Home loan refinancing Australian homeowners can actually trust

A good habit is to review your home loan every year or two, and whenever something significant changes, such as a fixed rate ending, a pay rise, a new baby or a jump in your property's value. Lenders regularly change their pricing, and a loan that suited you when you bought may no longer be competitive. A review costs you nothing and does not commit you to switching.

Common costs include a discharge fee from your current lender, government fees to register the new mortgage and remove the old one, and possibly an application or valuation fee from the new lender, although some waive these. If you are on a fixed rate, a break cost may apply. If the new loan is above 80% of the property's value, lenders mortgage insurance may also be payable. We total these before you decide.

When the fixed term ends, most loans automatically roll onto the lender's standard variable rate for that product, which may be higher than rates offered to new customers. You can usually choose to refix, move to a different variable product with the same lender or refinance elsewhere without break costs. We recommend starting the review a few months before expiry so a new loan can be ready in time.

A comparison rate combines a loan's interest rate with most of its upfront and ongoing fees into a single percentage, which helps you compare loans more fairly. It is calculated on a standard loan amount and term, so it may not reflect your actual situation, and it excludes some costs such as break fees. We use it as a starting point, then calculate the real cost for your balance.

Yes, if you have enough equity and can afford the higher repayments. This is often called a cash-out refinance. Lenders may ask for builder quotes or a description of the works, and for major structural renovations some prefer a construction loan with progress payments instead. We check how much you can release, whether a separate loan split makes sense and which lenders suit your renovation plans.

It can reduce your monthly repayments because home loan rates are usually lower than credit card or personal loan rates. The catch is that spreading a short-term debt over the life of a home loan can mean paying more interest overall. It works best when you keep making higher repayments and close the old accounts. We show you both the monthly and long-term figures so you can decide sensibly.