A:- Once settlement of your loan has been scheduled ie. you’ve returned all the signed documents, arranged your house insurance to note the new mortgagee and provided the Certificate of Currency, all documents are in order etc. and you or your Conveyancer/Solicitor decide to cancel settlement for any reason, because they have booked it all in and are prepared to attend that day, the Lender’s Solicitors will charge you $50.00 for the cancellation. This is a standard and reasonable expectation.

Q. In the loan documents there is a long, long list of four pages of fees and charges. Do they all apply to me or how do I know which ones do apply to me?

A:- Government regulations state that all fees that may be charged by a Lender/Bank during the entire term of the loan (usually 25 or 30 years) must be disclosed to the borrower in the initial loan documentation. What you will see in those four pages is what the current fees are that are being charged on loans of your loan type by the Lender if a borrower requests a change in the loan facility. Each of these fees will be what you will pay should you request to make a change or alteration, ie. if in one year’s time say, you decide you would like to change from paying the variable interest rate to a fixed interest rate then the Lender will charge you $X to convert the loan over. Just remember these are only payable if you change something. With your loan document you will have received a Tax Invoice showing what fees and charges are payable on your loan now. If you are still not sure, please do not hesitate to contact Your Finance Strategist who will happily go through the documents with you.

LOAN DOCUMENTS Q. I have received two sets of loan documents for my loan. Did they make a mistake and process the loan twice?

A:- Under current legislation all Lenders must forward a full copy of all relevant documentation to each borrower individually under separate cover. I think you will find that one envelope has your name on it and the other will be addressed to your co-borrower (husband, wife or partner). Also if there is a guarantee to the loan the Guarantor will also get a set of documents. Unfortunately it surely means they won’t be sending you the money twice.

OFFSET ACCOUNT Q. What is an offset account used for?A:- An offset account is a good place to “park” amounts of surplus cash so as to not erode the effectiveness of the tax deductibility of interest paid on the loan. There are many situations where using an offset account can greatly improve your bottom line. Our finance strategists are fully trained to guide you on this subject.

A:- There is usually a fee of somewhere between $8 and $12 per month or sometimes there is just one yearly fee charged by the Lender.

  TIME FRAMES Q.How long does it take to get a loan approval?

A: The loan approval process depends on the borrower, the lender, the type of loan and where the security property is situated. On average your loan can usually be approved in 48-72 hours after we receive your completed application together with copies of all the income information, statements etc from you. This will also depend on the availability of the lender’s valuers to attend to the property valuation report. If you need advice on what time frame you should indicate on a Contract to purchase a property for your finance approval and/or an accurate estimate of the time it will take to approve your loan please contact our Investor Loans Network office located closest to you.