Fight the RBA rate rise – How I saved 2.7 per cent

Well, lo and behold the RBA has decided to raise interest rates AGAIN by 25 basis points bringing the cash rate to 3.60% – the highest in over a decade!

If you are thinking that this will add additional pressure to the weekly budget, you are not alone, recently news.com.au reported ‘The interest rate rise is expected to make a “crisis” even worse, with warnings the “blunt” move will cause “tough times” for millions of Australians’.

We are all in the same boat and I wanted to use this as an opportunity to share my story with you:

Just last month, my wife and I were refinancing our home and decided it would be a great opportunity to have the rates reviewed on all of our properties.

Turns out, her fixed rate investment loan had finished with ANZ and she was on the standard variable. “Ok… no problem” I thought, “what is the current rate?” – well, we nearly fell off our chairs! The current rate had reverted to 7.7%!

Unbeknownst to many, when a rate is locked in, if it isn’t put on a discounted variable rate and then fixed you will revert back to the “standard variable”, which is far higher than any variable loans you will see advertised. They literally prey on customers not knowing any better!

So, with a quick and simple application we were able to reduce that rate back down to 5%.

How much is an interest rate saving of 2.7%? Well, on a $500k loan, it is about $13.5k/y! For us, that saving meant we could afford our renovations sooner, but think about what that would mean for you. In these tough times; as friends, as family and as clients, we should all rally together and collectively undertake the responsibility we have to ourselves and our family…paying banks the absolute bare minimum!

If you are unaware of your current rate and what is available in the market or would like to have a general chat on all things property, super and finance, please get in touch as I would love to help your family achieve the same great outcome we did.

Fabian Hyland
Senior Property Specialist
0468 948 527
fabian@waigroup.com.au