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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

No and low deposit mortgages: benefits and drawbacks

While no deposit home loans and low deposit home loans have become harder to come by in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, if you can track one down, it can help you to buy property when you have little or no savings to put towards a home loan deposit.

Home Loans

05 Apr, 2011

2 min read

No and low deposit mortgages benefits and drawbacks

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

Mortgage exit fees: What do the new rules mean?

As part of the federal government’s overhaul of the banking sector, Treasurer Wayne Swan recently announced a ban on mortgage exit fees as of July 1, 2011.

Home Loans

03 Apr, 2011

2 min read

Mortgage exit fees What do the new rules mean?

Jodie Humphries

Personal Finance Editor

Are low rate introductory home loans good value?

Introductory home loan incentives may look enticing to home buyers but for most, the important thing is the value of the loan long term.

Home Loans

30 Mar, 2011

3 min read

Are low rate introductory home loans good value?

Laine Gordon

Money Editor

Home owners fix rates amid rate rise speculation

Despite no change to the cash rate in the past four months, Australian home owners are bracing for an interest rate rise and are rushing to lock in their mortgage interest rates at record levels since October 2010.

Home Loans

25 Mar, 2011

3 min read

Home owners fix rates amid rate rise speculation

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