Owner-Occupied Home Loan

Securing Your Home Loan With Tora Finance

Tora Finance are your local experts for owner-occupied home loans. We help you move in sooner, finding an interest rate that works with your budget and lifestyle. With over 50 different lenders on our books, our award-winning team can tailor a home loan solution to your needs and specifications. We are committed to ensuring a straightforward, transparent process throughout your purchasing journey, offering our expertise and experience along the way. Best of all, our services are free to you. Get in contact and begin the home ownership process today.

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Understanding Owner-Owner Occupier Loans

There are two common types of home loan offered by banks and lenders: an owner-occupier home loan or an investment property loan. As would already be obvious to you, one loan is for people who live in the property they have purchased, whereas the other is for those who want to rent their newly purchased dwelling to someone else (an investment loan).

An owner-occupied home loan is intended for people who want to own the home they live in. For the duration of the loan, the owner must reimburse the lender over a series of transactions called ‘repayments’. Repayments usually occur on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis.

Repayments

The repayments for owner-occupier home loans are calculated based on interest rates. There are several repayment methods which incorporate interest rates in different ways. For example, a variable repayment plan means the level of interest you pay on your owner-occupied loan changes as interest rates go up or down. Conversely, a fixed-rate repayment plan locks in an interest amount over a certain number of years, meaning you always pay the same amount of interest on your loan, regardless of current interest rates.

Holiday House

Owner-occupier loans are also available to those who want to purchase a holiday house, or land to eventually construct a new home. If you acquire an owner-occupier home loan to purchase a holiday house, it is usually on the condition that you don’t rent it out to others, even on a temporary basis.

Aspects Of An
Owner-Occupier Loan

Owner-occupier loans can come with a variety of financial features and mechanisms to make the most of your money. These mechanisms may be:

An offset account
A redraw mechanism
Option to make extra payments
Lower home loan fees than investment home loans
Line of credit mechanism

Can you change from owner-occupied to investor home loans?

If you reach a point where it’s time to rent out your property, you may be eligible for an investment home loan. By notifying your lender that you intend to switch, they can recommend one of their investment loans that will best suit your budget and repayment period.

It is important to remember that if you switch from an owner-occupier to investor loan, you will likely have to pay a higher interest rate. However, if you have been with your current lender for a long period of time, it may be possible for you to negotiate a better deal.

On top of an interest rate increase, it is common for investment loans to not have the features and financial mechanisms attached to their owner-occupier counterparts. You may, therefore, lose features like offset accounts and redraw facilities. With your new loan, however, there may be new financial levers to activate, depending on your chosen lender.

Tora Finance can help you navigate the transition from an owner-occupier to investment property loan. We provide all our customers the freedom and flexibility to choose what direction they want to travel. Our role is to follow, making that journey as straightforward and seamless as possible. For all your owner-occupier loan queries, talk to our team today.