Minimum Loan Before We Will Broker
The MortgageWise Team has been diligently advising clients with home loans of all sizes since 2014.
However, starting 2026 we have decided to set a minimum loan of S$500,000 before we will broker any cases as we are unable to provide much value add for loan sizes below that amount.
This is because banks typically only provide better “deviated rates” only for minimum loan of S$500,000, sometimes even higher than that for certain banks.
Most banks also do not provide legal subsidy/cash rebate (or in full) for refinancing outstanding loan balances of S$500,000 or lower, especially for private properties. This results in the transaction costs involved in refinancing a home loan outweighing any potential interest savings one hopes to achieve through such a move.
For example, on a loan balance of $400,000 for private property, to breakeven on the typical transaction costs of $2,500 alone (see below), you will need to achieve a minimum savings on interest of more than 0.60% (every 0.1% is $400 in one year) over a minimum two year lock-in period, or 0.30% per year.
To make sense of all the time and effort expensed to do this refinancing, you have to achieve substantially more than 0.60%. It is highly unlikely you will achieve such a substantial savings compared to what your own bank will quote you. Hence, you’re likely better off staying put with your current bank.
Costs Breakdown for Refinancing
To give you a better understanding, there are always two sets of transaction costs involved for refinancing a home loan from one bank to another: Legal fee & valuation fee. Here’s a quick snapshot:
For HDB Properties
Legal fee: $1,600 to $1,800
Valuation fee: $200 to $250
Total transaction costs: ~$2,000
For Private Properties
Legal fee: $1,800 to $2,000
Valuation fee: $350 to $500
Total transaction costs: ~$2,500
For Commercial Properties
Legal fee: $2,300 to $2,500
Valuation fee: $500 up
Total transaction costs: ~$3,000
In order to better align all our processes as we are a small team, we have decided a minimum loan of S$500,000 before MortgageWise will broker any case. We seek your understanding for any inconvenience caused.