Crown lending "Who are they"

[Jess Peletier]

Hi Magpie,

Any of the brokers here could set you up with a more functional product, teach you how to use it and not charge you a cent. And if you wanted a personal visit I imagine many of them would do that too.

This is a restrictive product and not particularly easy to use from what I can see so it would definitely pay to chat with a broker to see how what they would offer compares.

 

[redwing]

Don't Crown use Prudential or someone similar, so they have control of the finance and process

 

[Corey Batt]

A clunky product which can be beaten by most mainstream lenders these days - speak to a good broker who will no doubt be able to get you far superior loan.

 

[MagpieAFL]

thanks for the feedback

Hi guys, thanks for all the advice so far!!

I agree with MC1. However, this is not an offset loan so I don?t want the thread to take this direction.. As I understand the flow of money has been reversed so that the majority of it goes into the home loan rather than a separate offset loan account - paying off much more significant amounts than an offset loan. This happens from the first deposit and massively reduces the amount of time that it takes to pay off the mortgage, in my case from 27 years to 12.

On your advice I?ve just set up a meeting with a financial planner so it will be very interesting to see what they say.

redwing, they use Adventedge.

Thanks again.

 

[redwing]

Thanks

Are there extra charges for setting up and administering the "mortgage reduction", "mortgage minimization" or "debt reduction scheme"?

Its essentially just paying more off your mortgage

 

[MagpieAFL]

Redwing yes that?s correct, there is a one-off fee. my understanding is that once you settle, they manage your money for you and report to you monthly, but they are available to you every day if necessary. That is the bit they charge for. That?s why I was hoping for someone who had used them.

It looks to be good value and further down the line they are talking about an investment property too. So I get constant support until the mortgage is paid off and contact from what they describe as a 'personal trainer for money.? Seems a bit cheesy but my partner and I (mostly my partner) have struggled with credit card bills in the past and this may be what we need? I just hope they?ll understand that I need my Collingwood fix!

 

[Marty McDonald]

I'm going to say it, you sound a bit naive. I am yet to come across one of these companies that isn't a scam. Here is an alternative.

Loan with 2 offsets linked to one loan. Salary goes into offset 1. Draw out weekly living expenses into offset 2 via automated transfer after each pay and use this as your everyday account. Request no access to offset 1 via debit card.

 

[MagpieAFL]

So I've just got back from seeing a Fin Planner and he had already heard of Crowns money management program before as he has 2 of his existing clients on it already. He said it works really well for those people who dont have the self discipline not to spend all their income as Crown manages the home loan account where the income in deposited into and distributes a weekly living allowance to a seperate visa debit card. this cuts the direct accessiblity to our income Which I think could suit us as we have always spent everything we've earnt and some !! Our self discipline is non-existent and this year we said we want to improve on this.
His clients he said are taking $21k and $18k off their loans per year which is way more than I am doing right now. I think I'll follow my friends advice and give them a go. Worst case scenario I can always go back to what Im doing now...

 

[redwing]

paying off much more significant amounts than an offset loan.

I would think if you put exactly the same amount under their system into an offset, you would be better off with the offset as your fees will be less and 'costs matter'.

You've mentioned discipline, if that's what's required and you don't have any maybe this group is an option, but its not free

 

[MagpieAFL]

So far so good !`

Just thought I'd post an update now that we have been on the money management program for a few months. So far we have found it helpful and the results are speaking for themselves ($11,400 off our loan principal already this year!)
We now know exactly where our money goes, and the monthly repirting from Crown shows us what our surplus cashflow is and where we spend our money. Now we are measuring it and reporting it has changed the way we think about our money. Also our personal money coach makes sure we dont fall into the trap of impluse buying which was one of our biggest down falls. We are now moving ahead financially and it feels good to be making some progress!
We have set a goal to have created enough equity to buy an investment property next year.