loans.com.au

If a set and forget type loan then it very well may work for you.

What happens if your "set and forget" intention takes a kick in the arse?

You may be in for some fun or lack there of and wont be thinking of the coin saved then especially if it costs you an opportunity to 100x your initial saving.

 

I think someone who's chasing that sorta rate probably doesn't know what IO is, or at least how to utilise it

 

I simply ask what has happened to every project you didn't correctly plan for?
It can be a complex project or something basic such as a DIY, ultimately a poor planned project becomes a real nuisance or dare I say a disaster.

Take a DIY you just just do on the fly, what tends to happen? You think about it, write a quick list and then of to Bunnings you go. Grab everything you need and ofcourse the cheaper screws because "hey screws all do the same thing for my project" right?
Get home, start building and then realise you don't have a certain tool you need. So back you go. Home again and realise its heavier than thougt so start calling mates, they come over and advise you got the wrong screws and on and on.

Long winded story to get to my point but loans.com and other cheap rates are basically if you have no plan, at the time it seems a great idea and ecspecially if it means saved money (why pay a tradie when your an expert in doing everything right?). But rest assured at some point your project will become a real nuisance at which stage you wish you engaged a professional or worse yet a disaster that costs you tons of money.

Short Sightness is one of the absolute worst things a person can do with anything in life. Those that plan will always come out on top. A purely cheap rate is short Sightness.

 

I do take the point about the cheapest not always being the best, shortcuts end up costing you in the long run etc.

But If I'm having to put down a 20% deposit regardless of which lender I go with. I already have an offset facility with another loan that I can park all
My excess funds in. I'm not locked in in any way. There are no annual fees. I'm really struggling to see how getting the lowest rate is a bad thing? If they screw me in the future don't I just simply refinance with someone else?

 

If i could like something twice, i would to this rolfism!

On another note, its very true. Refinancing is often thought of in the current environment. There have been times in the past and there'll be times in the future where credit becomes increasingly difficult to obtain (market changes) and that may mean refinancing isn't always on the table. Sometimes its best to take considerations of uncertainty in the future into the decisions you make today.

 

I'm a broker and got myself in a situation where I wasn't able to refinance for about 3 years. Things happen, jobs change, new partners/relationships, new bank policies, the wider economy can all conspire to mean refinancing is difficult.
Now if I had been with a lender that let you roll over to another term of interest only, or fix the rate without a new application, everything woulda been lot easier to deal with.

That cheap rate might cost you more than interest.

 

I've tried, maybe 3 times. They... took.. for... ever.
Missed out, moved on.

 

But then it may not cost you, it's one or the other. Is there any solid evidence that they are not good? For us that don't know heaps about this, real examples would be helpful. My personal experience - refinance of existing loan - yes, 88% loan with lmi - yes, low rates - yes. Customer service - ranges from good to shocking. If you are prepared to put up with that and if you are not planning to build a multi million portfolio, why not them?

 

no your right. Stick with loans.com.

 

Azazel at what stage did they take forever? I had a 20 minute convo with them the other day and got pre approval. They indicated that I'd only run onto trouble obtaining the actual finance If I have false figures.

Meme plecko I'm on the same page. When you're not in the Loans business it's helpful to get real works examples of people who've dealt with them.

 

It's probably perfectly fine for a set and forget investor who is happy with one or two properties. For those looking to do more than that, probably not - even just for the fact that now more than ever it takes planning to build a large portfolio, and online lenders aren't available to the brokers who have the capability to do that planning. If we aren't all over the lenders policy and have no personal experience of their service, recommending them is not going to be in our clients best interest.

 

20 minute pre-approval? That's most definitely not a *real* pre-approval - not worth the paper it's written on.

Credit file activity, assessment of documentation provided, change in lenders appetite - these things can unhinge you with these shoddy approvals. You want to make sure you're conditionally approved subject to valuation at the absolute worst case.

 

Hi dan2101.
This from SS re loans.com.au is interesting reading

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106147&highlight=loans.com

 

It's not offered through brokers. And brokers don't like products like this becoming popular.

 

I personally believe using a good broker is a must but must say all these recent changes would have undone so much work from even the best of investment brokers.
Use X lender now, use Y lender now and pay LMI so we can utilise it later.etc. All this planning has been turned on its head!
Some of the reasons it was stated not to use loans.com they are actually more superior than a big4 (e.g cash out).

 

A little oversimplified.
Do all bakers hate home brand bread and not want it to become popular?
Online lenders are great for white bread PPOR refinances. They aren't so good with anything tricky, the interesting stuff. High LVR fhb's, credit impaired, self employed, investors. This is what makes finance interesting. Working in the space of online lenders would drive me crazy with boredom.
That said, my main experience of online lenders has been people coming to me report after they have tried and failed to do it themselves online. No doubt there are numerous examples of satisfied customers of online lenders, and good luck to them.

 

Only 12% of Ubsnk applications settle. Anyone want vanilla for desert?

 

I think you'll find loans.com.au has it's stuff together far more than UBank. The UBank process is politely best described as rubbish. Im amazed 12% of applicants hang around long enough to settle
But yes, loans.com.au are certainly very "vanilla" in their appetite - as are their parent brand Firstmac. Then again so are all the banks now