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$50,000 Loan at 0% Interest (for 5 Years) for Energy Efficient Home Improvements or EV Purchase @ Westpac

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$50,000 Loan at 0% Interest (for 5 Years) for Energy Efficient Home Improvements or EV Purchase @ Westpac
Go to Deal
Stoffel on 23/08/2023 - 12:45 westpac.co.nz (1211 clicks)
Last edited 23/08/2023 - 15:34 by 1 other user

Last year I posted this deal which offered an interest free loan of up to $40,000 over 5 years towards energy efficient home improvements. Westpac have now expanded the loan to include the purchase of an EV, hybrid car or electric vehicle charger and have increased the limit to $50,000. Note, as before this loan is available to new or current Westpac Choices home loan customers.

WESTPAC GREATER CHOICES HOME LOAN

With a Westpac Greater Choices home loan, you could get up to $50,000 interest free for five years to help you create a warmer, drier and more energy efficient home life.

What you can get:

For a drier, healthier more resilient home

  • Eligible heat pumps
  • Wood burners
  • Insulation
  • Double glazing
  • Ventilation
  • Solar power systems and batteries
  • Rain water tanks

For more energy efficient transport

  • Electric car
  • Hybrid car
  • Electric vehicle charger
Financial Home Loan

Related Stores

Westpac
Westpac

Comments

  • Grandma on 23/08/2023 - 13:32

    I see a lot of Tesla's at around $50k on trademe.

    Miiiighty tempting but I don't think the ms would approve

    • phillq on 23/08/2023 - 14:04

      Needs to be from a licenced motor vehicle dealer though? At least other banks have this condition.

      • Grandma on 23/08/2023 - 18:17

        Ahh

        Makes sense.

        Shall we make one for cheapies eh?

      • Jaxson on 21/02/2024 - 17:50
        +1

        The interesting part is could you could sell the vehicle and keep the cash?

        Whilst it’s probably collateral on the low the bank probably doesn’t know if you still have it?

        It’s not a traditional loan repayment, in terms of there is no money owing on the car to the dealer.

        • phillq on 21/02/2024 - 18:20

          Yes you could sell and keep the cash, then put it in a 6% term deposit.

    • scott on 24/08/2023 - 00:44

      If you are after a base model 3, it's $57,572 after rebate, so only $7572 to fund from elsewhere for a brand new one.

      • Jaxson on 21/02/2024 - 17:50

        Is there still a rebate scheme going now?

        • AleBeerenhoff on 22/02/2024 - 07:32
          +1

          Nope - this was discontinued at end of 2023

        • scott on 25/02/2024 - 16:34
          +1

          Quite a bit has changed since my comment on 24 / 08 / 2023.

          As per the other comment, rebates are now gone. Also the model 3 got a facelift & price hike. They are $68 042 drive away new now. As a cheaper alternative, thee BYD seal starts at $63k

          for the current situation, there are 5 EV options under 50k on the market now. Go here and rank by lowest price:

          https://evdb.nz/evs

          Global car market (both new and use), has flipped back to favor buyers now, and EV's are specially impacted.

          Some big price cuts on new cars: i.e. :ID4 Pro now $59,990 down from $79,990

          And used market is fairly healthy for buyers: Model 3 from $36k, Kona 64kWh from $32k, Post facelift MG ZS from $28k, 40kWh leaf from $17k, 62kWh leaf from 25k, 2022 Peugeot 20* & Mokka-e from $38k, 2022 BYD Atto 3 extended range $42k

  • hval007 on 23/08/2023 - 13:41

    When will Kiwibank get on and offer similar to remain competitive

    • Jexla on 23/08/2023 - 13:54
      +4

      Kiwibank don't do competing. That's why I'd never seriously consider them as a bank.

      • Adabesi on 23/08/2023 - 16:44

        Been in touch with Kiwibank earlier in the year, and they said they would have a similar offer out in Q4. Wait and see I guess.

      • felixfurtak on 23/08/2023 - 17:21

        When the ANZ 1% Good Energy Loans came out asked Kiwibank if they could match the ANZ offer. They said they couldn't, so I just changed banks. ANZ paid all my lawyer fees and mortgage rates had gone up so there were no break fees either. So fairly easy cost free process all up.

  • Shay84 on 23/08/2023 - 14:03
    +4

    It's a great incentive for those lucky enough to own property. It's a shame these "free money" incentives are not made availabe to those in most need.

    It's no wonder the gap between the ruchest and poorest in society continues to widen..

    • Kdzc83 on 23/08/2023 - 14:27

      not sure how you classify this as free money incentive?

      • Shay84 on 23/08/2023 - 14:30

        Free money is the sence it's interest free.

        • Kdzc83 on 23/08/2023 - 15:48

          yeah interest free, but paying crazy high interest on the mortgage.. nothing is free
          end of the day you're still spending money to get this offer, which isn't cheap

          you could say people who don't own a property are lucky as they don't have to pay sky high mortgage, rates, insurances etc

          • Adabesi on 23/08/2023 - 16:51
            +4

            @Kdzc83: They pay those sky high mortgage/rates and insurances via sky high rents.

            • Kdzc83 on 23/08/2023 - 18:39

              @Adabesi: Not true, use a mortgage calculator before you talk nonsense. Then there's rates which are 3k per year in Auckland on average house price. Plus insurance property and life.

              "He found, per week, nationwide renters were $311 a week better off. In Auckland, they were $452 a week ahead. In Wellington, it was $292 and in Canterbury, $228."
              Source:
              https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/money/300815526/renting-v-own…

          • Shay84 on 23/08/2023 - 17:59

            @Kdzc83: Yes but this is clearly a deal becuase it's costing people effectively nothing to borrow money over 5 years.

            Lucky yo rent…? You're either taking the piss or it's a long time since you had to.

            • Kdzc83 on 23/08/2023 - 18:40

              @Shay84: Borrowing money isn't free money. Haha
              You're paying through their interest

              • Everettpsycho on 23/08/2023 - 19:27

                @Kdzc83: It's not strictly free but it can significantly work in your favour of your borrow carefully. I'm not advocating for taking on reckless debt but anyone looking at spending on this stuff anyway should consider taking the low interest loan and put any cash they had saved for it either against their mortgage or investing it. Best case scenario you'd be making money on that cash or if your on an 8% floating rate for offset mortgage you'd be saving 8% interest that you'd otherwise be paying the bank.

                If you have $11.5k saved for a car, add on the $3500 rebate and you have $15000 cash, dumping that in to a basic 4.5% savings account will make you $675 a year interest (not compound), or better, save you $1200 a year on a floating rate mortgage.

                The one thing you definitely shouldn't do though is consider it free money, you need to have the cash to make the savings/profit you could make using lending this way.

                • Kdzc83 on 23/08/2023 - 20:14

                  @Everettpsycho: Wonder if there's a clause if you bought a car that you can't sell it for duration of the loan. Or you'll be charged interest.

                  Can't be bothered reading into it as its not my bank and not worth the effort/cost of switching banks.

                  It's a great offer if you're banking with them already and are planning on doing some of these upgrades.

                  • fairgod on 22/02/2024 - 10:30

                    @Kdzc83: I'm on this Westpac loan and currently selling my vehicle. I did call the bank and asked them if I can sell it and would I need to close off my loan with the money - they said that I can and that I don't need to close the loan.

                • Shay84 on 23/08/2023 - 21:50

                  @Everettpsycho: I'm being a bit facetious when I use the term "free money."

                  But if you are in the market for an ev car and need to borrow a portion of the money this is going to be the cheapest way to do it.

                  It's a given people should only borrow what they can afford to pay back.

                  My orignial point is schemes like this benift those with money already in the main.

              • Shay84 on 23/08/2023 - 21:25

                @Kdzc83: Do you understand what a 0% rate means? 🙃

                • Kdzc83 on 23/08/2023 - 22:25
                  -1

                  @Shay84: You said free money incentive. Just because it's 0% doesn't mean it's free..
                  You are still borrowing money which you don't have. It's not free..
                  You still have to have a home loan with Westpac to take up this offer where you'll be paying minimum 7% on home loan..
                  Also if you don't manage to repay the 0% loan in time they'll charge you interest.
                  Move on..

                  • Shay84 on 23/08/2023 - 22:47

                    @Kdzc83: I said it in quotation marks and went on to explain what i meant multiple times.

                    Tell me IF you do pay it off on time, like most of us who understand what it means to borrow responsabilly would, what happens? 🤣

                    • randomusername13994 on 24/08/2023 - 16:01
                      -2

                      @Shay84: @Shaneoh the reason they make this offer is because its $50k you pay back to this loan, and not to your high interest rate loan when it comes to 5 years. The bank wins.

                      Get it? Nothings free.

                      • Shay84 on 24/08/2023 - 16:37
                        -1

                        @randomusername13994: You are assuming people who are taking this out are not going to make over payments?

                        If I am intending to borrow 10 -15k to purchase a 2nd hand EV or put solar panals in and have the funds tp pay this back within the 5 years in excess of your mortgage payments it is money you are not paying interest on.

                        Does that not make sense my friend? :)

                        • randomusername13994 on 24/08/2023 - 17:10
                          -1

                          @Shay84: Again, you have taken out $50k, that you may not have wanted to spend or needed without this offer.

                          Thats $50k that could have gone back onto the mortgage in 5 years time that wont be.

                          Having the funds to pay it back or not is irrelevant. You've taken up the $50k where as previously you may not have.

                          Thats the point, nothing is free my friend.

                          • Shay84 on 24/08/2023 - 19:17

                            @randomusername13994: It very much is relevent if you have the funds or not.

                            If some one is already planning to borrow money for any of the specified reasons AND has it in their budget to pay it back by making overpayments on their Mortgage then the effective rate on that loan is 0% interest. Nobody is saying you dont have to pay back the capital.

                            Surely it's a given that if people can they should pay off their mortgage, or any other loan as quickly as they can. That' just common sense, it has nothing to do with what i've outlined above. 🤷‍♂️

          • NovaAlpha on 22/02/2024 - 12:12

            @Kdzc83: It's still a win for home owners. Generally speaking, you still make money on flipping houses. Not to mention that the 50K interest free money can just be re-invested. Put it in a terms deposit at 6.x% and that's still better than nothing.

            • Kdzc83 on 22/02/2024 - 16:46

              @NovaAlpha: cant be reinvested as you have to present a quote/invoice to the bank for preapproval to show what you're intending to spend the loan on

    • nzmax on 23/08/2023 - 15:18

      But only if you have a mortgage on it. Many people have paid off their mortgage over time but don't appear to be able to qualify for this, despite having less outgoings with no home mortgage payments.

      • Adabesi on 23/08/2023 - 16:47
        +2

        That's why rule number 1 when you have a home loan, or close to paying it off, is to move to a revolving home loan. You then have that loan indefinitely sitting there waiting with the bank.

        • nzmax on 23/08/2023 - 17:36

          But does that mean the bank still has their name on your land title? I can see why some may want to do that if they are wanting to use leverage from their house to buy rentals and invest. But many also just want to get rid of the mortgage as soon as they can.

          • KevlarCoated on 24/08/2023 - 13:37
            +1

            @nzmax: It makes the money readily available. Say you loose your job and need money, a bank wont lend you money with out a job to be able to repay it but if you already have a revolving home loan you can just use that. If you keep the balance at 0 then it has no cost to you to maintain access to it

    • Grandma on 23/08/2023 - 20:24

      yeah. Im now in a position where I have to sell my house (family / relationship imploding) and it's actually scary to think that if things continue then thats my only shot at property completely gone.

      See what the future holds, but its sickening in some ways

    • SrsSarcasM on 24/08/2023 - 18:16

      In this case, the house equity provides 100% security against default, so risk is extremely low to the bank.

      A bank would never provide such an unsecured loan without an insanely high margin applied to the interest.

    • Jaxson on 21/02/2024 - 17:52

      The house is collateral they could chase debts through if it came to it I guess.

  • Matty D on 23/08/2023 - 14:32

    So you have to already have a home loan with them in order to get this as a bonus? Or can you get it just for that reason?

    • Stoffel on 23/08/2023 - 14:47

      If you have a home loan with them you're eligible. So either have a home loan with them already or sign up for a new one.

      • nzmax on 23/08/2023 - 15:22

        If you buy a million dollar home, you are essentially paying the bank about a million in interest over the term of the mortgage, as well as paying off the borrowed amount. So over the term of the mortgage on a million dollar house, it could cost you 2 million. So the cost of an extra $50k without an interest possibly isn't that much if it will get them extra customers switching to them

  • HighvoltageRuss on 23/08/2023 - 15:10
    +1

    It's still a decent amount to pay weekly. Only for those with the disposable income to get approved. I managed to get some last year for solar and a heatpump. Had to provide all the same details as any loan for them to decide if you can afford it. Will be worth it in the end as only just paid my first power bill of the year this month after using up export credit.

    50k at 5years is $192.3 per week by my calculations. Certainly not for most in the current financial situation.

    • dw-omg on 23/08/2023 - 15:20

      Can also offset vehicle running costs eg petrol, maintenance oil changes etc.

    • Everettpsycho on 23/08/2023 - 19:02

      It's a big chunk but if it's something you were considering anyway and was willing to spend money on its very worth doing and putting any cash from a car sale, rebate or savings against an offset mortgage. When we considered it we'd make thousands back of we sold our car and put the money against the mortgage and borrowed in this to replace it. Seriously considered upgrading a 30kwh leaf to a 40kwh one as it made the upgrade much cheaper.

    • Jaxson on 21/02/2024 - 17:53

      You can probably opt for a longer term, it’s just that the interest-free period is only the first five years. That would lower the weekly repayment component,

  • jemas on 23/08/2023 - 20:08
    +1

    If you buy a Tesla, make sure to use the cheapies referral link from https://www.cheapies.nz/deals/tesla.com

  • Squibbly on 23/08/2023 - 22:21
    +1

    What people fail to think about when taking these loans is that you are adding to your debt. So instead of paying $50K off your current mortgage over 5 years you are paying off this loan. If instead, you paid extra weekly payments onto your mortgage you will have reduced it by $50K during the 5 years and you will be way better off in the long run.
    Also if you have to repay your loan for whatever reason as @LonelyShower mentioned, you will have $50K of extra debt.

    Only should be doing this if its an absolute need, or can significantly save you greater money then what you are forgoing by not paying your mortgage off.

  • MightyMoose on 24/08/2023 - 10:20
    +2

    This feels a little mislabelled/pandering to the marketing ploy, in reality its an interest free mortgage extension for those already in debt to Westpac. Aka interest rates are going up and more people are tightening their belts so Westpac needed to come up with something to get people spending and taking on more debt. As Squibbly said, this should only be for the desperate or those that are very sure their purchase will save them more than the extra cost.

    • KevlarCoated on 24/08/2023 - 14:31
      +2

      Or those that were already planning to make a purchase that would qualify, if you had 50k set aside for a new EV then put it on your mortgage and borrow it back at 0%

  • CheapChoice on 25/08/2023 - 08:19

    I suppose Westpac calculated inflation at 25%

  • llames on 21/02/2024 - 14:30

    But I don't think I'll have 50k at the end of 5 years to pay it all back. D:

  • Kury on 21/02/2024 - 15:01

    Westpac is a joke, wouldn’t trust that bank. Can’t wait when our mortgages are removed from their coffers. This after 25 years being a loyal customer.

  • Bri d get on 21/02/2024 - 22:21

    Does anyone know if you need to have a mortgage balance for the whole 5 years? Like if I were to pay off my mortgage 6 months after getting this $50k loan, would I still have 4.5 years to pay off the $50k? Thanks

    • Stoffel on 23/02/2024 - 17:08

      Don't close off your loan. Just keep an offset account and get the balance to zero. That's what I'd do.

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