Compare SMSF Variable vs Fixed Loan Interest Rates

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Lender	Home Loan	Interest Rate	Comparison Rate*	Monthly Repayment	Repayment type	Rate Type	Ongoing Fees	Upfront Fees	Max LVR	Tags	Features	Link	Compare	Promoted Product	Disclosure
loans.com.au	loans.com.au SMSF Residential Refinance (Variable Inv P&I <60%)	7.14% p.a.	7.16% p.a.	$3,374	Principal & Interest	Variable	$0	$230	60%	Residential Refinance Only Investor Variable Principal & Interest 40% Min Deposit More details	Available for refinance only No application, ongoing monthly or annual fees. Dedicated loan specialist throughout the loan application	More details	Compare	Promoted	Disclosure
Reduce Home Loans	Reduce Home Loans Ezy SMSF 60 Residential (Refinance)	6.89% p.a.	6.99% p.a.	$3,290	Principal & Interest	Variable	$0	$0	60%	Residential Refinance Only Investor Variable Principal & Interest 40% Min Deposit Offset Redraw Extra Repayments More details		More details	Compare		Disclosure
Pepper Money	Pepper Money SMSF Commercial 65	8.09% p.a.	–	$3,700	Principal & Interest	Variable	$25	$650	65%	Commercial Investor Variable Principal & Interest 35% Min Deposit More details		More details	Compare
Excel Funding Group	Excel Funding Group SMSF 70 Residential Refinance	6.84% p.a.	–	$3,273	Principal & Interest	Variable	$395	$1,595	70%	Residential Refinance Only Investor Variable Principal & Interest 30% Min Deposit Offset More details		More details	Compare		Disclosure
Granite Home Loan	Granite Home Loan SMSF Commercial 85	8.14% p.a.	–	$3,718	Principal & Interest	Variable	$395	$450	85%	Commercial Investor Variable Principal & Interest 15% Min Deposit More details		More details	Compare
Firstmac	Firstmac SMSF 70 - Residential Refinance (Variable)	7.39% p.a.	7.41% p.a.	$3,458	Principal & Interest	Variable	$0	$220	70%	Residential Refinance Only Investor Variable Principal & Interest 30% Min Deposit Extra Repayments More details		More details	Compare		Disclosure
loans.com.au	loans.com.au SMSF Residential Refinance (Variable Inv P&I <80%)	7.49% p.a.	7.51% p.a.	$3,493	Principal & Interest	Variable	$0	$230	80%	Residential Refinance Only Investor Variable Principal & Interest 20% Min Deposit Extra Repayments More details		More details	Compare		Disclosure
Excel Funding Group	Excel Funding Group SMSF 60 Commercial	7.29% p.a.	–	$3,424	Principal & Interest	Variable	$395	$1,595	60%	Commercial Investor Variable Principal & Interest 40% Min Deposit Offset Extra Repayments More details		More details	Compare		Disclosure
Pepper Money	Pepper Money SMSF Commercial 70	8.19% p.a.	–	$3,735	Principal & Interest	Variable	$25	$650	70%	Commercial Investor Variable Principal & Interest 30% Min Deposit More details		More details	Compare
loans.com.au	loans.com.au SMSF Residential Refinance (Variable Inv P&I <70%)	7.19% p.a.	7.21% p.a.	$3,391	Principal & Interest	Variable	$0	$230	70%	Residential Refinance Only Investor Variable Principal & Interest 30% Min Deposit More details		More details	Compare		Disclosure
Firstmac	Firstmac SMSF 80 - Residential Refinance (Variable)	7.54% p.a.	7.56% p.a.	$3,510	Principal & Interest	Variable	$0	$221	80%	Residential Refinance Only Investor Variable Principal & Interest 20% Min Deposit Extra Repayments More details		More details	Compare		Disclosure
Excel Funding Group	Excel Funding Group SMSF 60 Residential Refinance	6.74% p.a.	–	$3,240	Principal & Interest	Variable	$395	$1,595	60%	Residential Refinance Only Investor Variable Principal & Interest 40% Min Deposit Offset More details		More details	Compare		Disclosure
loans.com.au	loans.com.au SMSF Commercial (Variable Inv P&I <70%)	7.94% p.a.	–	$3,648	Principal & Interest	Variable	$0	$490	70%	Commercial Investor Variable Principal & Interest 30% Min Deposit More details	No monthly, ongoing, or settlement fees Unlimited additional repayments Split with fixed rate option available	More details	Compare	Promoted	Disclosure

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SMSF Residential Refinance (Variable Inv P&I <60%)

Product Features

Available for refinance only
No application, ongoing monthly or annual fees.
Dedicated loan specialist throughout the loan application

Monthly repayments: $3,374

7.14% Advertised Rate (p.a.)

7.16% Comparison Rate*

More details

Important Information and Comparison Rate Warning

Buying property through self-managed superannuation is an popular investment strategy in Australia. That normally involves an SMSF loan - which means choosing between fixed and variable rates.

What is a fixed-rate SMSF loan?

A fixed-rate SMSF loan has an interest rate that doesn't change over the fixed term. While variable rates are subject to fluctuation (such as when the RBA adjusts the cash rate), fixing guarantees your repayments will remain stable for a set period of time. This could help you avoid interest rate rises and potentially save on interest costs, although that depends on how good the fixed rate is relative to variable rates on the market.

Why choose a fixed SMSF loan?

Choosing a fixed SMSF loan provides your super fund with repayment certainty and protection against rising interest rates, making it easier to manage the fund’s cash flow and meet annual audit requirements.

Help comply with investment strategy

Fixing the rate on your SMSF loan can lower the risk of the fund needing to amend its investment strategy. All SMSF trustees need to have a written investment strategy that the fund needs to comply with. The investment strategy needs to consider the composition of the fund's assets, its liquidity and its ability to pay retirement benefits to members.

If there was an unexpected interest rate increase and an SMSF had loans on variable rates, the fund might need to change its investment strategy in order to allocate more money to loan repayments. Fixed rates help prevent this from happening.

Improved forward planning

Fixing rates often makes forward planning easier since there's no chance of an unexpected increase in loan repayments. This stability means SMSF trustees can allocate funds for expenses like insurance, property maintenance or retirement benefit payments with greater certainty that money won't need to be diverted to loan repayments.

Why choose a variable-rate SMSF loan?

Alternatively there are also some pretty compelling reasons for an SMSF fund to go with variable loan rates.

Flexibility

Arguably the biggest benefit to variable rates is the extra flexibility. Variable rates can make it easier to refinance or sell the property, since the exit costs are generally a lot less than on fixed terms, which come with break costs. This means it can be easier for your SMSF to respond to changing market conditions.

Extra features

Variable-rate loans are also usually more likely to include things like extra repayments or an offset account. These features can help reduce interest costs if properly utilised, and are worth considering before locking in to a fixed-rate.

Should you choose a fixed- or variable-rate SMSF loan?

Whether fixed or variable rates are right for your SMSF loan depends on your fund's investment strategy as well as the economic outlook. If your investment strategy specifies a low risk approach, you might decide fixed rates are more suitable to eliminate the risk of seeing repayments shoot up. At the same time, variable rates can go down instead of up so there's still the risk of missed opportunity from fixing.

When the cash rate is generally expected to go up in the near future, fixed rates tend to be higher than variable rates. If rates are expected to go down, fixed rates tend to be lower than variable rates to attract borrowers.

The choice might also depend on the long term plans for the fund. Say some fund members are approaching retirement age and are set to receive a lump sum payment. The trustee might decide fixed rates and stable repayments are more suitable to ensure the fund will be able to meet these obligations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens after the fixed term expires?

Most fixed-rate loans have a revert rate the loan will automatically switch to once the fixed term is up. This is often just the lender's standard variable rate at the time. However, there are some lenders that instead have a rolling fixed term - unless specified otherwise the loan will automatically fix again for the same term, but at new rates.

Can you break a fixed SMSF loan?

You can break a fixed SMSF loan, but there are often substantially higher break costs compared to exiting a variable rate loan. Depending on how much time is remaining on the fixed term, these costs may be thousands of dollars, which is something to keep in mind if you’re considering a fixed rate.

More SMSF Loan Options

SMSF Investment strategies SMSF Refinance Loans SMSF Commercial Property Loans

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Denise Raward

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Denise Raward is a senior journalist with an interest in macroeconomics, property, and personal finances. She has worked extensively across mainstream media organisations and lectured at Queensland University of Technology, Griffith University, and Bond University. She holds a Bachelor of Business - Communication, a Master of Arts, and RG 146 financial certification in Generic Knowledge, Securities, and Regulation. Joining Savings.com.au in January 2024, Denise strives to deliver financial information in everyday language to help Australians to better understand how to manage their own – and their families' – ongoing financial health.

Dominic Beattie

Editor

Dominic Beattie is the Editor of Savings.com.au, Group Editor for the wider InfoChoice Group, and host of The Savings Tip Jar podcast alongside Brooke Cooper. Dominic has more than a decade's experience in the finance media sector, joining Savings.com.au in 2018 to spearhead its launch as a financial comparison service and dedicated source of consumer finance news and guides.

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We strive to cover a broad range of products, providers, and services; however, we do not cover the entire market. Products in our comparison tables are sorted based on various factors, including product features, interest rates, fees, popularity, and commercial arrangements.

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Comparison Rate Warning and Base Criteria

For home loans, the base criteria include a $500,000 loan amount over 30 years. For car loans, the base criteria include a $30,000 loan over 5 years. For personal loans, the base criteria include a $20,000 loan over 5 years. These rates are only examples and may not include all fees and charges.

*For home loans, the comparison rate is based on a $150,000 loan over 25 years. *For car and personal loans, the comparison rate is based on a $30,000 loan over 5 years. Warning: these comparison rates are true only for the examples shown and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate.

Monthly Repayment Figures

Monthly repayment figures are estimates that exclude fees. These estimates are based on the advertised rates for the specified term and loan amount. Actual repayments will depend on your circumstances and interest rate changes.

Monthly repayments, once the base criteria are altered by the user, will be based on the selected products’ advertised rates and determined by the loan amount, repayment type, loan term and LVR as input by the user/you.

Related Brands

Savings.com.au is proudly part of the InfoChoice Group, which includes InfoChoice.com.au, YourMortgage.com.au, and YourInvestmentPropertyMag.com.au. The InfoChoice Group is associated with the Firstmac Group.

We may include products and services from loans.com.au, CarLoans.com.au, and OnlineAuto.com.au, all associated with the Firstmac Group. Importantly, these brands are treated like any other commercial partner.

Learn more about how we manage conflicts of interest.

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SMSF Variable vs Fixed Rate Loans

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