How Do I Compare Refinancing Offers to Find the Best Deal?
Published
Written by Adelaide Levy · Relationship Manager — Mortgages, Orange Network
Reviewed by Chad Weber · Head of Lending
Compare refinancing offers on the total cost of the loan over the fixed term — not the headline rate. The best deal is the offer with the lowest all-in cost once you add break costs, legal and valuation fees, and any cash-back clawback, and once the loan structure actually fits what you plan to do next. A lower rate that costs more to reach is not a saving.
Step 1: Get your current bank's offer in writing first
Ask your own bank what it will offer you to stay: the rate, the term, and any retention cash contribution. Staying avoids a legal bill, a possible valuation, and a new application. That stay-put offer is the benchmark every other lender has to beat — and sometimes none of them do.
Step 2: Price the cost of leaving
- Break cost if you leave a fixed term early — ask your bank for the exact figure
- Legal fees for discharging and re-registering the mortgage
- A valuation, if the new lender requires one
- Application or establishment fees at the new lender
- Cash-back clawback: most cash contributions must be repaid if you leave again within a set period, often around three years
Step 3: Compare the rate over the same term
Compare like with like: the same loan amount, the same fixed term, the same repayment type. As a rough guide, 0.25% on a $500,000 loan is about $1,250 a year in interest. If switching saves less than the cost of leaving, staying — or waiting until about 90 days before your fixed term ends — is usually the better deal.
Step 4: Compare the structure, not just the price
An offer is also how the loan is set up. Splitting across two fixed terms, keeping a portion floating or in an offset or revolving-credit facility, and keeping an interest-only period on a rental can each be worth more than a small rate difference. The right structure depends on bonuses, a planned sale, renovations, or a rental purchase — not on a rate chart.
Step 5: Check what the new lender will actually approve
A quoted rate is not an approval. The new lender re-tests your income, debts, and the property at its own test rate. If you have changed jobs, gone self-employed, or taken on new debt since the original loan, that test is the real question. We run the servicing figure across 16+ lenders before you resign from the bank you have.
This is general information, not personalised financial advice. Orange Network is FMA licensed (FSP665511). Mortgage advice is free to you — the lender pays a commission when your loan settles.
