WBC had a $1500 refinance rebate for OO loans and now a $1250 rebate for loans including IPs. If I applied for refinance during the $1500 rebate promotion do I need to settle by the end of this month or has it been extended with the new promotion? Also, how long does it take to discharge a home loan from a big 4 bank?
The cash back offer has been extended. Discharge process takes approximately 3-4 weeks - best to submit the discharge form to the outgoing lender ASAP. Some lenders do whats called "FastRefi" which means that they settle the loan without the title deeds (they get the title deeds later). This will significantly speed up the discharge process.
Thanks Shahin. I was worried I may lose the $1500 refinance rebate because of not being able to settle on the loan by the end of this month. Will submit the discharge form this week.
Westpac do whats called XRO priority refinance which is the Fastrefi I was referring to. Make sure you do the refinance this way - its free and will save you a bundle of time. Who is the outgoing lender?
NAB. I had to look elsewhere because they increased their IO rates. Are there are any disadvantages for going with Westpac (as opposed to staying with NAB)? Forgot to ask earlier when is the Westpac $1500 cashback extended till?
NAB is on the XRO list so definitely request it for the refinance. All lenders have weaknesses and disadvantages but some/most/all of them may be irrelevant to your situation. For example, if you were building say 3 units and wanted to do it under residential lending then yes you are making a mistake moving from NAB to Westpac but chances are you are not doing this so no problem. The Westpac cash back offer has been extended to the 5th October. This is for submissions - so your loan doesn't need to be settled by this date.
Westpac's equity release is one of the best but their servicing isn't the strongest so I'm assuming your income vs liability ratio is quite decent.
