Payout figures: why refinancing an existing loan slows a fast settlement

On a refinance, there’s one document that neither you nor your new lender can produce: the payout figure. It belongs to the existing lender, it’s produced on the existing lender’s timetable, and until it arrives the new loan can’t settle. It’s the reason many fast refinances end up at the slow end of the 24–48 hour window, and sometimes beyond it.

What exactly is a payout figure?

It’s a statement from your current lender of the precise amount required to close your loan on a particular date. It’s different from the balance on your last statement because it includes everything needed to finish the loan on that day — interest up to that date and any costs of closing the loan. The new lender uses it to pay the old one at settlement, after which the old lender releases its mortgage.

Queensland’s eConveyancing mandate lists the release of mortgage among the instruments that must be lodged electronically — part of why, once the figure is known, the discharge itself can happen within the settlement.

Why can’t a refinance settle without it?

Because a new first mortgage can only be registered cleanly once the old one is discharged, and the old one can only be discharged once it’s paid in full. Guess the figure and you risk leaving a small balance owing, which means the old lender won’t release its security. So the new lender waits.

The same applies when any debt is being cleared at settlement — another private loan, a caveat-secured loan from a different lender, or an equipment loan secured over the same property.

What slows payout figures down?

• The existing lender’s process. Some lenders produce figures quickly online; others need a written request and process it in a queue.
• Authority requirements. A signed authority may be needed before the old lender will talk to the new one.
• Multiple borrowers. If the old loan is in joint names, every borrower may need to authorise the request.
• Changing dates. If settlement moves, the figure may need recalculating for the new date.
• Arrears or defaults. Extra fees or legal costs may need confirming before a final figure is given.

How do you request one on day one?

1. Ask your existing lender how to request a payout figure — online, by phone or by form.
2. Send the request the day you enquire, even before approval. A figure you don’t need costs nothing; a figure you need but haven’t asked for costs a day.
3. Give a realistic settlement date — the lender can recalculate if it moves.
4. Tell the new lender you’ve requested it, with the reference number.
5. Keep a recent loan statement handy — it’s useful context while the formal figure is prepared.

The Paperwork Stopwatch treats the payout figure as one of the heaviest items on the list for exactly this reason. When the request is in, start your 60-second enquiry.

Can you avoid needing a payout figure at all?

Often, yes — by leaving the existing loan in place. The two routes that do that:

Option	Existing loan	Payout figure needed?
Caveat loan	Stays in place	Usually no
Second mortgage	Stays in place, ranks first	Usually no
First mortgage refinance	Paid out and discharged	Yes

A caveat loan or second mortgage can be the right answer when the priority is speed and there’s enough equity above the existing loan. A first mortgage refinance can make more sense for larger or longer needs, or where the existing loan itself is part of the problem. The first call is where that choice gets made.

Illustrative example: two refinances

Illustrative scenario only. Two owners each plan to refinance a private first mortgage of about $400k with a new loan of about $650k.

• The first requests a payout figure through the existing lender’s portal the evening she enquires. It arrives mid-morning the next day, as the valuation is completing. Documents are signed early afternoon and settlement happens the following morning.
• The second waits until he has conditional approval to ask. The existing lender needs a signed authority, then processes the request in its queue. The payout figure arrives three business days later. Everything else was ready on day two.

Same amounts, same kind of lender. One request made twelve hours earlier than the other.

What should a payout request include?

Lenders process payout requests faster when everything they need arrives in one go. Before you send yours, check it covers:

• the full names of every borrower, exactly as on the loan;
• the loan account number and the property address;
• the proposed settlement date, and a note that it may move;
• who the figure should be sent to — you, the new lender, or both;
• any signed authority the existing lender requires to deal with another lender;
• a daytime phone number in case the lender needs to confirm anything.

If the loan is in joint names, ask whether every borrower needs to sign the request. Keep the confirmation or reference number and pass it to the new lender. If you haven’t heard back within the time the lender quoted, follow up by phone rather than waiting — polite persistence is often the difference between a figure today and a figure next week.

Start your refinance on the right foot

If an existing loan needs paying out, the payout figure is the one job that can’t be done too early. Enquiring takes about a minute and there’s no credit check when you first enquire. Your details stay with one team — they don’t go out to a line-up of lenders — and a real person works out whether refinancing, a caveat or a second mortgage gets you there fastest. Please list your existing loans accurately on the form so the right request is made from the start.

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