How often can I refinance?

There is no legal limit, but there is a practical one. Lenders notice a pattern of short-hold refinances, and each application creates a credit enquiry visible for five years. Once the costs are recovered and a genuinely better option exists, refinancing again is reasonable. Chasing small differences every twelve months rarely pays.

How long does a refinance take?

Commonly three to six weeks from lodgement to settlement. The variable is the outgoing lender’s discharge, which frequently takes two to three weeks on its own. Lodging the discharge authority early rather than after formal approval is the single best way to shorten the timeline.

What is a break cost, and can I find out the amount?

It is what a lender charges to exit a fixed rate before the term ends, calculated on their funding position rather than as a flat fee. It is not capped and can be significant when market rates have fallen since you fixed. Your lender will quote a current figure on request, and it is valid only for a short window.

Can I refinance with less than 20 per cent equity?

Yes, but lender’s mortgage insurance applies again on the new loan and it is generally not transferable between insurers, so you may pay a second premium. Between 80 and 90 per cent LVR it is workable. Above 90 per cent the choice narrows sharply and the cost often outweighs the saving.

Will refinancing reset my loan to 30 years?

Only if you let it. Most lenders default to a fresh thirty-year term, which lowers the repayment and raises the total interest. Ask for the remaining term instead, or set a higher repayment manually. We set this deliberately on every file.

Can I refinance and consolidate other debts at the same time?

Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons people refinance. The lender treats the extra amount as a cash-out, asks what the funds are for, and pays the creditors directly at settlement. Equity and servicing decide whether it runs.

Does refinancing affect my credit score?

The application creates an enquiry, which is visible for five years and has a modest short-term effect. Several enquiries in a short period is the part that reads poorly. Assessing first and applying once is the way to keep the file clean.

My property has gone up in value. Does that help?

It can help considerably, because a higher valuation lowers your LVR and a lower LVR usually widens the panel and improves pricing. It only counts if the lender’s valuer agrees, which is why we form a realistic view of value before choosing where to lodge.

Should I just ask my current lender for a better rate?

Yes, and we often do it for you first. Retention pricing is real and it costs nothing to ask. If the offer is competitive, staying avoids discharge fees and three weeks of paperwork. If it is not, you have a benchmark to measure the market against.

REFINANCING

Home Loan Refinancing

Moving your loan should leave you better off after costs, not just on the headline. We check whether the saving is real before we move anything.

Request a refinance review 1300 015 267

Lender panel
40+
Check applied
Break-even, after costs
Options
Switch, or reprice where you are
Dispute resolution
AFCA

Is this you?

If any of these are true, we can help.

Talk it through

Owners who have not reviewed their loan since it settled.
Borrowers rolling off a fixed term and about to meet the revert rate.
Households wanting an offset account their current loan does not have.
People consolidating other debts at the same time as the switch.
Borrowers whose circumstances changed after settlement and whose loan no longer suits.

How it works

Three moves, in plain words.

01
Position and comparison
Current rate, remaining term, LVR and structure against what your profile now qualifies for. We ask your lender for a retention offer at the same time.
02
Application
Lodged with the chosen lender, documents attached. Most refinances are assessed faster than purchases because there is no contract deadline driving the file.
03
Valuation
Often a desktop or automated valuation on a straightforward refinance. A full inspection where the property is unusual, rural, or the LVR is tight.

Find out whether moving is worth it

Request a refinance review 1300 015 267

Reasons to refinance that hold up

Refinancing is not automatically good. It is a transaction with costs, and it is worth doing for a reason you can name.

The rate you are on is materially worse than what your own profile now qualifies for, usually because your LVR has fallen since settlement.
A fixed term is expiring and the revert rate is about to apply.
You need a structure your current loan does not offer, such as a genuine offset account or the ability to split.
You are consolidating other debt and the mortgage is the vehicle.
You want to release equity for a renovation, a deposit on a second property, or a business purpose.
Your circumstances changed. Income, ownership, or the use of the property is no longer what the original loan assumed.

The reason that does not hold up on its own is a rate you saw advertised. Advertised rates are for a borrower profile that may not be yours, and the loan you end up with is the one you qualify for after assessment.

The detail

Switching lender, or repricing where you are

There are two ways to end up better off, and only one of them involves paperwork. Existing lenders frequently discount to retain a borrower who has a credible reason to leave, and a retention offer costs nothing to ask for.

We usually ask first. If the existing lender matches or comes close, staying is cheaper and faster than switching for a marginal difference. If they do not, we have a written position to measure the market against. Either way you are better informed, and neither path commits you.

Repricing where you are

A retention discount applied to the loan you already hold.
No discharge fee, no registration fees, no new application, no valuation.
Can be done in days rather than weeks, and it costs nothing to ask.
You keep the loan you have, including any structure it lacks. A repricing does not add an offset that was never there.

Switching lender

A full application, assessed on your current income, conduct and LVR.
One-off costs on both sides, and a discharge that sets the timeline.
Opens the whole panel, which matters when your profile has changed since settlement.
The moment to correct the structure: offset, splits, remaining term, repayment frequency.

What switching actually costs

Typical costs on a refinance
Cost	When it applies
Discharge fee	Charged by the outgoing lender on nearly every refinance
Fixed rate break cost	If you exit a fixed term early. Not capped, and can be large when rates have fallen
Government registration fees	State-based, for discharging and registering the mortgage
New lender application or settlement fee	Varies. Often waived on refinance offers
Valuation fee	Frequently absorbed by the incoming lender, not always
Lender’s mortgage insurance	If the new loan lands above 80 per cent LVR. Rarely transferable between insurers
Ongoing package or annual fee	Where the new loan sits inside a package with offset and card
Title and PEXA costs	Small, and usually bundled into settlement

Break-even: Costs ÷ saving
Slowest step: The discharge
Compare on: Remaining term
Typical run: 3–6 weeks

What a straightforward switch costs before any saving

Discharge fee$350
Registration and title fees$320
New lender settlement fee$250
Valuation$220

None of these is large on its own, and together they set the break-even. Against $1,140 of one-off costs, a $95 monthly saving takes about a year to recover. That is the figure the decision turns on, not the headline rate.

Illustrative amounts only, and a fixed rate break cost is excluded because it is uncapped. Not a quote and not an offer of credit.

View as a table

Component	Amount	Share
Discharge fee	$350	31%
Registration and title fees	$320	28%
New lender settlement fee	$250	22%
Valuation	$220	19%
Total	$1,140	100%

Add the one-off costs, divide by the monthly saving, and you have the break-even in months. If you are likely to sell or restructure before that point, staying put is usually the better decision.

One loan measured against another after costs, which is the only comparison that decides anything. — The break-even is the honest test. A switch that takes three years to recover its own costs is not a saving if you expect to sell or restructure inside two.

Whether the saving is real

Two traps make a refinance look better than it is. The first is the term reset. Refinancing an eighteen-year remaining balance back out to thirty years lowers the repayment because the term is longer, not because the loan is cheaper. Keep the remaining term the same and the comparison becomes honest.

The second is the introductory period. A rate that steps up after a set period needs to be compared over the whole time you expect to hold the loan, not over the honeymoon. We model both, and we model them at the remaining term rather than a fresh thirty years.

The same balance, over eighteen years and over thirty

The lower repayment is mostly the longer term rather than a cheaper loan. On the day the original loan would have finished, the reset version still owes $213,000. Compare on the remaining term and the saving becomes an honest number.

Illustrative projection only, at an assumed constant rate. Not a quote and not an offer of credit.

View as a table

Month	Kept at the 18 years remaining	Reset to a fresh 30 years
0	$420,000	$420,000
54	$341,000	$383,000
108	$249,000	$337,000
162	$141,000	$281,000
216	$0	$213,000

Worked example · illustrative

A saving that only existed because the term was reset

The situation: A household eighteen years into a thirty-year loan is shown a refinance with a repayment about $400 a month lower than what they pay now, and reads that as the value of moving.
The move: We rebuild the comparison over the eighteen years remaining rather than a fresh thirty, and add the discharge, registration and any establishment costs to the one-off column.
Where it lands: Most of the apparent saving turns out to be the longer term rather than a cheaper loan. What is left, after costs, is the real number, and it is the one the decision should be made on. Sometimes it still favours moving. Sometimes it does not.

A composite example, not a specific client. Any figures are indicative and outcomes depend entirely on individual circumstances and lender assessment.

Here is the honest number.
WeL’nd voice principle — plain, never simple

Documents for a refinance

What the incoming lender wants
Document	Usual requirement
Identification	Passport or driver licence for each applicant
Income evidence	Two recent payslips, or two years of returns and financials if self-employed
Current mortgage statements	Six to twelve months, showing conduct as much as balance
Rates notice	Current, for the security property
Insurance certificate	Building cover noting the incoming lender
Liability statements	Every card, loan and buy-now-pay-later account
Bank statements	Three to six months of transaction accounts
Discharge authority	Signed and lodged with the outgoing lender

Repayment history on the existing mortgage matters more on a refinance than on a purchase. A single missed payment in the last six months will be asked about, and an unexplained pattern of them will decide the outcome.

The refinance timeline

01
Position and comparison
Current rate, remaining term, LVR and structure against what your profile now qualifies for. We ask your lender for a retention offer at the same time.
02
Application
Lodged with the chosen lender, documents attached. Most refinances are assessed faster than purchases because there is no contract deadline driving the file.
03
Valuation
Often a desktop or automated valuation on a straightforward refinance. A full inspection where the property is unusual, rural, or the LVR is tight.
04
Formal approval and documents
Unconditional approval, then loan documents to sign, commonly electronically.
05
Discharge
The discharge authority goes to the outgoing lender. This is the slow step. Allow two to three weeks, sometimes longer, and lodge it early rather than at the end.
06
Settlement
The new lender pays out the old one, any consolidated debts are cleared, and the title is transferred electronically.

Refinancing when something is wrong

Most of the refinances we write are not simple rate moves. They are files another broker or a bank has already looked at and put down. The common blockers each have their own answer.

The blocker and the usual route through
What is in the way	Where we look
Tax debt behind a trading business	Lenders that fund a stated ATO payout with evidence of the balance and lodgements
A default or judgment on file	Non-bank and specialist lenders that price the listing rather than decline it
Recent mortgage arrears	Specialist lenders that can capitalise arrears where equity supports it
Self-employed with one year of returns	Lenders accepting a single year, or alt doc verification instead
Servicing shortfall on paper	Longer term, debt consolidation inside the refinance, or a different assessment method
Valuation came in under expectation	A second lender with a different valuation panel, or a restructure at a lower LVR

Where a refinance genuinely will not run today, the useful output is a dated plan: what has to change, by when, and which lender it is aimed at. That is a better result than another enquiry on your file.

Structure worth fixing while you are here

A refinance is the cheapest moment to correct a structure you have been living with. It costs nothing extra to set the loan up properly at the same time as moving it.

A genuine offset account against the loan, rather than redraw, particularly if the property might ever become an investment.
Splits, so a consolidated portion or a renovation portion is visible and can be repaid on its own timetable.
The remaining term set deliberately, rather than reset to thirty years by default.
Repayment frequency aligned to when you are actually paid.
Loan purpose kept clean between private and investment or business borrowing, which is a question worth putting to a registered tax agent before documents are signed.

Run the numbers

See it with your own figures.

Indicative only. Change anything — the defaults are starting points, not quotes.

The loan you have

Current loan balance

What you owe today, not what you originally borrowed.

Current interest rate

Read it off your last statement. The figure loaded here is an editable placeholder, not a rate anyone is offering.

Term remaining

Years left on the loan as it stands, not the original thirty.

The loan you are considering

New interest rate

A figure to test, not a rate we are quoting. Rates move, and the rate you are offered depends on the lender, the loan-to-value ratio and your file.

New term

Most refinances reset to a new thirty-year term. Setting this longer than your remaining term is the single easiest way to look better monthly and be worse off overall.

What switching costs

Discharge fee on the old loan

A placeholder. Your loan contract states the real figure — replace this with it. A loan still inside a fixed period can also carry a break cost, which is not modelled here.

Application or establishment fee

Some lenders waive it. Some do not.

Valuation fee

Government registration and transfer fees

Discharging one mortgage and registering another. Set by your state or territory.

Where refinances go wrong

A lower rate is not the same thing as a cheaper loan. Reset a loan with twenty-one years left back to thirty and the repayment drops, because the debt now has nine more years to sit there earning interest. That can still be the right call when cash flow is the problem you are solving. It is only the wrong call when nobody told you it was happening.

Assumptions

Both loans are principal and interest, repaid monthly, with the rate held constant for the whole term. Real rates move, and a variable rate will not stay where you typed it.
The new loan is written for the same balance you owe today. Switching costs are treated as paid up front, not added to the loan. Capitalising them would raise the new repayment and push the break-even out.
Ongoing account fees, package fees, annual fees, offset account fees and lenders mortgage insurance are not included on either side.
Fixed-rate break costs are not modelled. If your loan is inside a fixed period, ask your lender for the break figure before you go any further — it can be large enough to settle the question on its own.
Break-even is switching costs divided by the monthly saving. It ignores what you would have earned on that money elsewhere, and it assumes you keep the new loan long enough to reach it.
Interest totals are calculated over each loan’s full term, so a longer new term is compared honestly against a shorter remaining one rather than against a matching slice of it.
Cash-back offers, rebates and introductory periods are not counted.

Lower each month by

$201

That is $2,411 a year of cash flow, before you count what the switch costs to make.

Current repayment, monthly: $4,389
New repayment, monthly: $4,188
Cost of switching: $350
Break-even: 2 months
Interest on the loan you have (25 years): $666,654
Interest on the new loan (25 years): $606,388
New loan plus switching costs: $606,738
Saved over the life of the loan: $59,916
Saved if you keep the 25 years you have left: $59,916

Repayment now$4,389

Repayment after switching$4,188

Total interest, loan you have$666,654

Total interest plus costs, new loan$606,738

Send us the loan you have — the rate, the balance, the term left and whether any of it is fixed. We will tell you straight whether moving is worth it, including when the answer is that you should stay where you are.

Have us check the numbers

Open the full calculator

“Tell me the number. I have almost certainly seen worse.”

Dave Pham · Head Broker

Talk to Dave1300 015 267

FAQ

Questions people actually ask

If yours is not here, ask it. We would rather answer the awkward one early than have you find out later.

1300 015 267

How often can I refinance?: There is no legal limit, but there is a practical one. Lenders notice a pattern of short-hold refinances, and each application creates a credit enquiry visible for five years. Once the costs are recovered and a genuinely better option exists, refinancing again is reasonable. Chasing small differences every twelve months rarely pays.
How long does a refinance take?: Commonly three to six weeks from lodgement to settlement. The variable is the outgoing lender’s discharge, which frequently takes two to three weeks on its own. Lodging the discharge authority early rather than after formal approval is the single best way to shorten the timeline.
What is a break cost, and can I find out the amount?: It is what a lender charges to exit a fixed rate before the term ends, calculated on their funding position rather than as a flat fee. It is not capped and can be significant when market rates have fallen since you fixed. Your lender will quote a current figure on request, and it is valid only for a short window.
Can I refinance with less than 20 per cent equity?: Yes, but lender’s mortgage insurance applies again on the new loan and it is generally not transferable between insurers, so you may pay a second premium. Between 80 and 90 per cent LVR it is workable. Above 90 per cent the choice narrows sharply and the cost often outweighs the saving.
Will refinancing reset my loan to 30 years?: Only if you let it. Most lenders default to a fresh thirty-year term, which lowers the repayment and raises the total interest. Ask for the remaining term instead, or set a higher repayment manually. We set this deliberately on every file.
Can I refinance and consolidate other debts at the same time?: Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons people refinance. The lender treats the extra amount as a cash-out, asks what the funds are for, and pays the creditors directly at settlement. Equity and servicing decide whether it runs.
Does refinancing affect my credit score?: The application creates an enquiry, which is visible for five years and has a modest short-term effect. Several enquiries in a short period is the part that reads poorly. Assessing first and applying once is the way to keep the file clean.
My property has gone up in value. Does that help?: It can help considerably, because a higher valuation lowers your LVR and a lower LVR usually widens the panel and improves pricing. It only counts if the lender’s valuer agrees, which is why we form a realistic view of value before choosing where to lodge.
Should I just ask my current lender for a better rate?: Yes, and we often do it for you first. Retention pricing is real and it costs nothing to ask. If the offer is competitive, staying avoids discharge fees and three weeks of paperwork. If it is not, you have a benchmark to measure the market against.

Credentials

Credit Representative 554029
ABN 20 672 801 651
FBAA member
AFCA external dispute resolution

Other ways we can help

Reading

Worth understanding first

All of home loans

Where we work

Find out whether moving is worth it

We will compare your current loan against what your profile qualifies for now, after costs and over the remaining term. If staying is better, that is what we will tell you.

Or call us

1300 015 267

Monday – Friday, 09:00 to 17:30

“Tell me the number. I have almost certainly seen worse.”

Dave Pham · Head Broker

Talk to Dave1300 015 267

Home Loan Refinancing

If any of these are true, we can help.

Three moves, in plain words.

Position and comparison

Application

Valuation

Reasons to refinance that hold up

The detail

Switching lender, or repricing where you are

Repricing where you are

Switching lender

What switching actually costs

What a straightforward switch costs before any saving

Whether the saving is real

The same balance, over eighteen years and over thirty

Documents for a refinance

The refinance timeline

Position and comparison

Application

Valuation

Formal approval and documents

Discharge

Settlement

Refinancing when something is wrong

Structure worth fixing while you are here

See it with your own figures.

Questions people actually ask

Other ways we can help

Debt Consolidation Home Loan

Cash-Out Refinance

Home Loans

Worth understanding first

Fixed vs Variable in a Changing Market

Offset vs Redraw

Refinancing With a Default on Your Credit File

Find out whether moving is worth it