| Real estate web sites, banks and societies, mortgage | | | | amount, the duration of the loan i.e. 15 years, 20 years |
| brokers and home builder's web sites - these days the | | | | etcetera, and the interest rate of the loan, taking into |
| vast majority come equipped with a free home loan | | | | account current interest rates, to provide weekly, |
| calculator. Loan calculators have grown in popularity | | | | fortnightly and monthly repayment options. |
| largely because of their anonymity. They allow | | | | This calculator can allow you to fiddle around and |
| borrowers to check online, without pressure, how | | | | make a comparison of how much even .2 of a |
| much they can potentially borrow before taking the | | | | percent change in interest rate can make to your |
| next step of contacting the lending institution, be it bank | | | | repayments. |
| or broker. | | | | 3. What are the benefits or penalties if you pay out the |
| A home loan calculator is set up to take borrowers | | | | loan sooner? By paying more than the minimum |
| through the first critical components, as they start to | | | | payment you may be able to slash years and |
| investigate home loans, in a non-threatening | | | | thousands of dollars off your loan. Always check the |
| environment. Calculators provide borrowers with a ball | | | | fine print as some lending institutions may charge a fee |
| park understanding of what they can afford, if they | | | | for allowing you this option. The calculator will reflect |
| are seriously in the market for a home loan or if they | | | | the extra payments and the point the extra payments |
| need to save more first before taking the plunge. | | | | started. |
| So what steps will a payment calculator take you | | | | 4. What is Stamp Duty and how much is it likely to |
| through? | | | | cost you? Stamp Duty is a government imposed tax |
| 1. How much you can borrow: The calculator will take | | | | and varies across each state of Australia. This |
| into account current salary, number of dependents, | | | | calculation will take into consideration if this is your first |
| existing financial commitments such as a car loan, | | | | home, if you intend to live in or rent the property, the |
| potential commitments such as the maximum any | | | | value of the property and amount of the loan. |
| credit card debts could run up to in order to calculate | | | | It's important to understand that home loan calculators |
| the amount you can borrow. | | | | can only give an estimate - a ball park figure - and that |
| 2. What the projected repayments will be: This aspect | | | | by taking it to the next level and sitting down with a |
| can be incorporated in the borrowing calculator but | | | | mortgage consultant a slightly different outcome might |
| basically a repayment calculator works with the loan | | | | be revealed. |