Here’s how to become a haggling pro and save $45k on your home loan
Kelly Emmerton | 17 Oct 2017
The property market is an expensive place to be these days, but we’ve uncovered a strategy that might allow homebuyers to loosen the budgetary belt a bit: haggling.
Mozo recently went undercover for our annual Big 4 home loan mystery shop and found that scoring a discount of up to 0.82%* on your home loan may be as easy as asking for it.
“Our mystery shoppers found that the big banks were willing to give out pretty sizeable discounts to all kinds of borrowers if they were willing to haggle for it,” said Mozo’s property and home loan expert, Steve Jovcevski.
“With savings as high as $45,000 on offer for first home buyers or $86,000 for refinancers*, that’s a sign you should definitely be asking for a better deal when you approach a home loan lender.”
The first step to scoring a great deal is to start out on the right foot with an offer that suits your needs - so check out some of the top mortgage offers around in the table below, then read on for our expert tips on how to haggle like a pro.
Home Loan Comparisons - November 2017 - rates updated daily
- loans.com.au
Essentials Variable 80
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
3.64% p.a. variable
3.66% p.a.
A low-rate home loan that could save you thousands. No monthly or ongoing fees. Unlimited additional repayments. Unlimited free redraws with no minimum redraw amount
-
3.64% p.a. variable
-
3.66% p.a.
-
$520
-
$0.00
-
$0.00
-
yes - free
-
yes - free
-
no
-
80.00%
-
$50,000
-
$2,000,000
-
Variable
-
Principal & Interest
-
Owner Occupier
-
Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly
Details Close
-
- NAB
Base Variable Rate Home Loan Special Offer
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
3.69% p.a. variable
3.73% p.a.
$1,250 BONUS WITH AN ELIGIBLE NAB HOME LOAN BANKING BUNDLE*. Low ongoing rate. Free extra repayments and redraw facility. Only 5% deposit and no annual or monthly fees.
-
3.69% p.a. variable
-
3.73% p.a.
-
$600
-
$0.00
-
$350.00
-
yes - free
-
yes
-
no
-
95.00%
-
$20,000
-
-
-
Variable
-
Principal & Interest
-
Owner Occupier
-
Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly
Details Close
-
- UBank
UHomeLoan - Discount Offer
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
3.59% p.a. variable
3.59% p.a.
A low rate Home Loan with no bank fees on variable rate loans. Easy & fast to apply. Choose between flexible repayments and make extra repayments for free on a variable rate home loan.
-
3.59% p.a. variable
-
3.59% p.a.
-
$0
-
$0.00
-
$0.00
-
yes - free
-
yes
-
no
-
80.00%
-
$200,000
-
$699,999
-
Variable
-
Principal & Interest
-
Owner Occupier
-
Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly
Details Close
-
-
Featured Product
Heritage BankDiscount Variable Home Loan
Owner Occupier, LVR<80%
3.67% p.a. variable
3.69% p.a.
Heritage's current lowest variable interest rate. Unlimited extra repayments and unlimited redraw.
-
3.67% p.a. variable
-
3.69% p.a.
-
$150
-
$0.00
-
$250.00
-
yes - free
-
yes - fees apply
-
no
-
80.00%
-
$150,000
-
-
-
Variable
-
Principal & Interest
-
Owner Occupier
-
Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly
Details Close
-
- HSBC
Discounted Home Value Loan
Owner Occupier, Principal & Interest
3.64% p.a. variable
3.66% p.a.
Discounted rate for the life of the loan. A relationship manager to help you through the application process.
-
3.64% p.a. variable
-
3.66% p.a.
-
$150
-
$0.00
-
$300.00
-
yes - free
-
yes - free online
-
no
-
90.00%
-
$50,000
-
$7,500,000
-
Variable
-
Principal & Interest
-
Owner Occupier
-
Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly
Details Close
-
Mozo’s home loan haggling tips
Ready to save a bundle on your mortgage? Here are our top tips for haggling like a professional and squeezing the best deal out of your lender.
Don’t settle for the first offer. “Banks often won’t give you the best deal they can the first time you ask - they reserve the lowest rates for customers who really push for it,” said Jovcevski. So if you want to save as much as possible, it’s time to dig in your heels and really work for it.
Be prepared for price matching. Our mystery shop found that some lenders won’t come to the party unless you’re asking them to price match an offer from a competitor, so make sure you compare home loans and have a rate in mind to ask for. The upside is that if haggling doesn’t pan out, you’ve already found another low rate offer!
Bundle other products. You might have more luck securing a big discount if you bring other financial products across to your home loan lender as well. Think about bundling your home insurance, credit card, or bank account as incentive for a better mortgage deal.
Think about other bonuses. Things like frequent flyer bonus points, cashback offers or waived fees can sweeten your home loan deal almost as much as a lowered interest rate. “Don’t be scared to think outside the box when it comes to things that might sweeten the deal for you,” Jovcevski said.
Call in the experts. If the thought of haggling on your home loan has you breaking out in a cold sweat, then don’t worry. Instead, you can head over to check out our Mystery Bank Deal, and snag a rock bottom rate for your mortgage, no haggling necessary.
*Savings and discounts based on discounts from ANZ, NAB, Westpac and CommBank between 11 - 14 September 2017. Potential annual savings calculated for first home buyer on a $300,000 home loan and refinancer on a $500,000 loan over 30 years.
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