A fixed rate does not quietly become a good variable rate.
Ask your lender for its new-customer variable rate, or a new fixed rate, about a month before the fixed period ends. If they will not price you sharply, refinance before the rollover date.
Doing nothing moves you to the standard variable rate, which is often well above what the same lender offers new customers.
Part of the refinancing guide.
Calculate your savings
Example rates only, not current advertised rates. Set both sliders to your own figures.
Over the remaining term, before switching costs and fees, we model those before recommending a move. Estimates only, not credit advice.
Confirm your numbers.
Charles and the team recently assisted me with the refinance of my investment property.
A huge thank you to Charlie for his exceptional support and expertise throughout the process of securing finance for my first home.
I found Charles and Links Property Finance very prompt and professional to deal with. Made it all so easy.
Charles Touma, Mortgage Broker.
Repricing is faster and cheaper than switching, and lenders frequently will move for a customer who asks, particularly one who mentions they are comparing. It costs a phone call. Where it is not, you now have a number to compare against.
Where the answer is a competitive rate, staying put is the sensible outcome and you have saved yourself an application.
The decision at rollover is the same one you faced originally: certainty against flexibility. Fixed rates limit extra repayments at many lenders and often exclude offset, which matters more than borrowers expect. The fixed versus variable guide covers the trade-offs.
Splitting, fixing part and leaving part variable, is a middle path worth considering rather than treating it as all or nothing.
Four steps, starting well before the date on your loan documents.
The loan reverts automatically to the lender's standard variable rate, which is usually well above what the same lender offers new customers. Nothing breaks and no action is required, which is exactly why it costs people money: the loan keeps working while quietly becoming more expensive.
Usually yes, and it is worth deciding deliberately rather than by default. Consider that fixed loans commonly limit extra repayments and often exclude offset accounts, which matters if your circumstances have changed since you first fixed. Splitting the loan is a middle option many borrowers overlook.
Ask your lender to reprice first: it costs a phone call and takes days, while refinancing costs fees and takes weeks. If the offer is competitive, stay; if not, you have lost nothing and gained a benchmark.
About six months out. That gives time to compare, negotiate and, if needed, refinance without being rushed. Borrowers who start in the final fortnight tend to take whatever is fastest rather than what is best.
Not if you wait until the fixed term ends, which is the point of timing it. Breaking a fixed loan early can attract a break cost that outweighs any saving, so the rollover date is precisely when switching becomes cheap. The refinance checklist covers the other costs.
Charles can tell you what your revert rate is, what is available, and whether your own lender should move first.
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General information only, not credit or financial advice. Professional lending policies, eligible occupations and loan-to-value thresholds vary by lender and change over time. Eligibility is confirmed against current lender policy in an assessment; nothing on this page is a promise that any lender will approve any application.
