Banks have moved away from providing mortgage managers, but you can still have an adviser that works as a Westpac mortgage manager for you.
That’s right, a good adviser will work for you.
There are some key advantages of having an adviser as your Westpac mortgage manager including:
- Knowing about the products that Westpac offer, and being able to explain in plain English
- Provide advise and help to structure the loans so they suit your situation
- Making sure that the banks are offering you competitive interest rates
Sure, occasionally you might find someone at the bank that appears very pleasant and helpful BUT in many cases they are just doing their job for the bank and making sure that they don’t make things to difficult.
We talk to Westpac customers all the time and in most cases they have had very little (if any) advice and it appears that little thought has gone into the way that the loans have been structured.
Understanding What Westpac Offers
As mentioned, one of the advantages of having an adviser as your Westpac mortgage manager is that they know about the products that Westpac offer, and are able to explain things in plain English.
Westpac have some home loan options that may be better than other banks, but are not often explained.
- Fixed Home Loans (called the Choices Home Loan) – most people will put the majority of their mortgage on a fixed loan and while this is “safer” and “cheaper” it is also generally less flexible. With the Westpac Choices Home Loan you can get the advantages of a fixed home loan but also are able to pay up to 20% above the minimum repayment without being charged a penalty.
- Revolving Credit (called an Everyday Account) – these are great accounts to have as part of a mortgage, but with many banks you cannot have a revolving credit account if you have less than 20% deposit. With Westpac you can as their revolving credit has a reducing limit.
- Offset Account (called Choices Offset) – this is another good type of account, but it’s rarely used as it’s harder to explain how it works. The aim is to “offset” any savings in either your Westpac bank accounts or even ‘say’ your parents Westpac bank accounts against your loan balance. Westpac have a good calculator here that explains how you can save and of course we can explain it in more detail too.
- Eco Loans (called Greater Choices Home Loan) – this is another option that Westpac have where you can get a loan of up to $50,000 interest free for five years to help you create a warmer, drier, healthier and more energy efficient home or life. This interest free finance is available for a mix of heat pumps, hot water heat pumps, wood burners, insulation, double glazing, ventilation, solar power systems and batteries, rainwater tanks as well as electric and hybrid vehicles, plus electric vehicle chargers (and any associated costs).
This is a sample of what you’re often not told.
Is Westpac Good For First Home Buyers?
Most first home buyers have lower deposits and to help with this Westpac have a few options:
- First Home Loans – using a First Home Loan through Westpac and Kāinga Ora assuming that you are eligible then you only need a 5% deposit. There is a one-off Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) premium of 0.50% that applies instead of a low equity margin (LEM) which means you still get competitive interest rates.
- Family Springboard – this enable’s you to buy your first home with the support from a member of your family (normally a parent) where you have a loan to 80% of your home and a shared loan co-borrowed with your family member in a second shared loan for up to 20% of the value of your home. It’s similar to having a guarantor but limited to the second shared loan only and the family member has no involvement in the main loan. The family support also makes the loan more affordable as you avoid paying a low equity margin (LEM) meaning higher interest rates.
Standard Low Deposit Home Loans – of course Westpac can also offer their standard home loans (mentioned above) for people that have low deposits (under 20%) to a levels set by the Reserve Bank rules, and also home loans for those with more than 20% deposit. If you have less than 20% deposit then you need to be aware of the
Is Westpac Good For Property Investors?
Property investors are limited by Reserve Bank rules to borrowing up to a maximum of 65% on existing homes being used for investment, but new builds are exempt from those rules.
Another way that people often get around this and that enables them to borrow the whole 100% for an investment property is by linking the new lending to another property that you own – maybe your home. There are risks with doing this and in most cases an adviser would suggest that you don’t link your properties, but the banks only have one option and so they almost always will.
- Interest Only Loans – cashflow is important for property investors and so many prefer to start with interest only loans, and then they have the minimum financial commitment but can always pay more as cashflow allows.
- Offset Account (called Choices Offset) – is a great way to use savings to minimise the interest cost, but without having a negative impact on any potential tax deductions. It’s almost the same as paying the loan off, but you retain access to the money as it’s held in a separate account and just offset for the interest calculation.
You want to make smart choices when investing, and it’s another good reason to have an adviser as your Westpac mortgage manager.
Ready To Get Started
The best time to get started is now – not tomorrow or next week.
The sooner that you make contact with an adviser who can act as your Westpac mortgage manager, the sooner you will get to find out your options.
That means you can get started with a Westpac mortgage or review what you currently have.
One of the best things is that Westpac understand how advisers can help, and therefore pay the advisers to help you so effectively you get professional advice for free.
