Refinancing multiple properties at once lets you consolidate debt, access lower rates across your portfolio, and restructure loans to match your current goals.
When you own more than one property, refinancing can feel like managing several transactions at once. But treating each loan as a separate decision means you might miss opportunities to improve your overall position. A coordinated approach across your portfolio can reduce your interest costs, unlock equity, and give you the flexibility to fund new projects or consolidate debt into a single loan structure.
Why Refinance More Than One Property at the Same Time
Refinancing multiple properties together gives you the ability to consolidate debt, align loan features, and access equity across your portfolio in a single process. When you refinance all your loans with the same lender, you can often negotiate lower rates, reduce paperwork, and streamline your repayments. If one property has built up significant equity, you can use that to fund a granny flat, pay down higher-rate debt, or secure an investment loan top-up for granny flat construction on another title.
In our experience, investors with two or three properties often carry a mix of loan types, some on higher rates from years ago, others with limited features. Refinancing lets you bring everything under one structure, often with offset accounts attached to each loan and consistent terms across the board.
Consolidating Debt Across Your Properties
Consolidating debt means rolling high-interest loans, credit cards, or personal loans into your mortgage to reduce your overall interest rate and simplify repayments. If you have multiple properties, you can spread the consolidation across more than one loan, depending on where you have the most equity and which property offers the lowest rate.
Consider an investor who owns two properties and carries a car loan and a personal loan totalling $40,000. By refinancing both properties and consolidating the debt into the loan with the most equity, they reduced their monthly repayments by several hundred dollars and cut the interest rate on that debt from over 10% down to the mortgage rate. The loan amount increased slightly, but the overall interest cost dropped, and they cleared two separate repayments from their budget.
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Structuring Loans to Access Equity Without Refinancing Everything
You don't always need to refinance every property to access equity. If one loan is on a low rate and has the features you need, you can leave it in place and refinance only the properties where you want to release equity, reduce your rate, or change your loan structure. This approach works when you want to fund a project like granny flat construction but don't want to trigger break costs on a fixed loan or lose a rate that's no longer available in the market.
In a scenario like this, an owner-occupier with a main residence on a low variable rate and an investment property coming off a fixed term chose to refinance only the investment loan. They accessed equity from that property to fund a granny flat on the main residence, keeping the original loan untouched. The refinanced loan moved to a split loan structure with part fixed and part variable, giving them rate protection on the new borrowing while maintaining flexibility on the rest.
Using Equity from One Property to Fund a Granny Flat on Another
If you want to build a granny flat but the property you're building on doesn't have enough equity, you can use equity from another property to fund the construction. This is common when your main residence is worth more than your investment property, or when you want to add a granny flat to a property with an existing high loan balance.
Lenders will assess the combined equity across your portfolio and allow you to borrow against one property to fund works on another, as long as your serviceability supports the total loan amount. The granny flat still needs to meet council approval and be on a title that permits secondary dwellings, but the funding can come from any property in your portfolio with available equity. You can read more about this in our guide to equity release to build a granny flat.
Refinancing When One or More Loans Are Coming Off a Fixed Rate
When a fixed rate period ends, your loan typically reverts to a higher variable rate. If you have multiple properties and more than one loan is coming off a fixed term around the same time, refinancing all of them together can be a practical way to secure lower rates and avoid the revert rate on any of the loans.
Timing matters when refinancing fixed loans. If you refinance before the fixed period ends, you'll pay break costs. If you wait too long after the fixed period expires, you'll pay the higher revert rate for months while the refinance processes. Ideally, you start the refinance process around 90 days before the fixed term ends, so the new loan settles just as the fixed period expires.
If only one loan is coming off a fixed rate and the others are still locked in, you can refinance just that one loan without touching the rest of your portfolio. But if two or more loans are ending around the same time, refinancing them together with the same lender can reduce paperwork and give you more negotiating power on rates.
How Lenders Assess Multiple Property Refinances
Lenders assess your ability to service the total debt across all properties, not just the individual loans you're refinancing. They'll look at your income, existing debts, living expenses, and the rental income from any investment properties. If you're consolidating debt or accessing equity, the loan amount will increase, so your serviceability needs to support the higher repayments.
Some lenders will allow you to use rental income from a granny flat in your serviceability assessment, particularly if the granny flat is already built and tenanted. If you're planning to build a granny flat as part of the refinance, you may need to show the rental income separately once the construction is complete. You can find more information in our article on lenders that accept granny flat rental income.
Should You Refinance to the Same Lender or Switch
Staying with your current lender can save time and reduce paperwork, but it won't always get you the lowest rate. Lenders often reserve their sharpest rates for new customers, so switching can result in savings of several thousand dollars a year across multiple loans.
If you're refinancing more than one property, the savings from switching lenders compound. A rate reduction of 0.3% on two loans of $500,000 each saves around $3,000 a year. Over a five-year period, that's $15,000, even before accounting for the compounding effect of paying down the principal faster.
That said, if your current lender offers to match or beat a competitor's rate and you're happy with the loan features, staying put can make sense. You'll avoid valuation fees, application fees, and the time involved in a full refinance. Ask your current lender for a formal retention offer before committing to a switch.
Refinancing Multiple Properties with Different Loan Purposes
When you refinance multiple properties, the loan purpose for each property affects the structure and tax treatment. Your main residence will stay as an owner-occupier loan, and your investment properties will remain as investment loans. If you're accessing equity from your main residence to fund an investment property or granny flat, that portion of the loan may be structured as an investment loan for tax purposes, even though it's secured against your home.
Keeping the loan purposes separate is important for claiming interest as a tax deduction. If you consolidate investment debt into your owner-occupier loan without the right structure, you could lose the ability to claim that interest. A good broker will help you set up separate loan splits or accounts so the debt remains quarantined and the tax treatment stays clear.
Call one of our team or book an appointment at a time that works for you. We'll review your portfolio, compare your options across multiple lenders, and structure the refinance to give you the rate, features, and flexibility you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I refinance multiple properties at the same time?
Yes, you can refinance multiple properties at once, either with the same lender or by splitting them across different lenders. Refinancing together can simplify the process, reduce rates across your portfolio, and give you access to equity in a coordinated way.
Can I use equity from one property to fund a granny flat on another?
Yes, lenders allow you to use equity from one property to fund construction on another, as long as your serviceability supports the total loan amount. This is common when your main residence has more equity than the property you're building on.
Should I refinance all my properties or just the ones with high rates?
It depends on your goals and the rates you're currently paying. If some loans are on low rates with the features you need, you can leave them in place and refinance only the properties where you want to reduce your rate, access equity, or avoid a revert rate.
What happens if one of my properties is still on a fixed rate?
If a property is still within a fixed rate period, refinancing it will usually trigger break costs. You can refinance the other properties and leave the fixed loan in place, or wait until the fixed period is close to ending to avoid those costs.
Can I consolidate personal debt into my mortgage when refinancing multiple properties?
Yes, you can consolidate personal loans, car loans, or credit card debt into your mortgage when refinancing, as long as you have enough equity and your serviceability supports the higher loan amount. This can reduce your overall interest rate and simplify your repayments.
