Negotiating with the Big Four: How a Mortgage Adviser Gets You a Better Deal
- Joshua Flack
- Jun 17
- 3 min read
TL;DR
The advertised rate is rarely the best rate. The main banks compete hard for quality borrowers through cash incentives and rate discounts that aren't on the website. An adviser who places volume across multiple banks has leverage an individual borrower doesn't. This post explains how the negotiation actually works, what cash incentives are currently on offer, and why the clawback period matters.
The rate on the bank's website is the starting point, not the deal.
Most borrowers don't know this. They walk into their own bank, accept the carded rate, and feel like they negotiated because they asked once.
The actual deals, the rate discounts and cash incentives, sit below the surface. Getting to them takes leverage and knowing what to ask for.
How Bank Pricing Actually Works
Main banks have carded rates (advertised) and special rates (negotiated). The gap between them can be meaningful.
On top of rate, banks offer cash incentives (cash contributions) to win or retain quality lending. These have been running at roughly 0.6 to 1% of the loan in recent competitive periods, sometimes higher for strong borrowers refinancing.
On a $700,000 loan, 1% is $7,000 cash. That's not a rounding error.
Why an Adviser Has Leverage You Don't
An individual borrower negotiates one deal, once, with limited information about what's actually available across the market. An adviser places lending across all the main banks regularly. They know what each bank is currently offering, which bank is hungry for volume this month, and what a strong borrower can realistically command. They also represent ongoing volume, which the banks value. That combination, market knowledge plus volume relationship, is leverage a one-off borrower simply doesn't have. The bank competes harder when they know the deal can go elsewhere easily.
What's Negotiable
The interest rate (discount off carded)
The cash incentive (contribution to the loan)
The structure (split loans, fixed and floating mix, offset facilities)
Fees (sometimes waived)
The borrower who only negotiates rate is leaving the cash incentive and structure on the table.
The Clawback Trap
Here's what catches people. Cash incentives come with a clawback period, typically two to four years. If you repay or refinance the loan within that period, you have to pay the incentive back, sometimes in full. So the $7,000 cash isn't free money. It's conditional on staying put. If you take a big incentive and then refinance 18 months later, you're repaying it. This matters when you're choosing between a higher incentive with a longer clawback and a better rate with more flexibility. The right choice depends on your plans. An adviser factors this in. A borrower chasing the headline cash figure often doesn't.
Worked Example
$700,000 refinance;
Bank A offers a 1% cash incentive ($7,000) with a four-year clawback.
Bank B offers a slightly better rate and a 0.7% incentive ($4,900) with a three-year clawback.
If you'll hold the loan for five-plus years, Bank A's bigger cash wins. If you might restructure in two years, Bank B's better rate and shorter clawback could come out ahead, and you avoid repaying the incentive. Same two offers. Different right answer depending on your situation.
Where This Leaves You
The carded rate is the worst-case scenario, not the deal. Rate discounts, cash incentives and structure are all negotiable, and the difference is worth thousands.
But the headline cash figure isn't the whole story. The clawback terms decide whether that cash is actually yours to keep. Negotiating the rate, the cash, the structure and the clawback as a package is exactly what an adviser does. The bank prices harder when there's an adviser and real competition in the room.
At CRISP, we negotiate the full package across the main banks and factor in your actual plans so the deal works beyond the headline number.
Best rate, best cash, right clawback. As a package.
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About the Author:
Joshua Flack is a mortgage and lending adviser and the founder of Crisp Financial. Before finance, he spent two decades running businesses across construction, facilities services, and franchising, which is why his advice starts with how the numbers actually work rather than how the brochure says they should. He works with home buyers, investors, and self-employed borrowers across New Zealand, with particular depth in complex and non-standard lending. Crisp Financial Limited (FSP1012114) operates under the Link Financial Group FAP licence. The information in this article is general in nature and is not regulated financial advice.
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