Last reviewed: August 2026
Refinancing Can Save You Money, Or Cost You If Done Wrong
Refinancing is often pitched as a simple way to save money, and it can be, but the process trips up a lot of homeowners who focus only on the headline interest rate. Here are the mistakes we see most often.
1. Only comparing the interest rate
A lower rate on paper does not always mean a better outcome once you factor in fees, loan features, and how the new loan is structured. A slightly higher rate with the right offset or redraw structure can leave you better off over the life of the loan.
2. Not accounting for exit and establishment costs
Discharge fees on your current loan, application or valuation fees on the new one, and in some cases Lenders Mortgage Insurance if your equity position has changed, can all eat into the savings a new rate promises. These need to be weighed against the actual savings, not ignored.
3. Refinancing without reviewing the full loan structure
A refinance is a natural point to reassess whether your loan should be fixed, variable, split, or restructured around a genuine offset account, not just a rate swap on the same structure you started with.
4. Not checking what your current lender will do to keep you
Before switching, it is worth finding out what your existing lender is prepared to offer to retain you. Sometimes a quick internal conversation gets you most of the benefit without the cost of moving.
5. Timing it around a major life or income change
Refinancing shortly before a significant change in income or employment type can complicate serviceability assessments. Timing the process around your circumstances, not just the market, matters.
6. Underestimating how long the process actually takes
A refinance isn't usually instant. Between the new lender's assessment, a property valuation, and discharge paperwork from your existing lender, the process commonly takes several weeks from application to settlement. Homeowners who assume it will happen within days sometimes end up caught between two loans, or missing a fixed rate expiry window they were trying to get ahead of. Building in a realistic timeline, and starting the process before your current rate becomes a problem rather than after, avoids a lot of unnecessary pressure.
How we help
We run the full comparison, rate, fees, structure and lender retention offers, before recommending anything, so you are only refinancing when it genuinely puts you ahead.
Useful tools and resources
For independent guidance on switching home loans, see ASIC's Moneysmart guide to switching home loans.
To see whether refinancing could genuinely put you ahead, try our free Refinance Feasibility Calculator.
