Info on St George Pro Pack needed

OK cool, though I have no wife, and I'll be the only beneficiary for the time being (well, until I find a wife, that is :) ).

Just trying to get everything organized for maximum flexibility in the future.

Thanks again.
 
Just an update ......

I just got the 0.7% discount back on to all loans with WBC after six months of haggling.

Lesson learnt is to read the offer docs with loan top-ups very carefully before signing to ensure that discount is in there

That'll teach de bank to mess with me :D

Bluechip
 
St George Loans (continued)

This thread was last posted to some time ago, but the theme is relevant to my particular issue, so I have resurrected it.

I have 3 separate IP loans with BankSA/St George.

1 - $255K variable rate
2 - $95K fixed but fix period expires end of March and I want to go to variable
3 - $145K fixed but fix period expires in April and I want to go to variable

Loan 1 currently has the "professional" pack discount of 0.5% off the standard variable rate and was initally an introductory fixed rate loan. When the introductory period expired, I converted to a variable rate at 0.5% below the then current variable rate and there was no charge for this.
I spoke with the bank today and said I wanted loans 2 and 3 to also be variable, with the 0.5% discount. I was told that there would be a "professional pack" charge for each of loans 1 and 2. I was not pleased with this news, so the bank officer said "I will have to speak with my supervisor". (Almost as bad as haggling with a used car salesperson!).

I haven't yet heard what the news is regarding any charges.

I guess I have some options:
- pay the charges
- play hard-ball (i.e. explain that they are just looking very short-term and if they want to retain my current business and have any future business give me the discount)
- get a mortgage broker involved

Any thoughts guys and gals?

Thanks,
Chris.
 
I'd give the mortgage broker a go.

If (s)he doesn't come up with a better deal, you've lost nothing.

If there is a bettter deal, frendly MB gets a commission (and you will not be any worse off than if you went direct), and will be more likely to help you the next time around.
 
Thanks for the reply Geoff and here is a quick update:

I have agreed to pay a once-off $350 fee and this will allow loans 2 and 3 to become variable and the "professional package" will apply. The better news is that they will reduce the variable rate by 0.7%, instead of the 0.5% I am currently on, so I am happy :eek:. This is a win-win situation and my faith in banks is restored!

Regards,
Chris.
 
Rolf ?

I heard today via a private message from someone on the forum that Westpac waives monthly and loan application fees on all accounts & future loans as part of the "Professionals Package". There is an annual fee of $395 (tax deductable) which includes all those fees waived plus a .7% discount off the variable interest rate.

I have the equivalent "professionals package" with St George, pay no annual fee, get the .7% discount but pay monthly account fees of $12 on each account/loan and loan application fees for new loans.

Does this sound right? Should I push harder to get the fees waived or at least reduced? I would definitely be better off paying an annual fee rather than monthly fees.

How do others fare?

Regards,
Chris.
 
Hiya Chris

STG wont waive the fees, the wbc package is often, but not always better in terms of cost.

Theres more to value too though, there are some things that WBC will do that STG wont do in terms of product and vica versa, really comes down to horses for courses.

The biggest plus with the WBC package is the free top ups and revals, they tend to hurt with stg, especially when they say 20 k ones

ta

rolf
 
Thanks for the feedback Rolf.

It seems that whatever I do with STG costs me $350 per change per loan :mad: For example, a change from PI to I/O, change from variable to fixed or vice-versa, set up a new loan sub account and probably others that I can't recall. Not only that, because there is a $300 cut-off for taxable deductions for any one transaction in any one tax year, the $350 has to be recovered over 5 years - pain in the back-side.

I'm not sure about revaluations - I may be purchasing another property next week (we'll see what happens) and I may have to get properties revalued - not sure yet.

The problem I have is that I currently do all my banking through STG and it is a bit tricky to get out now. I guess I could refinance those properties that have enough equity in them to have standalone loans, then I will just need to worry about loan break costs - they'll get me one way or another!

Regards,
Chris.
 
Hi Chris

Think long term .................

Cost today, vs value tommorow !

Especially if you have xcoll Ips and Ppor, painful to fix yes, more painful to leave fester........... possibly ?

ta

rolf
 
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Hi Rolf
Do you know if the professional package discounts apply to commercial loans ? If so, what are the limits ? And waht are the limits on res loans ?
I'm wondering if STG has been holding out on me. :(
cheers
crest133
 
Hi Crest

Comm Loans are a different beast altogether.

Resi Secure loans are .7 off for 500 k in NSW and ACT and > 250 k elsewhere.

Westpac is starting to look real good for you :)



ta

rolf
 
Rolf Latham - Thank you - do you mean commercial ? what does Westpac have for commercial ?

Rolf Schaefer - thank you for the clarification. Wish it were otherwise.


Pity there's not more competitive enthusiasm for commercial finance to provide better deals, looks like they all lunch together. :eek:

cheers ;)
crest133
 
Hiya Crest

WBC comm is the same as most others.

I was on about your resi lending, seems like you are paying a lot of fees and not getting the rate youd like.

ta
rolf
 
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