt, the more the interest stacks up which eats into the amount you could be saving for other things. Even just contributing an extra $50 to your debt payments every week can save thousands over the life of the debt.
5. Have ‘no spend’ days
From food and alcohol delivery to streaming services and rideshare, it’s so easy to spend money these days without even thinking about it. Try having at least one day a week where you commit to spending nothing – be it cash, debit or credit.
If that’s too hard, try only spending with cash rather than by card where you can. Physically parting with $50 feels way more painful than mindlessly tapping your card and it will make you think twice before you spend.
6. Refinance your home loan
If you put refinancing in the too hard basket last year, now is the perfect time to do it. With interest rates still so low, it is time to act before they start increasing.
With the lowest official cash rate on record, home loan interest rates well below 2% and very competitive deals on offer, refinancing your home loan should be high on your to-do list… It’s money for jam!
Now that you are all set, we’re excited to see the things you will achieve in this New year.
Work out what features of your current loan you want to keep, and compare the interest rates on similar loans. If you find a better rate elsewhere, ask your current lender to match it or offer you a cheaper alternative.
Comparison websites can be useful, but they are businesses and may make money through promoted links. They may not cover all your options. See what to keep in mind when using comparison websites.
Switching loans – If you decide to switch to another lender, make sure the benefits outweigh any fees you’ll pay for closing your current loan and applying for another.
SMART 💡 Start your refinance assessment here to see if there is a better deal out there for your mortgage
An offset account is a savings or transaction account linked to your mortgage. Your offset account balance reduces the amount you owe on your mortgage. This reduces the amount of interest you pay and helps you pay off your mortgage faster.
For example, for a $350,000 mortgage, $50,000 in an offset account means you’re only charged interest on $300,000. That difference alone can save you ~$1,250 in interest per annum
If your offset balance is always low however (for example under $2,000), it may not be worth having this feature.
SMART 💡 Using multiple offset accounts can enable you to setup a smart budgeting system
Extra repayments on your mortgage can cut your loan by years. Putting your tax refund, pay increase or bonus into your mortgage could save you thousands in interest.
On a typical 30 year principal and interest mortgage, most of your payments during the first 8 to 11 years go towards paying off interest. So anything extra you put in during that time will reduce the amount of interest you pay and shorten the life of your loan.
Ask us for a loan that has no fee for making extra repayments.
SMART 💡Making extra repayments in your offset account will also give you a buffer if interest rates rise in the future.
All it takes is a few minutes to reach out to an expert mortgage broker to get the ball
Rolling.. Reviewing or refinancing your Mortgage is not that difficult and can save you thousands.
Let us do the legwork for you… that’s what we do every day and we know where the deals are (and where the pitfalls are too!)
SMART 💡 Call Us now to get the ball rolling
The house is getting too small but you love the area, what are your choices?
It’s a common problem facing growing families: what to do when they outgrow the home?
If you choose to move, you will be faced with all those associated costs such as stamp duty, solicitor’s fees and moving expenses, not to mention possible renovations on your new home.
If you’re not ready or willing to move, you will then weigh up whether a viable option would be to renovate your existing home or knock it down and build from scratch.
To help you figure out which option would be best for you, we look at what to weigh up when deciding whether to knock down and rebuild or renovate your home to suit your current needs.
WHICH DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST COMMON DECISION: BUILDING NEW OR RENOVATING?
We don’t believe that either option is more popular, it all depends on your budget, time you can dedicate, and the resources you have at hand.
WHEN DECIDING WHETHER TO RENOVATE OR KNOCK DOWN AND REBUILD, WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE ASK THEMSELVES?
You could renovate the home by extending and adding bedrooms, living spaces and changing kitchen and bathrooms to meet current trends. This can get costly.
At times renovating seems the best bet rather than building an entire home from scratch, but is it? This is something that many people are asking today.
So why not just knock the whole place down and build a completely new property on the existing site? You already have a great block of land, why not utilise it? Re-building on your existing property could be beneficial in the long run, financially and logistically – short term pain, for long term gain.
THE MOST IMPORTANT FIRST STEP IN DECIDING WHETHER IT’S RE-BUILD OR RENOVATE IS TO DO YOUR SUMS:
• Consider the sale price of your home as is and relocating to a home you aspire to in the area. With stamp duty and legals included – what would it cost?
• With that budget, could you renovate to achieve your goals? Will a renovated home in your area fetch the resale price you hope for – is it a good investment?
• Traditionally knocking down and rebuilding will cost a little more – but a brand new home in an established area is gold. If you plan a long-term stay there is no better investment.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEY BENEFITS OF RENOVATING?
• You can pick and choose exactly how you want to revamp your home without knocking the whole thing down.
• You generally don’t have to leave the home whilst renovations are taking place.
• This can add a large investment value to your original home price.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A KNOCK-DOWN REBUILD?
• Stay where you are in a beautiful new home, with all the modern trimmings.
• No compromises, choose a design to suit your needs.
• New everything! No maintenance hassles.
• Great resale value.
WHAT IS THE EASIEST IN TERMS OF FINANCE?
It all depends on the amount of equity present in your home and what are the extents of the renovations.
In regards to equity, if it is already there prior to any renovations taking place then you may be able to ‘cash out’ your equity. This then gives you cash to run your renovation project on your terms.
If the improvements are required for the property value to reflect the loan amount that is required then you are going to need a building contact and/or quotes from a builder.
Same goes for extensive renovations or rebuild, the banks will want to see a building contract and which is a lot more structured than cashing out some equity to ‘redo the bathroom’ or ‘put a pool in’ for example
WHERE DO YOU START?
There are 3 key things that you need to get started:
1. A good idea of exactly what you want to do to your property
2. An estimate of costs the project will amount to
3. Get your equity assessed as well as your Borrowing Capacity.. this is the easy part as we can do it all for you..
Get started by clicking here
Most borrowers are paying less in their home loan repayments than they would if they rented in the same suburb.
When buying a house under a three-year fixed rate scenario, over half of Australian suburbs were cheaper to pay down a mortgage than pay rent on a house. This growing trend of home loan borrowers paying less in their mortgage repayments than rent has been attributed to record-low mortgage rates, combined with a slightly weaker property market.
Why pay your landlord?
when you could potentially pay the same amount – or less monthly –
on a place you can call your own?
So what do you need to do or have to make the jump and buy your own place?
– Have a sufficient Deposit
In all the literature you will find that a minimum 5% deposit is required to purchase your own place. This is correct however you also need to find the funds to cover the LMI.. all up this means that you need about 8% deposit.
And then depending on your circumstances you may need to find funds to cover the Stamp Duty – unless you are a FHOB and benefit from a stamp Duty concession and other benefits like the FHOG and other incentives
– Have sufficient Income & Borrowing Capacity
An analysis of your financial situation, income type & amount, asset & debt position is how we determine what you are able to borrow as a maximum loan amount = Borrowing Capacity (BC)
The calculation of your BC has become increasingly complex over the last 10 years and can differ a fair bit between different banks and lenders. It is a smart idea to get your BC assessed before launching into a property searches to ensure you are looking at properties in your price bracket
– Have a ‘Clean’ credit report
Your credit report reveals to the banks & lenders a fair bit of information about your credit activity & behaviour.
Reviewing your credit report is important to ensure there is no untowards listed than my jeopardise an application approval.
So what does your credit report show these days?
• Credit enquiries – every credit enquiry you make gets recorded – whether this was for a home loan, a car loan, credit card or even Zip pay & Afterpay – if your enquiries amount to more than 5-6 in the last 12 months you are starting to jeopardise your chances of approval with some lenders and LMI providers. To avoid issue here make sure you only apply for essential credit and stay away from consumer lending like afterpays, etc
• Credit conduct – every debt facility you have currently opened will be listed on your report with limit of the account, repayment amount & a monthly record of whether you have made your payment on time for that facility. If you are a late or tardy payer, it will be reflected on your report and will jeopardise your chances of approval with some lenders and LMI providers. To avoid issues here make sure you pay your debts and bills on time.. every time.
• Bankruptcies, defaults & judgements – you report will also show insolvency events and if you had any of these then it is best to contact us for how you can get back on the straight & narrow lending wise
– Find a suitable property
Once we have workshopped all the above then you will be able to go shopping for a suitable property with the right price point, attributes – new or existing, and location.
So if this sounds like you? If you want to make the move away from renting?
If you want to pay less than rent to own your own place?
It’s time for you to get you situation assessed.. just Click on the “APPLY” button below
The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) named and honoured the best within the industry at its first ever virtual MFAA National Excellence Awards held on 6 August.
According to MFAA CEO Mike Felton, it has never been more important to celebrate broker success stories given the challenges faced over the past 12 months.
“This year, we faced devastating bushfires that ravaged communities throughout Australia, a global pandemic that continues to take a terrible toll on people and economies around the world, and significant imminent reforms out of the royal commission,” he listed.
“But, amidst the challenges and uncertainty, our industry has come together showing compassion and excellence to continue to support communities and clients – helping many through periods of exceptional hardship.”
Go Mortgage came out winner of the 2020 MFAA National Excellence Awards in the category of ‘Regional Broker of the year’
“These awards provide another reminder of the breadth and depth of talent in our industry stretching across Australia to serve people in all corners of the country,” Felton said.
“The MFAA is incredibly proud to represent such outstanding professionals, who each year manage to excel in spite of the challenges they face and show just what our industry is about and what we stand for.”
First home buyers can get so much FREE CASH by adding the HomeBuilder grant to the other incentives available to them.
That means in some states, people moving into their first home could get grants and incentives totalling as much as $55,000
So how much could you get where you live?
If you’ve been putting off building your New home, your First home or renovating your exiting home, It’s time to put in on the map!
The Federal Government will give eligible Australians $25,000 to build or substantially renovate their homes
The extra $25,000 they’re putting on the table, along with record-low interest rates, means now’s the time to get started.
Refinance when the savings clearly beat the switching costs, or when your loan no longer fits your life. If neither is true, staying put is usually the smarter move.
Knowing when to refinance your home loan matters more this year than it did last. The RBA lifted the cash rate to 4.85% on 3 November 2026, the fifth rise of 2026, and your lender sets its own rate, so what you pay and what’s on offer elsewhere can sit a long way apart. Here’s how to tell if it’s time to move, and how to check the numbers before you do.
If you’re asking “when should I refinance my home loan?”, these six signs are the clearest. One on its own isn’t a reason to switch. It’s a reason to run the numbers.
This is the most common answer to the question of when to refinance a mortgage. When your fixed term finishes, your lender will usually move you onto a variable rate, and that rate may not be competitive.
You can also avoid break costs entirely by timing the switch to coincide with the fixed term’s expiry. If you’re weighing a new fixed-term against a variable rate, our guide to fixed vs variable rates covers the trade-offs.
Lenders often reserve their sharpest rates for new borrowers. If you haven’t compared the market since you signed, you could be paying more than someone borrowing the same amount today.
The only way to know is to compare. Even a half-percentage-point gap adds up over a 25- or 30-year loan.
Higher value means more equity and a lower loan-to-value ratio (LVR). Drop below 80% and you may qualify for lower rates, and you avoid LMI, which is usually payable when you borrow more than 80% of the property’s value.
A valuation will tell you where you stand. Lenders use their own valuers, so the figure can differ from what you expect.
Renovating, buying an investment property or funding a big expense are all reasons to borrow against the equity you’ve built. Refinancing lets you reset the loan with a larger limit, rather than adding a separate product.
Any extra you borrow must still be repaid with interest, so only draw what the project needs.
Rolling credit cards and personal loans into your mortgage can lower your interest rate and leave you with a single repayment. The catch is the term. Debt that would have been cleared in three years is spread over 25 or more years, which can cost more in total interest.
If you go this way, consider making extra repayments to clear the consolidated portion faster.
Offset accounts, redraw, extra repayments without penalty and split-rate options can make a real difference to how fast you pay down your loan. If your current loan lacks them, or charges for them, that’s reason enough to look around. This is the kind of reason that has nothing to do with the headline rate, and it’s worth weighing against any package fees.
Knowing when to refinance mortgage debt is half the decision. Knowing when to leave it alone is the other half.
Break-even is the simple test. Add up what switching costs, then divide by your monthly savings.
Here’s an example. These rates are illustrative, not current offers, and the costs are assumptions you’d replace with real quotes.
| Current loan | New loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Balance | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Years remaining | 25 | 25 |
| Interest rate | 6.69% | 6.19% |
| Monthly repayment (principal and interest) | $4,122.76 | $3,935.79 |
| Monthly saving | $186.97 |
Switching costs in this example total $1,500: a $350 discharge fee, $500 in new-lender fees, and $650 for government registration and settlement. In Queensland, you don’t pay mortgage duty on a refinance, as mortgage duty was abolished on 1 July 2008, but you do pay Titles Queensland registration fees, which are reviewed each 1 July.
$1,500 ÷ $187 is just over eight months. After that, the saving is yours.
Now add a fixed-rate break cost of $3,000. Total costs rise to $4,500, and break-even stretches to about 24 months. Same loan, very different decision.
Want to test your own loan? See how much you could save with our refinance calculator.
The 2% rule is a rule of thumb from the United States. It says refinancing makes sense when the new rate is at least two percentage points lower than your current rate.
It’s too blunt for Australian borrowers. In our example, a gap of just 0.5 percentage points pays back in about eight months. On the same loan, a full 2-point gap would save around $723 a month. A smaller gap can still be worth it on a large balance, while a bigger gap may not be on a tiny one. Break-even tells you more than any fixed percentage.
There’s no legal minimum. The right time for when to refinance your home loan is whenever it makes financial sense, and what holds most people back is their loan contract, not the law.
Check three things first: whether you’re on a fixed rate with break costs, whether you took a cashback offer that must be repaid if you leave early, and how long your break-even period is. If those are clear, the right time is when the savings cover the cost within a period you’re comfortable with.
It can. If your rate has fallen behind the market or your circumstances have changed, a year in is a reasonable point to check. By then, you’ve also built a repayment history that new lenders look at.
Repeated switching has costs, though. For more on timing, see how often you can refinance.
Before you settle on when to refinance your home loan, call your existing lender and ask for a better rate.
If they cut your rate, you skip the switching costs altogether. If they won’t move, you’ve lost nothing, and you now have a rate to beat. Either way, compare at least one outside offer to see whether their answer is any good.
Read our refinance handbook for the step-by-step process.
Comparing lenders is slow work when you do it alone, and it’s easy to misjudge when to refinance your home loan without the full numbers. At Go Mortgage, we compare loans from a panel of lenders against your current one, request your break cost figures, and work out your break-even point before you commit to anything.
If switching stacks up, we handle the application, the valuation, the discharge of your old loan and the settlement paperwork. If it doesn’t, we’ll tell you to stay put.
Thinking about refinancing your home loan? Call our Gold Coast team on 1300 855 244 or book a free chat and we’ll check whether the numbers work for you.
It’s a US rule of thumb that suggests refinancing when your new interest rate is at least two percentage points lower. However, this isn’t a standard rule in Australia. A difference of just 0.25–0.30% can make a substantial difference, depending on your loan size and individual circumstances. Rather than focusing on a fixed rate reduction, an Australian borrower should consider the potential savings against the costs of refinancing to determine whether switching lenders is worthwhile.
As soon as the savings cover your switching costs in a timeframe that suits you. There’s no waiting period by law, but check your contract for fixed-rate break costs and any cashback you’d have to repay.
Review your loan about once a year, and refinance only when the numbers stack up. Each switch can carry fees, so doing it too often can cost more than it saves.
Yes, if your rate is well above what’s available and your break-even period is short. It doesn’t make sense if you’d face large break costs or pay the savings back in fees.
General information only, not personal financial advice. Go Mortgage Corporation Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 376838.
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