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Home Loans Articles
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
Head of Public Relations
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
Laine Gordon
Head of Public Relations
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
Laine Gordon
Head of Public Relations
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
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
16 Feb, 2011
3 min read
Laine Gordon
Head of Public Relations
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
16 Feb, 2011
3 min read
Laine Gordon
Head of Public Relations
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
15 Feb, 2011
3 min read
Laine Gordon
Head of Public Relations
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
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
20 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
16 Dec, 2010
2 min read
RateCity
Self Employed? Consider a low doc home loan
Low doc loans are a type of home loan offered by financial lenders that are targeted at the self-employed and business owners who do not have all of the paperwork required to apply for full doc home loans.
Home Loans
15 Dec, 2010
2 min read
RateCity
Should you have life insurance?
Like most things in life, we don't realise how important or how much we need something until it's too late. Life insurance isn't high on the list of proprieties when you are younger but it should be as soon as you make your first big purchase, like taking out a home loan.
Home Loans
15 Dec, 2010
2 min read
Kate Cowling
What inspections do you need when buying a home?
Buying a home can be a tricky and costly process, one which could end up costing you money before you even make an offer on a home. Once you have your home loan sorted and have few a properties in mind you can start carrying out the inspections.
Home Loans
15 Dec, 2010
3 min read
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