?difference between westpac vs st george

T

tpepper

I have a question for the friendly/knowledgable somersoft mortgage brokers

I qualify for professional package (ie 90% no LMI) with both westpac and st george.

what are the main differences between them?

(from what i have read here westpac is preferred, however my broker seems to prefer st george)

thanks :)
 
Your broker may get preferential treatment with St George maybe. They have various levels of accreditation. If that's the case he / she may lean towards them because of good / quick service times.

From a product point of view really same same except for the line of credit (Portfolio Loan) with St George which some like but I don't as it encourages X coll structures.

Price wise I think St George is marginally cheaper.

Service - I prefer Westpac but see first comment.
 
Right now I'm not sure who I prefer, but generally I prefer Westpac over St George.

The two have a lot of commonality, but also a lot of difference. They are very separate businesses overall, but they do share some resources.
 
Valuers is always pot luck.

Cash out seems random at Westpac ie sometimes ok sometimes fails credit score. Not sure on St G as don't use much at all.
 
Marty McDonald said:
Price wise I think St George is marginally cheaper.

Service - I prefer Westpac but see first comment.
Click to expand...

This is exactly how I'd describe the difference.

I'm not a big fan of the dragon right now - clunky processes, slow processing times...and I get preferential treatment!

Westpac seems to have better pre/post settlement service IMO.

Cheers

Jamie
 
I know pricing for the Medico package is done by WBC so in terms of pricing for medicos its the same as STG.

When you do a pricing, there is no option to choose professional so it would be priced by STG who are much more aggressive compared to WBC.


STG also have better policies and WBC do not fully assess pre-approvals and you would want to make sure you are eligible for the waiver before committing unless you have sufficient funds.

The reason why your broker probably prefers STG is because he is a Flame Broker/Office (Top Tier) and probably receives better turnaround compared to WBC.

Post approval/(Customer Mortgage Services) are terrible though otherwise nothing wrong with STG and they have good niches too.
 
As someone who hAs had a loan through both I say absolutely stay away from St George. I never had a single problem with Westpac including a couple of refinances and had an extremely efficient lender for the whole time. I've recently settled on a loan with St George (due to a recommendation) and have had only problems - lender wouldnt confirm whether we had been approved despite numerous (at least ten!) voicemails and emails and even calls to the customer centre (we should have known then to pull out!) We had a longer settlement period and if it wasn't for a lot of work and follow up on our side, would have been absolutely delayed. We also agreed to a fixed variable split and when we finally got our contracts (4 business days before settlement), it was too late for us to change it without delaying settlement. We ended up just going for it and we will refinance asap so that ended up being in our favour.. I could go on and on but that's my two cents!
 
Westpac over the dragon by a leg way if price isn't the main objective

Stgeorge have systemic post settlement issues that aren't going to go away easily

Stg is tolerable

Stg is better for debt recycle models and self employed policy unless u are a very simple consistent self employed with no existing iOS and can use their fast track

As much as I'm not keen on anz , as I'd rather my ip portfolio builders with 99 no mi access follow the same structure rules as those that don't get the mi waiver

Ta
Rolf
 
Every bank has its pros and cons, no getting around that. You'll need to use most of them sooner or later if you aim to have a large portfolio.

I have about 3/4 mil with each westpac and cba. CBA requires an annoying amount of documentation, but has better service and makes less mistakes.

Westpac branch visit : mistake ratio is almost 1:1 , but they were still a necessary step on my journey so i dont begrudge them of that.
 
STG are a dirty word in my business - we only use them if absolutely necessary.

WBC still can act like a scene from Monty Python/National Lampoon (without the laughs), but are slightly more reliable in their processes to be able to clients through to them.
 
Depends on what you are doing:

Cashout in LMI territory: Westpac

Common debt scenarios: St George

Credit Scoring: Westpac

Medico Package: Equal (along with Accountants, Solicitors, Engineers, etc)

Other Professions: Westpac (they do 90% no LMI for politicians, celebrities, athletes, etc) whereas St George do not.

Development Finance: St George - St George do 4 whereas its max 2 with Westpac. We have just done a 4 pack construction under residential lending based on the END VALUE instead of the IN ONE LINE.

Commercial Finance: St George

Heaps more to note so it really depends on the circumstances.
 
Corey Batt said:
STG are a dirty word in my business - we only use them if absolutely necessary.

WBC still can act like a scene from Monty Python/National Lampoon (without the laughs), but are slightly more reliable in their processes to be able to clients through to them.
Click to expand...

What about their little brother, BankSA, Corey? Tell us about BankSA...
:p
 
St George are ok but can make a lot of post settlement mistakes. I have a relationship with a branch manager that I get to call the customer to sort out these issues as they occur or better still prevent them beforehand.

I would rate them somewhere in the middle but I have a Flame accreditation which grants me preferential treatment so may be why.

I dont use Westpac so cant comment.
 
Thanks everyone for your contributions.
wont go into any detail but in hindsight maybe westpac may have been easier!

silver lining I was reading st george are good for building granny flats. so hopefully they get their s... together by then!
 
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