Home Loan Refinancing: Compare Options Across 70+ Lenders
When was the last time you revisited your finance?
Refinancing replaces your existing loan with a new one, either with your current lender or a different one. People commonly refinance to seek a more competitive rate, change the loan structure, add features such as an offset account or redraw, consolidate other debts, or release equity for a renovation or an investment. If your loan was set up a few years ago, or a fixed term is ending, it is worth a review.
What Oakwood does when you refinance
Refinancing is more than a rate comparison, so it is worth having someone review the whole position. Here is what we do.
- Review your current loan. We look at the rate, the structure, the features you pay for and actually use, and anything that has changed since the loan was set up.
- Compare suitable options. We compare options across our 70+ lending partners, including asking your current lender to review your rate, and set out the switching costs alongside the difference in repayments.
- Manage the application. We prepare and lodge the application, arrange any valuation and liaise with the lender through its assessment.
- Coordinate settlement. We coordinate the discharge of your existing loan with your current lender and keep you informed through to settlement with the new lender.
- Stay in touch. We check in after settlement, so the loan continues to suit your circumstances as they change.
If you would like your loan reviewed, contact our team.
What to compare beyond the rate
The rate matters, but it is one line on the comparison. We also look at the comparison rate, ongoing fees, whether an offset account or redraw facility suits how you manage your money, the flexibility to make extra repayments, and whether the loan term resets. Extending the term back out can lower the monthly repayment while increasing the total interest paid over the life of the loan, so we show you both.
Fixed, variable or split
A fixed rate gives repayment certainty for a set period. A variable rate commonly offers more flexibility and more features. Many borrowers split the loan between the two. If you are approaching the end of a fixed term, timing matters: refinancing before expiry can attract break costs, while waiting until it reverts can mean a period on the lender’s revert rate, which is commonly higher than the rates offered to new borrowers.
Costs that can apply
Switching commonly involves some cost: a discharge fee from your current lender, government registration fees, and possibly an application, valuation or settlement fee on the new loan. If you are inside a fixed term, break costs can apply as well. We set these out before you commit, so you can see how long the switch takes to pay for itself.
Consolidating debt and releasing equity
Refinancing can bring a car loan, credit card or personal loan into the home loan, which can lower the combined monthly repayment. Short-term debt rolled into a long-term loan can cost more in interest over time, so we work through whether it suits your circumstances. If your property has grown in value, you may also be able to release equity for a renovation, an investment property or other purposes, subject to lender assessment.
What the lender reassesses
Lenders treat a refinance as a new application. They commonly reassess your income, living expenses and existing credit limits, and the property is usually revalued. Your loan-to-value ratio may shift, which can affect the options available or whether lenders mortgage insurance applies. We test the likely position with the lender before anything is lodged.
Is switching actually worth it?
The honest answer is: often, but not always, and not for the reason most people assume. A sharper rate is the obvious prize. The bigger wins we see are usually structural: releasing equity that was sitting idle, getting off an interest-only period before it reverts, or untangling two loans that were cross-secured years ago and have quietly limited every decision since.
Run the numbers first
A lower rate can reduce your repayments and the interest you pay over the life of the loan, but how much depends on your current rate, the new rate, the balance and the years remaining. Switching can involve a discharge fee from your current lender, a new application or settlement fee, and government registration, and those costs need to be weighed against the difference a new rate would make for you. Whether a switch pays for itself depends on those costs and on what a lender offers once it has assessed your application.
Two things can change that comparison. If you are inside a fixed term, ask for the break cost in writing first: it moves with market rates and can be significant. And if you stretch the term out again to lower the repayment, you can end up paying more interest overall while feeling better each month. We will show you both versions rather than the flattering one.
What the lender will look at again
A refinance is a fresh application, not a transfer. Your income is reassessed, your living expenses are commonly verified against your statements, and your existing credit limits count against your borrowing capacity, including cards you never use. Anything that has changed since the original loan (a new child, a business, a job change, a buy-now-pay-later habit) can change the assessment.
Your property is usually revalued too. If the market has moved against you, or the original valuation was optimistic, the equity you think you have may not be there. Where the lender offers it, we order an upfront valuation before lodging anything, so a disappointing number costs you time rather than a credit enquiry.
Cashback offers
They come and go and they are real money, but they are marketing. A cashback attached to a rate above the market can cost you more than it pays over time, depending on the size of the loan and the rate difference. We will compare the two for your situation and tell you where the cashback comes out ahead.
An illustrative worked example
An illustrative example of how a file like this can be approached. It is not a client outcome, and no result is implied. This is general information only, not credit assistance, a quote or a recommendation. Every structure depends on individual circumstances, lender credit policy and approval. Oakwood arranges credit through its lending partners; all lending is subject to lender assessment and approval.
Worked example · Two investment properties
Refinancing a cross-secured pair so one can be sold
- Structure to consider: two standalone loans, each secured only against its own property
- Lender approach: one lender or more than one, depending on policy
The situation. An investor holds two properties financed some time ago with the same bank and cross-secured against each other. They want to sell one and keep the other.
The complication. Because both properties secure both loans, selling one can require the lender to reassess the entire position, and the bank may ask for a paydown on the remaining loan as a condition of release. Interest-only periods on both loans may also be close to ending, which would lift repayments at an awkward moment.
What we would look at. Whether the pair could be refinanced with a lender that would write them as two standalone loans, each secured only against its own property, with the loan on the property being kept written on a new interest-only term. If that is workable, the sale could proceed without a negotiation with the existing lender attached to it.
What the example shows. In a case like this the structure of the loans can matter at least as much as the rate. Whether separation is possible, and on what terms, depends on the lenders involved and their assessment.
Before you switch
The guide below covers the full comparison, the switching costs on both sides, and the documents to have ready.
We arrange home loan refinances for clients across Australia. See our local pages for Adelaide, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Perth. Refinancing in the Adelaide Hills, Mount Barker, southern Perth or Upper Coomera? Those pages explain what lenders look at in each area.
Related reading: Spring Clean Your Finances: Smart Moves Before the Year Ends, Why Wait if Variable Rates Are Already Falling and Will Interest Rates Rise Again in 2026? What Borrowers Need to Know.