I feel like I just got the best bargain ever! Hmmm... maybe bargain isn't the right word.... let's say 'deal'. Deal is a good word. I got the best DEAL ever.

What happened was:
I have been comparing three loans, which are virtually the same but with different banks. They are package deals. You pay an annual fee (one is $350, another is $375 and the last is $395) for an assortment of things, namely a reduced interest rate, no monthly fees, an offset account, a savings account, an everyday account, a credit card with rewards, certain percentages off home insurance, car insurance, financial advising etc etc etc. Anyway, there is a ton of stuff that comes with these packages.
Anywho, two banks have no setup fee, and these are the ones that are $350 and $375 pa. The third bank, at $395 a year, said they charge a $600 setup fee. Unfortunately, this is the bank that we LIKE (as much as you can like a bank). I must have been made bold by the fact I had just gotten off the phone from my boss's wife (who works for the $375 per year bank). She is always trying to drill into me to bargain for everything. So, feeling brave, I called the bank we are interested in and spoke to the lady who is managing our loan. I explained that they are the only one out of the three we are considering that has a setup fee, and could there be something that she could do about this? She told me that because it was a package, we didn't get a setup fee - only the normal loans got setup fees, but that she would see about waiving the first annual fee.
I was a bit stunned and nearly fell over myself. I'd gotten something I hadn't even asked for! How great is that?

Anyway. So really, it's not a great 'deal' seeing as we'll be paying thousands of dollars in interest... but atleast we are paying nearly $400 less!

I'd like to think of myself as a hard-bargain-driver... but really I think it was just dumb luck and a really nice loan manager.