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Home Loan Interest Rate
By Credit Watcher | March 20, 2010
The home loan interest rate represents the factor that makes the difference between various loan categories. This element alone influences the monthly costs in the repayment schedule, which means that the tiniest rise in the interest rate will take more money out of your bank account. The home loan interest rate can be fixed, variable or a combination of these two. There are lenders that even provide ‘introductory’ rates that are smaller for the first period of repayment.
The variable home loan interest rate poses no restrictions in case of additional payments, and this is probably the biggest advantage it provides. Plus, if the cash rate drops, so will the interest rate. Unfortunately, increases of the interest rate can occur both in relation with a cash rate or independent of it. A fixed interest rate for a determined period of time functions better under the circumstances. You thus have the chance to better plan your finances because you know exactly what you are going to pay every month.
With a fixed home loan interest rate, there are restrictions to the advanced payment and no chance of enjoying a rate decrease. The introductory home loan interest rate is very advantageous for the first one or two years of the repayment schedule, but then it gets much higher. The bad part is that such interest rates come with restrictions such as high termination fees, plus, the interest rate may be very high at the end of the introductory period.
The presence of the additional fees and the variation in home loan interest rate makes comparisons between lenders difficult. Normally all well-reputed financial institutions have a comparison rate that should be used officially when shopping around for the best offer. For example, a certain home loan may have an interest rate of 8.0% but a comparison rate of 8.5% due to supplementary charges. For a full picture of the loan offer, it is important to consider the rest of the features too, besides the home loans interest rates.
Do not neglect to carefully check the termination fees, because they can give you a very nasty surprise. A cheap loan will no longer be cheap if you have to pay a huge sum of money just to terminate it sooner. 2% for early termination represents a lot of money if you want to be rid of the loan repayment sooner.
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