Own your own home sooner with features like a 100% offset account
Buying a home is a huge financial commitment. A commitment that will likely see you taking out the largest loan you'll ever have in your life. If the average person lives to be the age of 90 it's also a loan that you could be paying off for a whole third of your life.
| Product Name | Community First Honeymoon Home Loan |
|---|---|
| Interest Rate Type | Variable |
| Comp Rate^ (p.a.) | |
| Minimum Loan Amount | $50,000 |
| Maximum Loan Amount | $1,000,000 |
| Minimum Loan Term | 1 year |
| Maximum Loan Term | 30 years |
| Maximum LVR | 80% |
| Maximum Insured LVR | 95% |
| Mortgage Offset Account | Yes |
| Mortgage 100% Offset | Yes |
| Loan Redraw Facility | Yes |
| Split Loan Facility | No |
| Fixed Interest Option | No |
| Loan Portable | Yes |
| Suitable for Investment | No |
| Extra Repayment | Yes |
| Available as equity loan/line of credit | No |
| Repayment Type | Principal & Interest and Interest Only Options |
| Application Fee | $600 |
|---|---|
| Lender's Legal Fee | At cost |
| Ongoing Fees | $0 p.a. |
| Settlement Fee | $0 |
| Discharge Fee | $300 |
Pros
- There is $0 ongoing annual fee to pay
- Minimise interest costs during the first year of your mortgage
- Borrow up to 95% of the property value
Cons
- There is a $600 application fee
- There is a $ valuation fee
- There is a plus $At cost legal fee
- A $300 discharge fee applies when you close your home loan account
With that in mind, the importance of choosing the right home loan for your personal situation becomes obvious. But what is the right personal loan for you?
Generally it will be one with a manageable interest rate, low fees, the facility to make overpayments, but most importantly it must be one you can afford to pay back without getting yourself into financial difficulty.
Most home owners who have been in trouble financially report that the first year of their new home loan was when they struggled the most. Why is that? Generally because in the early stages of a home loan you're also going to be paying for solicitors, removal people, building surveys and other costs associated with buying a home.
The Community First Credit Union has seen the need to help customers out during the first year of their home loan and have created the perfect product: The Community First Honeymoon Home Loan.
The Community First Honeymoon Home Loan
So how does this product work and how does it benefit customers in the first year of their deal?
The Honeymoon home loan offers a special low rate of interest for the first 12 months. Not only is the rate very low but it's also fixed. That means even if central rates shoot up your payments would stay the same.
It gives new home owners that little piece of security that their payments aren't going to change for the first year. It also means you'll now exactly how much you need to pay each month up front. A low rate will also help you soak up the additional costs you'll have run into during the period when you moved.
No Fees
Another set of costs that Community First has done away with are annual fees and account management fees. As a new customer you won't have to pay a yearly charge and there's no stealth charge secretly added to your loan to pay for monthly admin fees.
Although in the first year of a home loan you'll probably find money is at a premium, if you do happen to find yourself in a position to make over payments, you can do without any penalty of charges.
If on the other hand you find yourself in a position where you need to access some extra money you can redraw money you've paid off your loan, again at no extra cost to you. It means this is a home loan that gives you full flexibility to overpay or borrow back depending on where life takes you.
High loan-to-value ratio
If you don't have much of a deposit put aside you'll be pleased to hear that the loan to value ratio on this product is 95%, although you would need lenders insurance to borrow above 80%. You do have the facility to borrow up to $1,000,000 with this product, although you should never borrow more than you can comfortably afford to pay back.
Even if Community happens to offer you more money, don't bite off more than you can chew or you will face the consequences later on.
Community First is a well-liked credit union and known for always aiming to be more competitive than the big four banks in the country. With Internet banking, mobile banking, telephone banking and over the counter access to your account, you could do far worse than take a look at the Community First Honeymoon Home Loan.
