How to find the cheapest home loan rate

A cheaper home loan can save you thousands. Learn how to find the cheapest home loan for you.

Finding a cheap home loan can save you thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.

This guide will give you expert advice on finding the cheapest loan by looking at interest rates, fees, features and loan periods. Or you can start comparing loans in the table below.

Home Loan Offer

Reduce Home Loans Rate Buster 100% Offset Variable Home Loan - Up to $750k (LVR <=80%)

3.54 % p.a.

variable rate

3.54 % p.a.

comparison rate

Home Loan Offer

With the Reduce Home Loans Rate Buster enjoy a home loan with 100% offset account and no ongoing fees as well as a competitive interest rate. Borrow up to 80% of the property's value.

• Interest rate of 3.54% p.a.
• Comparison rate of 3.54% p.a.
• Application fee of $440
• Maximum LVR: 80%
• Minimum borrowing: $50,000
• Max borrowing: $750,000

Enquire now

• Home Loans
• Speak to a Mortgage Broker

How can I find the cheapest home loan?

The cheapest or lowest home loan rate for you may not be the cheapest home loan for someone else. Everyone is different, so you need to determine which home loan is the cheapest based on your borrowing capacity, your deposit, the features you need and how soon you plan to repay your loan.

The key features to focus on are finding a loan with:

Low interest-rate loans

This is probably what most people have in mind when they they think about finding the cheapest home loan. A low interest rate makes a massive difference to the overall expense of a home loan. Just look below to see how much of a difference it can make in the hypothetical situation below, all things being equal.

Typically, low interest rates are offered on basic home loans, or loans from lenders who have been able to reduce their costs, such as online lenders. Sometimes lenders will also offer very low fixed rates as promotions to secure new business. Once the fixed period ends, the rate can revert to a less competitive variable rate, so be sure to ask lenders what their revert rate will potentially be.

Different types of interest rate

It’s also important to consider the different types of rates on offer:

• Standard Variable Rate
• Ongoing Discount Rate
• Fixed Rate

How can a loan with low fees save me money?

It’s important to look beyond the headline rate when considering a loan. Most loans have upfront fees, ongoing fees and discharge fees associated with them that can cost thousands.

When comparing loans it's a good idea to look at fees and rates together. Some loans may have low interest rates but high ongoing fees, as is the case with most package loans. These home loans charge an annual fee of $200 - $400 per year but offer discounted interest rates and upfront fee waivers.

A great way to understand these costs is to look at the comparison rate.

How can a shorter loan period give me a cheaper loan?

It's simple: the faster you pay off a home loan, the less interest you pay over time. So even though the repayments for a 25 year home loan might look high compared to those of an identical 30 year home loan, the savings would be higher.

Check out the difference in the total cost of two loans below:

Why does this happen? With a longer loan term a borrower will be paying interest for longer. This makes the total cost of a loan much higher.

As you can see, in this example, repayments on a shorter term loan would be just under $500 more each month, but would save $139,465.63 in interest payable over that time.

See how much you could save by shortening your loan term

How can a loan's extra features make my mortgage cheaper?

There's a reason why banks advertise home loan features like offset accounts, interest only payments and loan portability. This is because they're popular features which can save savvy borrowers money. Here are a few common features offered on home loans:

• Offset accounts. An offset account is a transaction account linked to the home loan which reduces the amount of interest payable. For example, if you have a $200,000 loan and $10,000 in a 100% offset account, you will only pay interest on $190,000. You can use the offset account funds if you need to spend them, but then you'll have to pay interest on the full amount. Look out for monthly offset account fees, although most lenders don't charge them.
• Loan portability. This feature lets you move your loan to a new property without the high costs of exiting a loan and taking out a new one.
• Interest only payments. This can reduce your repayments because you only have to pay off the interest of the loan and not the principal. The downside of this is it can extend the loan term, potentially making the loan more expensive in the long run.
• Unlimited extra repayments. Some lenders charge penalty fees when you make extra repayments. But the most affordable home loan could be the one that lets you pay it off in your own way, so watch out for repayment fees. Note that while most lenders allow you to pay variable rate home loans off early with no problem, fixed loans will charge a penalty fee known as break costs.

How can I compare the cheapest home loans to get a better deal on my mortgage?

Cheapest doesn't always mean best. And your personal circumstances and goals matter just as much as the loan itself. These are the things you need to look for when comparing cheap home loans.

• Know your needs. Before making any decisions you really need to look at how much you can afford to borrow and repay, what kind of purchase you're making and what kind of features or rate types will benefit you. You might value the stability of a fixed interest rate, for example. Or you might benefit from a shorter loan with flexible, no-fee repayments.
• Read your key facts sheets. Every lender must supply you with a key facts sheet. You can easily generate your own on a lender's website. The key facts sheet gives you a clear breakdown of your fees, charges and estimated costs over the course of the loan.
• Compare, compare, compare. The home loan market is highly competitive. And a home loan is probably the largest amount of money you'll ever borrow. Do your homework and compare as many loans as you can.

• Use a home loan calculator. Using finder's home loan calculator you can get a pretty good idea about your monthly repayments and how much a loan will cost over time. You can also calculate how much you can borrow, your stamp duty costs and switching costs.

Try out all our mortgage calculators here

I have a few more questions about getting the cheapest home loan

* The offers compared on this page are chosen from a range of products finder.com.au has access to track details from and is not representative of all the products available in the market. Products are displayed in no particular order or ranking. The use of terms "Cheapest", "Cheap", "Best" and "Top" are not product ratings and are subject to our disclaimer. You should consider seeking independent financial advice and consider your personal financial circumstances when comparing products.