You don’t need to be a member to apply for a loan, however if your loan is approved you will subsequently become a member.
When you join Horizon Bank, you’ll enjoy the benefits of belonging to a customer-owned financial institution that returns profits to customers (members) in the form of competitive rates, access technology and next level service.
At Horizon, we believe that many of our members value dealing with a real person, and we pride ourselves on ensuring we have branch access and staffing to provide personalised customer service to our members. When you call your local branch, you’ll always be speaking to a local Horizon employee.
We offer a full range of accounts and services:
Learn more about opening an account or apply online today.
Prefer to come in and chat to us? Find your local branch.
How much you will be able to borrow will depend on a few things such as (but not limited to):
If you’d like to calculate an estimate of your borrowing power, you can use our Borrowing Power Calculator. Keep in mind this is just an indication of how much you may be able to borrow. Our experienced lenders can assess your application with a view to providing pre-approval for a certain amount depending on your circumstances.
We‘re here to help, get in touch today by phone, in person or complete our loan enquiry form to arrange for someone to contact you.
Note: The results from the calculator should be used as an indication only. Results do not represent either quotes or pre-qualifications for a loan.
Deposit
The biggest initial cost is the deposit. This could range from 5% and above of the value of the property.
Stamp Duty
Stamp duty is a tax on written documents and on certain transactions including:
Stamp duty is imposed by state and territory governments and the rate of stamp duty varies according to the type and value of the transaction involved.
Registration fees
Registration fees are payable on a property purchase and on a mortgage.
Whenever a property changes hands, the change of ownership must be recorded with the appropriate State Titles Office. A document known as a Transfer of Land must be lodged, the cost of which varies in each State/Territory. Please contact your solicitor/conveyancer who should perform this task on your behalf.
There is also a government charge to register your mortgage document. We will pay the applicable state authority on your behalf. You will be charged at cost.
Legal Fees
Legal expenses for the average home purchase include:
Searches and inspections
Contracts should never be exchanged until the necessary searches and inspections have been completed. Searches and inspections may include the following:
Title search
A Certificate of Title obtained from the Titles Office by your solicitor/conveyancer provides details of who owns the property and who else has an interest in it. This is a good way to research if there are any mortgages, caveats, restrictive covenants etc on the property which would affect the transfer of title.
Building inspection and pest report
The report completed by your building inspector will detail any building flaws, e.g. structural issues with the building or roof, damp etc. The pest report should detail any evidence of pest infestation. It will enable you to assess the cost of any required treatment.
With a home loan at Horizon Bank, you can take advantage of flexible repayment options of weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments – whichever suits you and your circumstances.
Extra repayments are allowed without penalty for most home loans.
You can arrange to make your repayments by payroll deduction, direct debit from your savings or transaction account, online or phone bank transfer. We can help you with setting this up.
Looking for more information on repayments? Speak to a Horizon Bank lending specialist and let us help you on your journey.
Statements are produced monthly or six monthly. Duplicate statements can be requested at any time from our office.
We know how important it is to have flexible access through convenient banking access facilities. This means you can also access your account information through our Online Banking Service, which is a free banking services that allow you to manage your money 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from a desktop, mobile or tablet device. You are able to:
We also have our Horizon Bank App which helps you stay on top of your finances anywhere, anytime. Register for online banking, then download the Horizon Bank app.
Your loan must be secured by a registered mortgage over a residential property.
Security is a way the lender ensures that the loan is repaid. Normally the security offered is the property the borrower is borrowing for. The security could be a house or apartment.
In the unlikely event a borrower is in severe financial difficulty and can’t pay their loan, the security (house or apartment) could be sold by the lender to recoup the amount that’s outstanding on the loan.
Speak to a Horizon Bank lending specialist and let us help you on your journey.
If you are a Horizon Bank customer and experiencing financial difficulties, we can help you.
People ask for help for many reasons, including illness, job loss, relationship break down, loss of a family member, natural disasters or more. If you are struggling to make repayments on your loan, we are here for you, with no judgement and willing to treat your request with respect and confidentiality.
When you apply for hardship assistance, we may be able to help find ways to the ease the pressure.
You may also consider seeking independent financial advice through a financial counsellor, who can help provide information, advocacy and support to those in financial difficulty.
Some free, independent counselling options are listed here:
Building insurance is required to be taken out equal to the amount stated in the recommendation on the property valuation. If you’ve built your home, the cost of the build should be in your building contract.
After you’ve purchased a home, you’ll need to organise home and contents insurance. Home & Contents insurance protects you against a range of events such as fire, burglary, storm damage to name a few, as well as accidental damage or loss.
If your loan is for an investment property you will be required to take out building insurance only. If your investment property is part of a strata, the building should already be insured.
We are pleased to offer our members a range of insurance policies, home, contents and landlord insurance. Get in touch today to get a quick quote for home & contents insurance.
A free redraw facility is a feature that’s available for all our owner occupied variable and fixed home loans, as well as our investment variable and fixed home loans, with no minimum redraw amount. Horizon gives you the option of making extra repayments on your loan and then having the flexibility of being able to redraw on these extra repayments. Terms and conditions are available on application.
Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) covers us against a loss in the unlikely event that we must exercise our right to sell the property due to ongoing default of loan repayments. Lenders mortgage insurance is applicable where a lender has a requirement more a minimum deposit (for example, 20% deposit) and this cannot be met by the borrower.
It is important to note that Lenders mortgage insurance only covers the lender and is not to be confused with insurance that is designed to cover your lending obligations in the case of sickness, accident, or involuntary unemployment.
Speak to a Horizon Bank lending specialist to find out more information.
Our members are our reason for being, everything we do, we do for them.
We will earn our members' trust everyday by acting honestly, ethically and in their best interests.
In a world of technological innovation, we understand the value of people.
We will embrace our responsibilities by developing our staff, supporting our communities and respecting the environment.
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Head Office 27 Stewart Street Wollongong NSW 2500
General Enquiries 02 4224 7700
Horizon Credit Union Ltd ABN 66 087 650 173 AFSL and Australian Credit Licence Number 240573 trading as Horizon Bank