Professional packages

Professional Packages are generally offered to people who are lending larger amounts of money (higher-value clients) by offering them various interest rate discounts in exchange for an annual fee.

Typical packages

Under Professional Packages, different lenders offer different features and rates, generally according to the amount you are borrowing and the loan structure. The range of offers is as broad as the number of lenders offering professional packages, but essentially they fall into the following categories:

• For variable rate home loans, discounts off standard variable rate home loans are available for larger loan amounts. This discount starts at around $150,000 dependent upon the lender and can range anywhere from 0.50% – 0.70% or even higher (usually for amounts greater than one million).
• For fixed rate home loans, some lenders will offer discounts of around 0.15%. off their standard home loan rates.
• For Line of Credit facilities, discounts of up to 0.60% are available off the standard Line of Credit rates.

Annual fees

Annual fees typically range from $350 pa for a basic package to $750 pa for a ‘private banking’ type client package. The discounts cover lending as well as a whole myriad of other services that you may or may not need. The annual fee usually encompasses the following:

• All application fees. Regardless of how many different loans you have, you still only pay the one annual fee.
• No ongoing fees on any of your loans.
• Waiver of most of the account keeping type fees on your transactional accounts.
• Waiver of the annual fee on your credit card.
• Discounts on other products such as margin loans, home insurance, personal insurance, financial planning etc.

Weigh up the benefits – fees versus rate discounts

It is important to weigh up the benefit of the annual fee versus the discounts offered. If you have a larger number of loans and will utilise the other services offered under the package, it may well be worth your while. On the other hand, if you only have a few loans or lower loan amounts and won’t be utilising the other services, the interest rate savings might be eroded by the annual fee, given that other discounted products are usually available on a stand alone basis. The best option is to get an experienced mortgage broker to assess your personal situation to help you decide whether a professional package is the right option for your situation.