Browse Forums Home Finance Re: Best bank for a home loan? 41Jul 20, 2012 10:40 pm Start with speaking to a number of Brokers and find one or two that you like and that speak in a way you understand. Interest rates are not 'everything' - there are fees, conditions and requirements to consider - at the end of the day, most 'Lenders' are the same, and you just need to find the one that works best for you. Treat your Broker relationship like it will be long term and it will pay off. A good Broker is one that provides their customers with multiple options, if they only come back with one or two, and they are always the same (ie NAB to every client) then they are not really Brokers they are really just agents of NAB. BTW - Going direct to the Bank doesn't mean you get a cheaper deal than the broker offered. Re: Best bank for a home loan? 42Jul 31, 2012 5:37 pm nosilasnightmare "... at the end of the day, most 'Lenders' are the same, and you just need to find the one that works best for you. BTW - Going direct to the Bank doesn't mean you get a cheaper deal than the broker offered." - that wasn't our experience. We were referred to NAB by direct family who said their people would look after us considering they had heaps of business within the family with them and had for more than 25 years. I wanted to go with our existing bank (ME) but we were talked around. A load of crock as it turned out and was an awful experience resulting in being told a week before our settlement date that we couldn't get finance due to them changing their minds. NOTE: Big banks don't care how much business they have nor how long they have had it and their service reflects that. The broker was a back up due to our need to find someone to give us finance in a short time frame. They did present us with options but were pushing Suncorp and didn't even present our current bank as one of the options. This broker was also referred by the family members in question, which put us off too. Ultimately, they were just doing their job but unless absolutely necessary we wanted to avoid using them. In the background we had ME working their butt off to get us a loan and they did it in time for our revised settlement date. In that case going direct to the bank for us meant one of the cheapest interest rates around (and they still are), and interest rates may not be everything but interest is the majority of what you are paying at the end of the day so it is important. Other benefits for us have included a competitive members package which saves us a bucket load on fees and interest each year, a further discount on our home loan interest rate for being eligible super members and no issues with their quality of service or any conditions or requirements. We are going to stick with them for our next loan too. I'm not saying other banks or credit unions couldn't or don't do the same or a good broker couldn't do you a good deal as I am sure there are people out there who have had those experiences. It just wasn't our experience. I think the key, as with anything, is to do your research, ask questions, gather as much information as possible, and make comparisons and do this well in advance of placing an offer on a property. yvette - it is the same here in Perth - can't get people out to quote for some things let alone turn up to do them. We tried to get a date commitment from a guy to do work at our place for 5 weeks in advance of the date we wanted it done, which was a week we were both off and available to help out and take photos (a council requirement). Then he finally tells me that week, after I enquire (again) about what day of the week he is coming, (truthfully or not) that he has injured himself and is running behind so can't come. Then tells me on the Wednesday that he can come Friday but fails to mention that he means a week Friday which we can not do as we had flights booked months in advance and were both working. So after waiting all day on our Friday off for him not to turn up I contact him the following Monday and he tells me he booked a job 20 minutes before speaking to me that puts ours back another week or so. We are waiting on this guy to do a job that is holding us up from putting our house on the market and though it is a relatively small job for him ($2K compared to an entire house demo $10K) I still, perhaps childishly, expect that our job should come first. He said he would let us know if he can do it later this week and my DH will try and swap a shift but at this stage I have heard nothing from him, which makes it harder for my DH to do so. Eternally frustrating and I feel your pain. Re: Best bank for a home loan? 43Aug 07, 2012 12:00 pm In my opinion and in dealing with our finance these are my pros and cons dealing with a broker: Pros: - Knowledge and experience, they deal with banks all the time and have the resources to find the best packages to suit you. - They know the lender’s policies and will only submit your loan to a lender they are confident will approve your loan, which protects your credit rating. Cons: - Some brokers steer to a particular lender or group of lenders. (It's a good idea to ask which lenders a broker works with before you start working with them). - You aren't in control and can't just call up the bank and find out the progress of your loan. As the broker has submitted on your behalf they are your form of communication with the lender. While this is good in some respects in others its annoying as you are at the mercy of them updating you and sometimes if they have a huge workload this isn't as often as you would like. Re: Best bank for a home loan? 44Aug 07, 2012 10:57 pm ^ gonecountry - Spot on. Michael Chan | Australia wide Mortgage Broker Michael@ShapeHomeLoans.com.au | 1300 74 5626 | Fax: 02 8212 8909 http://www.ShapeHomeLoans.com.au How much are you ahead in payments compared to where the build is at? Have you fully drawn down the loan? 5 11846 The biggest challenge will be if you take out a loan and then run out of money - you'll have an incomplete security and lenders do not like this so you can get stuck.… 2 18894 Hi, you've probably already resolved this, however, Commbank will probably pay the funds to you after you send evidence the work is done regardless the change in the quotes. 1 35189 |