Published by Broker Connect | Reading time: ~4 minutes | General advice only
Meet Jen and Mark
Jen and Mark are your typical Australian family. Two kids, a busy household, and a mortgage they’ve been chipping away at for the past five years.
When they first took out their home loan, the rate felt fine. The repayments were manageable, and life moved on. Work, school runs, weekends. The mortgage just sat there in the background doing its thing, and neither of them gave it much thought.
That is, until a conversation with a friend made Jen wonder whether they were actually on a good deal at all.
The Wake Up Call
“I just assumed our bank would look after us,” Jen said. “We’d been with them for years. We had our everyday accounts, the mortgage, everything. I figured loyalty counted for something.”
It’s a feeling a lot of Australians can relate to. The truth is, lenders regularly offer their sharpest rates to new customers to win their business, while long term customers quietly stay on older, more expensive products.
Jen did some digging and realised their rate hadn’t moved in years, even as the market shifted around them. In fact, by staying put, they had unknowingly paid an extra $75,000 in interest compared to what a more competitive rate would have cost them over that same period.
So she called the bank.
The Bank Said No
Mark took the lead on the call. He asked the bank directly whether they could offer a better rate given five years of on time repayments and a solid financial history.
The answer was a polite but firm no.
“That was pretty deflating,” Mark said. “We thought we were good customers. We’d never missed a payment. And they just weren’t interested.”
Most people at that point would have accepted it and moved on. Jen and Mark almost did.
Then They Found Broker Connect
A few weeks later, Jen came across Broker Connect and decided to reach out. Within 24 hours she was connected with a mortgage specialist who asked to take a proper look at their situation.
That’s where things got interesting.
Their specialist reviewed their existing loan, their financial position and what was currently available in the market. What he found wasn’t just a slightly better rate. It was significantly better.
Jen and Mark were sitting on a rate that had quietly become one of the most expensive options available to someone in their position. With a loan balance in the $750,000 range, every percentage point mattered enormously.
The One Simple Trick
It wasn’t complicated. It wasn’t a loophole or a secret product. The trick was simply this: they asked someone who knew where to look.
A mortgage specialist with access to multiple lenders could see the full picture of what was available, not just what one bank was willing to offer on the phone. That single step, reaching out and getting a proper independent review, was the difference between staying stuck and saving $24,000 a year.
“We just answered his questions and sent through our documents,” Jen said. “He came back to us with a clear recommendation and walked us through exactly what it meant for our repayments. It was so much easier than dealing with the bank ourselves.”
The refinance went through, and the difference was immediate.
The Result: $24,000 a Year
By moving to a more competitive rate, Jen and Mark reduced their monthly repayments by around $2,000 a month. Over a year, that’s $24,000 back in their pocket.
“We genuinely had no idea we were haemorrhaging that much money,” Mark said. “We just thought that was what a mortgage cost.”
To put that in perspective, over the remaining life of their loan, that difference compounds into hundreds of thousands of dollars in total interest saved. All because someone took the time to actually look at their situation properly.
What Jen and Mark Wish They’d Known Sooner
Looking back, both of them say the biggest lesson was simply not knowing what they didn’t know.
They didn’t know you could ask your bank for a rate review. They didn’t know a broker could access products and rates that aren’t always visible to the public. And they didn’t know that five years into a loan is actually one of the best times to take stock of where you stand.
“If the bank had said yes, great,” Mark said. “But when they said no, we’re glad we didn’t just leave it there. That no cost us nothing. Doing nothing would have cost us a fortune.”
Could You Be in the Same Position?
If you haven’t reviewed your home loan in the past two years, there’s a real chance you could be paying more than you need to. And like Jen and Mark, your bank may not be the one to tell you that.
At Broker Connect, we connect you with mortgage specialists who do the groundwork for you. They look at your current loan, compare it against what’s available in the market, and give you a clear picture of whether you could be better off.
We act as an introducer, so there’s no obligation on your end. Just a conversation that could be worth a lot more than you think.
👉 Find out where you stand at broker-connect.com.au
Disclaimer: This article is general information only and does not constitute financial or credit advice. Broker Connect acts as an introducer only and does not provide financial or credit advice. Please consider your own circumstances and speak with a licensed mortgage adviser before making any decisions about your home loan.