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Learn more about how to manage your personal finances with RateCity's home loan articles, including how-to-guides on comparing home loan interest rates, fees, features and other benefits.

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

Commonwealth Bank's fee-free but not the cheapest mortgage

Competition between the major banks escalated this month when the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) unveiled its new No-Fee Home Loan. But how does it stack up when compared with some of the top mortgages monitored by RateCity and does a fee-free option always equal a cheaper home loan?

Home Loans

25 Mar, 2011

3 min read

Commonwealth Bank's fee free but not the cheapest mortgage

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

Is the honeymoon over for introductory rate loans?

Home owners are wising up to some deceptively pricey introductory rate home loans, with application rates at record low levels last month for the mortgages RateCity monitors.

Home Loans

25 Mar, 2011

3 min read

Is the honeymoon over for introductory rate loans?

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

Bank's ads sway unknowing customers

Just one month since launching an advertising campaign designed to distance itself from the other major banks, NAB has had a surge in account applications. Home loan enquiries soared by more than a third since the campaign was rolled out on February 14.

Home Loans

23 Mar, 2011

3 min read

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

How to think like a home owner before you buy

The next two years will likely see a spike in the number of first home buyers entering the market. Fed up with increasing rental prices, more than half of the 1000 prospective home buyers surveyed in the annual Future First Homebuyer Survey were looking to the property market for refuge.

Home Loans

23 Mar, 2011

3 min read

How to think like a home owner before you buy

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

The ship has almost sailed for fixed home loans

If you're deciding whether to fix your home loan or go variable, the choice may have been made for you, with fixed interest rates on the rise. Fixed home loans are looking to be on their way up and many borrowers probably missed the boat on locking in a great fixed interest rate on their home loan.

Home Loans

02 Mar, 2011

2 min read

The ship has almost sailed for fixed home loans

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

Bank wars: take advantage of new competition

With the home loan market heating up, the banking war can mean big savings for your home loan and other financial products.

Home Loans

02 Mar, 2011

3 min read

Bank wars take advantage of new competition

RateCity

Compare and save on home loans

So you've made the big decision to buy a home? Now comes the fun part - the research, processes and paperwork. The first stop is selecting a home loan.

Home Loans

15 Feb, 2011

3 min read

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

Don't settle for average: save $36,000 on your home loan

Despite the lure of an ever-enticing $7000 First Home Owner Grant coupled with up to $19,500 worth of other grants on offer, the number of new Australian owner-occupier mortgages hit a 10-year low in 2010.

Home Loans

15 Feb, 2011

3 min read

Don't settle for average save $36,000 on your home loan

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

Aussies consider locking home loans before rate hikes

After a year filled with consecutive rate hikes, many Australians are turning to the old staple of fixed home loans to bring them relief in 2011. With the floods staving off more aggressive rate rises in the near future, many are predicting more hikes later on. So is this the perfect time to lock yourself in?

Home Loans

14 Feb, 2011

3 min read

Aussies consider locking home loans before rate hikes

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

Is your bank too greedy? Get the right advice

If you thought your home loan repayments stung you harder last year than previously, then you were right. Research by RateCity revealed Australians paid a whopping $3.86 billion in higher interest charges in 2010 for home loans, credit cards, car loans and savings.

Home Loans

09 Feb, 2011

3 min read

Is your bank too greedy? Get the right advice

RateCity

Home loan package deals

Similar to bundling your home telephone, mobile, and pay TV with one company, bundling your finances could save you money off your home loan. This could be appealing if you are a first home buyer looking for a reduced home loan rate and an easier way to manage your finances.

Home Loans

19 Dec, 2010

3 min read

Kate Cowling

Break fees still apply for fixed home loans

In July 2011 home loan exit fees were abolished, except for any home loans that were signed prior to this date. But this only applies to variable home loans. If you have a fixed home loan there are still large fees that apply, called break fees.

Home Loans

15 Dec, 2010

2 min read