me bank

[rowena]

I borrowed rolf's quote from 3 and 5 yr finance thread as i had specific questions, which probably thought best to not put in that thread...

3years now at 5.19 with ME

1 year sub 5.

Looks like the fund managers are pricing in further rate redns on the RBA cash rate

ta
rolf

can mortgage brokers use ME or get deals through them? I wasnt sure because not being a credit union per say, and they dont have a branch in where i want to buy, so wasnt sure if they would advertise through Mb'ers.

Also any bad things to do with ME bank to watch out for?
Reading their loan, it seems pretty damn good.

I do have a super fund that is part of their eligble member fund, and min loan borrows is 40 or 50K depending on the loan which is going to suit me to a tea if i look at buying a PPOR in a month or two which will be under 150K borrowings, and trying to get anything decent on that amount is non existant. would be looking at less then 80% LVR too.

 

[Shahin_Afarin]

Yep most brokers will have access to ME Bank - are you going to ME Bank purely for the fixed rate or are there other reasons?

They do have some disadvantages.

Regards

Shahin

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

ME Bank loans are not problem and they certainly do have cheap fixed rates...

* You have to be a member of a union or industry super fund to qualify for a loan with them.
* Their variable rates are reasonable but not as good as some competitors and they don't negotiate.
* They don't do interest only loans very well at all, especially with offset accounts.

I've also found that whilst they lead the market in fixed rates, the other lenders probably aren't far behind. 6 months ago they had the best 3 year fixed rate. Reasonably quickly almost every other lender matched them.

 

[rowena]

Thankyou guys! My biggest question of does a MB deal with them has been answered!

But for the other q's asked.

* You have to be a member of a union or industry super fund to qualify for a loan with them.

Yes already checked my super is a member to get their "discount" or be a "member"

* Their variable rates are reasonable but not as good as some competitors and they don't negotiate.

From what i have researched and found so far their VAR rate for a loan under 150K is one of the cheapest (and this is where i will need to engage a MB'er). My biggest issue is that if your borrowing less then 150K that the banks arent flexible and their var rate is much higher, from looking at this on a online research point of view only.

ME bank minimum borrowing amount is 40-50K... which is much lower then some of the other banks who have a min borrow of 100K. Im looking at only needing to borrow around 130-145K max with a 20% deposit. I have a 50K deposit, and looking at purchasing property for between 160-180K.

* They don't do interest only loans very well at all, especially with offset accounts.

This is going to be for PPOR so im not looking at IO. My priority will be paying off principle in the quickest amount of time. I think i could have it entirely paid off in around 6-7yrs which is very do-able. But I would put money for the principle into a Offset account for the 6 yrs as opposed to directly onto the loan itself, as you know situations can change, etc etc.


Shahin - would love to know the disadvantages?!. I was thinking of using them as they seemed to be best rate for borrowing less then 150K for a ppor. I know one big disadvantage is that there is no ME bank in the area i will be living. So basically i cannot walk in and talk to someone face to face if there is a issue.

 

[Aaron_C]

They have some good policy niches but tend to be inconsistent in their application.

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

Fair points Rowena,

For a small loan on a PPOR which is essentially intended to be 'set and forget', the do work quite well. The problems they have with interest only loans tends to make them a poorer choice for many investors though.

The are competitive for small loans with variable rates.

The phone interactions clients have had with them does tend to be fairly good. There's very little reason to actually visit a branch these days. Most smaller lenders don't have branches at all.

 

[Shahin_Afarin]

Servicing is on the harsh side so if you have an aggressive IP strategy then you will hit the servicing wall quicker than other lenders such as Westpac, NAB or St George. Other policies are not that good but may be irrelevant to your situation such as SMSF. Offset is another thing but PT has already raised that.

If those things are not an issue and you understand the disadvantages with fixing a loan in general then go for it.

Regards

Shahin

 

[BMan]

i found the me bank login to be good to use had great features (alot better than westpac)
there call centers are pretty good too i barely had to wait and they fix my problems pretty quick