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How do I choose a home loan?

Firstly, it’s important identify what you need, and then find home loan products that suit your situation. Home loans are categorised as follows:

The two main types of home loans

  • Fixed rate – an interest rate that’s locked in for a set period of time
    OR
  • Variable rate – an interest rate that fluctuates with the market

The two simple loan uses

  • Owner-occupied – for those looking for a property to live in
    OR
  • Investment – for those looking to build a property investment portfolio

The two different repayment types

  • Principal & interest – where you pay off the loan amount plus interest
    OR
  • Interest Only loans - where you only pay the interest

There are some basic things to consider:

Interest rate - try and get the lowest rate you can, as even a small difference can add up to thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.

Loan term – this impacts the size of your repayments and the interest you’ll pay (i.e. shorter term = higher repayments but less interest).

Fixed or variable interest rate – a fixed rate helps you budget because your repayments remain the same, but if interest rates fall, you won't benefit. A variable rate usually offers more loan features, but your repayments will go up if interest rates rise.

Loan features – these include redraw or line of credit facilities and an offset account that lets you use your savings to lower the amount of interest you pay and reduce the overall cost of the loan. Most of these features cost extra, so choose a loan with only the features you’ll use.

Loan fees - these can include application fees, valuation fees, annual fees, and settlement fees.

Our Tiimely Home application is different to traditional processes. It’s not a manual form that you fill out digitally, but a live application that assesses your information and eligibility in real time. And because our application process is online, we’re able to use the efficiency of our process to offer some of the best interest rates in the market.

Plus, we have experienced in-house brokers if a Tiimely Own home loan isn’t suitable for you.

If you still have any questions or need a little more information, you can contact us at Tiimely Home to assess your individual needs.

Found in:

  • Loan features
  • Home loan ready

Found in:

Legal information about our rates
Our home loans are subject to credit criteria and eligibility requirements. Home loan interest rates are for new customers only and can change. Our comparison rates are based on a $150,000 loan amount over a 25 year term. They factor in fees associated with applying for the loan; ongoing fees and fees associated with leaving the loan. Our fixed loans roll to a variable principal and interest rate at the end of the fixed term. If the interest only period is not specified, the comparison rate is calculated on a one year period.

WARNING: The comparison rates are true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate.

Tiimely Turnaround
^Our turnaround times are up to 2x faster than the industry, based on a comparison of our average platform submit to approval time compared to industry submit to approval time, published here  (June 2023). Customer turnaround times are dependent on individual circumstances and may require an assessor to obtain more information.

Our trade mark
Tiimely is a registered trademark of Tiimely Pty Ltd.

Tiimely FAQs and Guides
At Tiimely Home we are not financial advisers and recommend seeking independent financial and legal advice to check how the information we provide aligns with your individual circumstances.