Your refix date is when your loan can change. Or stay locked in for another five years.
Every borrower gets the letter. Your fixed rate is expiring, here are our current rates, choose one. Most people choose one. It takes four minutes, and it is the single largest missed opportunity in New Zealand lending.
The rollover is the one moment your loan is fully open. The structure can change, the lender can change, the split can change, and the equity can be repositioned. Once you click the button and refix, it closes again for another one, two, or five years.
The two decisions people confuse
Refixing is choosing a new rate with your existing lender. It is easy, it takes minutes, and it changes nothing except the rate.
Refinancing is moving your lending to a different lender. It takes weeks, it involves a full application, and it can change everything: the structure, the security, the pricing, and how much you can borrow next time.
Most people refix when they should have refinanced, because refixing is the option in front of them and nobody is being paid to mention the other one.
What you can change at rollover
Cash contributions
Lenders will often pay a cash contribution to win your business when you move to them. It is typically expressed as a percentage of the loan and it can be a meaningful sum. It also comes with a clawback period, commonly two to three years. Leave early and you repay it, sometimes in full. The contribution is real money and it should be part of the calculation. It should not be the calculation.
Break costs
If you move before your fixed term expires, the outgoing lender may charge a break fee. The amount depends on how rates have moved since you fixed, how long is left to run, and the size of the loan. It can be trivial. It can also be tens of thousands. You can ask your lender for a break cost estimate at any time, and you should before you make any decision.
Your equity has moved
If your property has gained value, your loan-to-value ratio has fallen without you doing anything. That may put you into a better lending band, which changes what is available to you. It may also mean you can release equity: for a renovation, for a deposit on a second property, or to consolidate more expensive debt. Whether that is a good idea depends entirely on what you do with it, and we will tell you plainly if we think it is not.
The structure you signed for is probably not the structure you need
Circumstances change. Incomes change, households change, plans change. The loan you set up five years ago was designed around who you were then. The split between fixed and floating, whether an offset makes sense, the term remaining, whether the security is arranged in a way that lets you buy again. All of it is open at rollover, and all of it closes again the moment you refix.
Why your bank won't raise this
Your bank is not going to volunteer any of this. The rollover letter is a retention tool. It offers you the rate the bank wants to give you, not the best rate available to you, and certainly not a conversation about whether the loan should be structured differently. That is how banks work.
What we do at rollover
- We start 60 to 90 days out. Not on the day the letter arrives. There is not enough time to do the work properly once you are inside two weeks.
- We look at your whole position first, then the rate. What has changed, what is coming, what the loan needs to do over the next five years.
- We compare across lenders, including your current one. Sometimes the right answer is to stay and refix. When it is, we will tell you, and we will not be paid for it.
- We do the break cost and clawback maths before you decide. Not after.
- We handle the move. If you are refinancing, we build the application, submit it, and manage it through to settlement.
Common questions.
What is the difference between refixing and refinancing?
Refixing means choosing a new interest rate with your current lender. Refinancing means moving your loan to a different lender. Refixing takes minutes. Refinancing takes a few weeks and a full application, but it can change the whole structure of your loan.
When should I start looking at my options?
About 60 to 90 days before your fixed rate ends. That gives enough time to compare lenders and, if you decide to move, to complete the application before the rate expires.
Will I have to pay a break fee?
Only if you leave a fixed rate before it ends. The amount depends on how rates have moved, the time left on the fixed term and the size of the loan. You can ask your lender for an estimate at any time.
What is a cash contribution?
Some lenders pay a cash contribution when you move your loan to them. It usually comes with a clawback period. If you leave within that period, you may have to pay some or all of it back.
What clients say about working with Carl.
Carl was an absolute pleasure to work with. His knowledge, professionalism and prompt communication gave us confidence throughout our first home purchase. He secured us an excellent deal with Westpac and made the entire process seamless. We highly recommend Carl to anyone looking for a mortgage broker.
Three of us, all self employed, wanted to get a home loan for a shared house. Without the expertise, help and the precise instructions to fill in the various documents or organise specific items we would not have had a chance to get the mortgage over the finish line. Carl was extraordinarily helpful and always found a way to continue this not so easy application. I can highly recommend Carl. Very grateful for his assistance.
Carl was fantastic to work with. Our mortgage application was not straightforward as we were multiple people, all self employed with new businesses. We had tried using other brokers but they weren't able to get our approval across the line. Carl was tenacious with the banks, and had so much knowledge he was able to guide us through all the information we required and how to present it. After a difficult process he was able to secure us a mortgage with very favourable terms. I couldn't recommend him enough, the effort and work he puts in is second to none!
Carl Mann is a fantastic mortgage broker. He is knowledgeable, professional, and has excellent communication. Carl kept us updated along the way and provided sound advice. I would definitely recommend Carl to anyone needing assistance with mortgage finance or refinancing.
Carl helped us work through the finance for our next investment property without losing sight of our existing lending. He understood what we were trying to build over the longer term and worked through the different options with us before we made an offer. That preparation made the purchase much smoother.
Development finance was very different from arranging a normal mortgage. Carl understood the feasibility, valuations, build costs and timing the lender needed to see, and helped us get everything organised before it went to credit. Having someone who understood the development side of the deal saved a lot of back and forth.
We were purchasing premises for our business and needed someone who could look at both the property and the strength of the business behind it. Carl worked through the numbers with us, explained what the lenders would focus on and helped structure the application properly from the start.
Ninety days out is the window.
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