Don't worry about rising interest rates with the Easy Street Fixed Rate Home Loan
Choosing a home loan is a huge decision, and you want to make sure you have considered all of the options. However, in the search for the right home loan it is easy to get distracted and drawn into the big names, the big marketing campaigns and the big promises of the big banks when really, after settlement you can feel like just another account number.
Easy Street is part of the Community First Credit Union group, and Community First is the largest community based credit union operating across Sydney and the Central Coast of Australia. Community First Credit Union have been offering financial services to their members since 1959 and are an Authorised Deposit Taking Institution. So while Easy Street may not have been the first name to pop into your heard when you thought ‘home loan’ they are worth a look now, and something to remember as you hold their loans, fees and features up against rival options.
Overview of the Easy Street fixed Home Loan
| Product Name | Easy Street Fixed Home Loan |
|---|---|
| Interest Rate Type | Fixed |
| Comp Rate^ (p.a.) | |
| Minimum Loan Amount | $50,000 |
| Maximum Loan Amount | $1,000,000 |
| Minimum Loan Term | 2 years |
| 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 | Yes |
| Extra Repayment | Yes |
| Available as equity loan/line of credit | No |
| Repayment Type | Principal & Interest and Interest Only Options |
| Application Fee | $500 |
|---|---|
| Valuation Fee | $0 |
| Ongoing Fees | $0 p.a. |
| Settlement Fee | $0 |
| Discharge Fee | $300 |
Pros
- There is $0 ongoing service fee
- You can make extra payments each year during the fixed term without penalty
- You can withdraw extra funds from the mortgage using the redraw facility
Cons
- A $300 discharge fee applies when you close your home loan account
- There is a $500 application fee.
Who is Easy Street?
Easy Street is a division of Community First Credit Union, the biggest credit union in Sydney. As part of Community First, you can have the peace of mind that Easy Street is licensed and regulated like all Australian banks. Because Easy Street only offers its products online, it cuts down on overheads and can pass on competitive deals to you.
Features of the Easy Street fixed home loan
The Easy Street Fixed Home Loan can offer you security when it comes to your home loan repayments, because you won’t have to worry about how fluctuating interest rates will affect your budget. An Easy Street Fixed Home Loan features:
- A two or three year fixed term. You can choose to fix your home loan interest rate with Easy Street for two or three years, depending on your plans for the future and where you think interest rates are going in the medium term.
- A 100% offset account. An offset account is a transaction account which is linked to your loan account and any funds in your offset account save you interest on your home loan. For example, if you have a loan of $250,000 and you have $10,000 in your offset account, then when interest is calculated you only pay interest on $240,000. This means your offset account is the ideal place for all of your savings and other income as you can reduce your repayments and your loan term by saving interest and you are not taxed on interest saved, only on interest earned.
- Additional repayments. When you have some extra funds you can deposit them directly into your loan account to reduce your principle amount. This reduces the loan term and the interest you pay. You can make lump sum additional repayments, or you can set up a regular monthly repayment which is more than the minimum amount due. You can pay an additional $25,000 each year fee free.
- Redraw facility. You will feel more confident depositing extra funds into your home loan if you know you can easily access them again, which you can with a redraw facility, which doesn’t restrict you with a minimum redraw amount so you only withdraw as much as you need.
- No ongoing fees. There are $0 monthly or ongoing account-keeping fees to pay.
- Switch to a variable rate or another fixed term. When your two or three year fixed term ends you can switch to the standard variable interest rate at the time, or you can fix your loan at the current fixed rates.
- Borrow up to 95%. You can borrow up to 95% of the property value, so you only need to save up a 5% deposit, plus enough to cover lender’s mortgage insurance.
- Versatile loan uses. You can use the Easy Street Fixed Home Loan if you are an owner occupier, refinancing, investing or renovating.
Benefits of the Easy Street fixed home loan
The Easy Street Fixed Home Loan has a number of attractive benefits which set it apart from the products on offer by other second tier lenders and help it compete with the loans from the big banks:
- Fully featured. Most fixed rate home loans will have very limited features because the lender has fixed your interest rate and therefore fixed their income and they don’t want you making savings in interest and eating into their income with features such as additional repayments and offset accounts. However, the Easy Street Fixed Home Loan has additional repayments and redraw, a 100% offset account, no fees and a generous LVR.
Why choose a fixed interest rate?
A fixed home loan is just one of the many home loan types you can choose from when you are buying property and is best suited to:
- Those on a tight budget. If you have a young family or are starting out in your career, you are probably very careful with your money from week to week and you don’t need a fluctuating interest rate impacting on your budget each month.
- You like reliability. Even if you don’t need to stick to a tight budget, you might like to know what your finances will be doing from month to month and a fixed interest rate home loan doesn’t subject you to the whims of the RBA.
- The bottom of the interest rate cycle. Official interest rates are always running on a cycle of peaks and dips and the best time to choose a fixed interest rate home loan is when official rates are at their lowest. Unfortunately many people choose to fix their home loan interest rate at the peak of a cycle, when they can’t take any more interest rate rises, but if you can ride out the peak and wait for the bottom of the next dip, you can lock in an affordable low rate.
Know how much you want to borrow? Use our calculator to find out what your repayments will be
How to apply for an Easy Street fixed home loan
If you are ready to apply for an Easy Street Fixed Home Loan you can apply online. You can also complete an enquiry form on the Easy Street website and have a loan consultant contact you when it is convenient, to discuss your options and application.
I am not sure that you can help me; however, I am trying to gain an owner builder construction loan to build my house. I currently have a mortgage for a 3 acre block (still owe $180,000, worth approx $250,000) The build will cost approximately $340,000. This includes power, water and sewage on the block. I am a qualified metal fabricator and the house frame will be metal. I also have allot of building experience due to a previous major renovation project. I
Look fwd to your advice
Rod
Hi Rod,
thanks for the question.
You might wish to contact Easy Street directly to discuss possible lending options for your situation. Alternatively, you can compare construction loans available on this page and learn more about how they work.
I hope this helps,
Marc.