Negotiating a better home loan rate

As interest rates (and panic) rise, there's even more pressure to secure a cheaper home loan for your situation — whether that's refinancing your current mortgage or getting the best deal as a first home buyer. But anyone who's tried to analyse the 400-plus offers on the Australian market will tell you that's not exactly an easy prospect.
Thankfully, there are a number of new options for home buyers to help negotiate a better deal:

1. Comparison Websites – mozo.com.au allows you to compare hundreds of home loans with ease. There's no fine print, no trawling through bank websites for fees and conditions. Just a simple comparison table with all the info you need to sort through the entire marketplace in minutes.

2. Home Loan Negotiators – This new kid on the home loan block has mortgage experts working with you to get you a better deal out of the banks. Meow will negotiate on your behalf to cut rates, fees and red tape to secure you a better loan deal.

3. Online Tools – Great, free tools are taking the mystery out of home loans. The Home Loan Health Check rates your current loan against the rest of the market to see if your mortgage could be in better shape. And handy calculators can crunch those money numbers, so you're no longer in the dark about what your repayments will be if rates rise, how much you can afford to borrow, and which home loan costs less in the long term.

All these options work on the principle that the more information you have, the better the deal you settle on. And with interest rates rising, there's never been a better time to check out the competition.

Story provided by mozo.com.au