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A redraw facility lets you take back extra money you have paid into your home loan. Pay more than your minimum repayment, and the extra builds up as available redraw. Leave it there and it cuts the interest you pay. Need the cash later — for a renovation, a car repair, or an unexpected bill — and you can pull some or all of it back out. It sounds like a savings account, but it…
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Choosing between a fixed and a variable interest rate is one of the first big decisions you make when you take out a home loan — and it is one of the few choices that can cost or save you thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. The short answer: there is no single winner. A fixed rate buys you certainty, a variable rate buys you flexibility, and the right pick depends on…
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Claiming your superannuation means asking your super fund to pay out some or all of the money you have saved for retirement. It is not automatic — you need to meet the rules first, then lodge a claim with your fund. This guide walks you through every common situation: claiming super when you retire, claiming it when you leave the country, and claiming a deceased person’s super. The rules come from the Australian Taxation Office…
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An offset account can save you thousands of dollars in home loan interest — but only if the loan behind it is a good one. The right offset loan pairs a sharp interest rate with low fees and an offset account that actually works the way you need it to. The wrong one charges you a package fee every year for a feature you barely use. We compared variable-rate home loans with a 100% offset…
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Waiting on a home loan approval can feel like the longest part of buying a house. You have found the place, signed the contract, and now everything depends on the bank. So how long does it actually take? Quick answer: For most buyers, home loan approval takes 2 to 6 weeks from application to unconditional approval. Pre-approval usually takes 1 to 5 business days, formal approval takes another 1 to 3 weeks after you sign…