Smart ways to approach refinancing multiple properties

When refinancing multiple properties makes sense

Refinancing more than one property at the same time works when your current loans are costing more than they should or when you need to restructure debt across your portfolio. The decision hinges on whether the savings or structural improvements outweigh the time and cost involved in lodging multiple applications.

Consider an Army member posted to Puckapunyal who owns three properties: a former principal place of residence in Werribee, a unit in Geelong, and an investment in regional Bendigo. All three loans sit with different lenders, each charging different rates, and two have fixed terms ending within six months of each other. Refinancing all three at once consolidates the loans with a single lender, aligns the rate structure, and reduces the monthly repayment by around $600 across the portfolio. The outcome is simpler administration and lower costs without needing to manage three separate reviews over the next year.

This kind of portfolio refinance suits members who have built equity across multiple properties and want to either reduce interest costs, access funds for further investment, or consolidate their lending into a structure that works around deployment schedules.

How lenders assess multiple property refinance applications

Lenders treat multiple property refinances as a single loan application with multiple security properties. They assess your total income, total liabilities, and total debt servicing capacity in one review rather than approving each loan separately.

The challenge for ADF members is that lenders often apply rental income shading, meaning they discount the rental income from investment properties by 20% to account for vacancy risk and maintenance costs. If you are refinancing three investment properties and one owner-occupied home, the lender will assess whether your ADF salary plus 80% of the rental income from all three properties can service the total debt across all four loans. This creates a servicing pinch point that does not exist when you refinance a single property.

In our experience, members who refinance multiple properties without reviewing their loan structure first often find they cannot borrow as much as expected because the cumulative debt servicing reduces their assessed capacity. Structuring the loans correctly before lodging the application prevents this outcome.

Fixed rate expiry timing across multiple loans

If you hold multiple properties with fixed rate periods ending at different times, refinancing them together requires careful timing. Breaking one fixed loan early to align with another can trigger break costs that outweigh the benefit of consolidating.

The most cost-effective approach is to refinance the properties with fixed terms ending soonest, then bring the remaining properties into the same structure as their fixed terms expire. This avoids paying thousands in break fees while still moving toward a unified loan structure over a 12-month period. Members can also use a split rate strategy within the new loan structure, fixing part of each loan and leaving part variable, which provides rate certainty without locking the entire portfolio into a single term.

If all your fixed terms are ending within three months of each other, refinancing them together in one application reduces the administrative load and allows you to negotiate a portfolio discount with the new lender.

Releasing equity from one property to fund another

Refinancing multiple properties allows you to access equity from one or more properties without selling. This works when you want to fund a deposit for another investment, complete renovations, or consolidate other debts into the mortgage structure.

Lenders typically allow you to borrow up to 80% of the combined value of all properties in the portfolio without needing to pay lenders mortgage insurance. If one property has increased in value and you want to use that equity, the refinance application includes a valuation of that property and a drawdown of the additional funds at settlement.

As an example, a Navy member stationed at HMAS Cerberus owns two properties in regional Victoria. One property in Moe has increased in value by around $80,000 since purchase. Refinancing both properties together allows the member to draw $60,000 from the Moe property while keeping the loan-to-value ratio under 80%. The funds go toward a deposit on a third property in Traralgon. The refinance consolidates the two existing loans with one lender, extracts the equity, and structures the new debt so all three loans are manageable within the member's ADF salary and rental income.

This approach works because the lender assesses the entire portfolio in one application, which can improve serviceability compared to lodging separate applications for each property.

Consolidating loans with different lenders into one structure

Holding loans with multiple lenders means managing different repayment dates, different online portals, different offset accounts, and different rate review cycles. Consolidating all loans with one lender through a refinance process reduces this complexity and often unlocks portfolio pricing discounts.

Some lenders offer rate discounts when you hold multiple loans with them, particularly if the combined loan amount exceeds a certain threshold. A member refinancing three properties with a total debt of $900,000 may receive a rate discount of 0.15% to 0.25% compared to holding the same loans with three separate lenders. Over time, this discount compounds into thousands of dollars in interest savings.

Consolidation also makes it easier to manage offset accounts. Instead of splitting surplus funds across three accounts with different lenders, you can direct all surplus cash into a single offset account linked to the loan with the highest balance, maximising the interest saved.

How valuation issues affect multi-property refinancing

Lenders require a valuation for each property included in the refinance application. If one property comes back with a lower-than-expected valuation, it can affect the entire application because the lender calculates the loan-to-value ratio across the whole portfolio.

This is a common issue in regional Victoria, where property values can fluctuate based on local employment conditions and infrastructure development. A property in a regional town may have been purchased at a certain price but valued lower at refinance if the local market has softened. The reduced valuation increases the loan-to-value ratio, which may require the member to contribute additional cash or remove that property from the refinance application.

The alternative is to request a second valuation or provide recent sales evidence for comparable properties in the area. In some cases, removing the underperforming property from the application and refinancing it separately at a later date is the most practical solution.

Structuring loans to protect cash flow during deployment

ADF members deployed or posted interstate need loan structures that do not require constant attention. Refinancing multiple properties into a single lender with consistent repayment schedules and online access simplifies management when you are not available to respond to lender queries or rate changes.

One approach is to set all loans to interest-only repayments during periods of deployment, then switch back to principal and interest repayments when you return to a stable posting. This provides flexibility without needing to renegotiate loan terms mid-deployment. Another option is to structure the loans with offset accounts that automatically reduce interest costs without requiring manual transfers or redraw requests.

Members using these structures often find they can maintain their investment portfolio without needing to sell or restructure during periods of limited availability.

Application timing and settlement coordination

Refinancing multiple properties requires coordinating settlement dates across all loans. If you are refinancing three properties, the new lender will want to settle all three on the same day to minimise risk and administration costs.

This can create timing challenges if one property has a fixed term ending in June and another in September. The solution is to start the refinance application early enough that all properties can settle within a short window, or to stage the refinance so properties are brought into the new structure as their fixed terms expire.

In most cases, settlement coordination is handled by the broker and the lender's settlement team, but members need to be aware that delays in providing documents for one property can hold up the entire application.

Call one of our team or book an appointment at a time that works for you to review your portfolio and identify whether refinancing multiple properties will reduce your costs or improve your loan structure.

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