Mortgage approval rules are set to be relaxed to try to help the economy recover from COVID-19. But is this a good thing? To help counter the effects of COVID-19 on the economy, the Federal Government has announced plans to loosen the responsible lending laws governing the loan approval processes. The idea is to make it simpler to buy a house or refinance your current home loan. With people continuing to buy homes and building new ones, the economy will get a shot in the arm that will hopefully help…
A combination of tighter home loan lending regulations and the uncertainty in our new COVID world have made looking after your living expenses an essential part of creating a more secure future for you and your family. Many people are finding out the hard way that it’s not as easy to get a home loan approved as it used to be. The simple reason for this is that financial regulators have set tighter rules for lenders. Now they are required to look more closely at your daily living expenses to…
If you are experiencing mortgage stress, now’s the time to get on the front foot with your lender. As your mortgage broker, we can help you prepare and plan for the unknown. It’s no surprise that the outbreak of COVID-19 has caused a huge increase in mortgage stress. According to the Australian Banking Association (ABA), more than 485,000 mortgage repayments were deferred between February and June this year. IS THE CLIFF COMING? Experts and commentators have been warning us of the impending cliff that’s coming. Lenders have been giving borrowers…
“New neo bank blitzing the competition on turnaround time to approval!” Recently we had an amazing experience with a new digital bank who delivered what they promised (& with lightning speed!). Clients were already pre-approved and had purchased their new home. One of the applicants was receiving a top-up payment from JobKeeper and the lender where they were pre-approved would not accept their application due to their stance on this JobKeeper payment. Andrew created a backup plan with 86 400 who approved the loan within 3 hours of being submitted…
The worst thing a broker can do at the moment is go into hiding, says the CEO of Smartmove Professional Mortgage Advisors Darren Little. Brokers have been presented with an amazing opportunity to solidify their relationships with clients during the COVID-19 pandemic, he says, explaining that guiding clients through this time could prove cornerstone for a long-lasting and trusted relationship. MPA spoke with Little about the role technology can play in delivering exceptional customer service and how Smartmove won Best Customer Service for the third time in four years at last…
In a recent article by Charbel Kadib in Mortgage Business titled “Investors bear brunt of Loyalty Tax” According to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) latest Lenders Interest Rates data, existing variable rate home loan customers were charged an interest rate over 30 bps higher than new customers over the month of December. Drawing on the research, RBA governor Phillip Lowe encouraged long term mortgage-holders to review their interest rate and refinance to a better deal to capitalise on the competitive dynamic in the market. [1] Looking at the differences found with…
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With official interest rates trending downward, shrewd mortgage holders may take the opportunity to call their lender to ask for a better deal. But when even a small interest rate reduction means potential savings of thousands of dollars, is a simple phone call really enough to get you there? In 2019, ‘your interest rate should have a three in front of it’, is common advice for home owners considering the competitiveness of their loan settings. But while a number of lenders offer lower rates to new customers, it’s not always…