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Customer Profile:BEATING MORTGAGE STRESS
With living expenses on the rise, many Australians with a mortgage are having to forgo the lifestyle they are accustomed to in order to keep up their repayments.
Smartline customer and single mother Wendy Lacoon found herself in just this predicament when her employment situation changed, making it difficult for her to meet her loan repayments without severely compromising her lifestyle.
To complicate matters further, Wendy was self-employed as an art curator in addition to her salaried position, which made it difficult to prove her total income to her lending institution.
"I approached my bank and one other lending institution about my problem, but they didn't come up with a solution that I was happy with," Wendy said.
A positive outcome eventually materialized when Wendy approached mortgage broker, Miriam Agnos from Smartline in North Adelaide, South Australia.
Miriam suggested that by releasing some of her existing home equity, Wendy could free up more disposable income.
"I had Wendy's home revalued and then proceeded to use some of the equity in her home to provide her with an additional $1,500 per month over the next two years to help cover her rising expenses," says Miriam.
This was achieved by switching Wendy's current mortgage to an ANZ Lo Doc 60 loan (due to her partly self-employed status) for a two-year fixed rate of 8.89% on an amount of $348,000.
Miriam said that this option could work for others too, providing an individual has considerable equity and no other debt.
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