Refinancing your home loan

Who this is for

• Your fixed rate is ending and the revert rate looks steep.
• You haven't reviewed your loan since you took it out.
• You want to consolidate debts or pull equity for a renovation or investment.
• You suspect you're paying a loyalty tax and want someone to check.

How the process works

1. We review what you have. Current rate, loan structure, fees, and how it stacks up against what lenders are offering now.
2. We compare and negotiate. Sometimes the answer is a better deal from your current lender — we'll ask them first if that's the fastest win. Otherwise we compare across the panel.
3. We tell you plainly whether switching is worth it. Break costs, discharge fees, and setup costs included. If staying put is the better outcome, we say so.
4. We handle the switch. Discharge forms, the new application, settlement between lenders — managed end to end.

What a broker does that a bank doesn’t

• Your bank has no incentive to tell you a competitor is cheaper. We compare across lenders and show you the working.
• We calculate the true cost of switching — including break and discharge costs — not just the headline rate.
• We handle the discharge paperwork with your current lender, which is the part most people stall on.
• We review your loan on an ongoing basis, so this doesn't need to happen again in five years' time.

When refinancing makes sense — and when it doesn't

The strongest refinance cases share a shape: a fixed rate is about to revert to something steep, the loan hasn't been reviewed in years, or your circumstances have changed enough that the original structure no longer fits. Lenders reserve their sharpest pricing for new customers, and existing borrowers drift upward — the loyalty tax is real, and it compounds quietly.

But refinancing is not automatically the answer, and a broker who says otherwise is selling, not advising. If your remaining balance is small, the switching costs can eat years of rate savings. If you plan to sell soon, the payback window may never arrive. If your equity is thin, moving lenders can re-trigger lenders mortgage insurance — a cost that can wipe out the entire benefit in one line. And if you're mid-fixed-term, break costs need to be quoted, not guessed. We put all of this in one comparison and tell you plainly which side of the line you're on.

The costs of switching, itemised

Every refinance carries friction costs, and an honest comparison starts by listing them: a discharge fee from your current lender, government mortgage registration and discharge fees, and sometimes application or valuation fees with the new lender. Fixed-rate loans can add break costs, which vary with market movements and can be substantial — your current lender must quote them on request.

Cashback offers deserve their own caution. A lender paying you to switch is pricing that payment somewhere, usually in the rate you'll drift onto later. Sometimes the cashback genuinely wins; sometimes it's a headline hiding a worse loan. We model the whole life of the deal, not the first year.

The FinSavvy Rate Review — every six months, included

Refinancing with us isn't a transaction that ends at settlement. Every client's loan goes onto the FinSavvy Rate Review: every six months, for the life of the loan, we re-check your rate against what lenders are currently offering and tell you plainly whether it still stacks up.

When it doesn't, we take it up with your lender first — a repricing request from a broker holding a genuine alternative tends to get a different reception than a customer asking nicely — and if they won't move, you'll know exactly what switching is worth. It's how the loyalty tax stays gone, instead of quietly returning two years after you've refinanced.

What you'll need to have ready

Refinancing is lighter on paperwork than a purchase, but lenders still verify everything. Having these ready compresses the timeline:

• Recent payslips or business financials, and your most recent tax assessment.
• Statements for the loan you're refinancing and any other debts.
• Transaction account statements covering your regular spending.
• Identification and your current home insurance details.
• A rough sense of your property's value — we'll arrange the formal valuation.