To refinance or not?

Buying your first home can seem complicated but with the right The difficult question for any budget conscious home owners or investor is when is the best time to refinance my existing loan/s? The traditional view is to only refinance when you are undertaking renovating, purchasing a new property, investing in another property or when there is a sudden charge in interest rates. An alternate view to this and an option that has become more popular in resent years is to periodically look at refinancing options to ensure that you're getting the best deal and service on your existing loan. The demand for refinancing has largely been driven by interest in debt consolidation and heavy discounting by lenders in standard rate and fixed loans. The tradition view of remaining with the same lender until the loan is paid off has been replaced with borrowers seeking the best loan for there needs at the best possible rate. The benefits of refinancing include: Securing a reduced interest rates and saving money in interest payments over the life of the loan Provides the ability to make one fortnightly/monthly repayment (in the case of debt consolidation). Remaining with your existing lender may seem the easiest option. But when you compare your current loan with other loan options you often find that refinancing is a better option overall. The things to include when investigating your refinance options include: If there are any significant pay out penalties to get out of your current loan? Application fees and other cost associated with establishing a new loan (these can include -legal costs, lenders mortgage insurance, on going fees, early termination fees etc) Researched the products available thoroughly? Is the new loan more flexible (Does the new loan offer additional payment options, redraw facilities, split facilities, extra features etc)? By refinancing with a lender that offer better rates or more flexible services you could save thousands over the life of your loan.