How to pay off your home loan sooner and save big bucks

Most of the people dream of owning their own house and it’s a great feeling to get into your own house. But a feeling which is even better than that, is when you have paid your home loan off.

Reducing the life of your loan isn’t difficult; there are many simple things you can do to cut years off your mortgage. Here are some tips that will help you be mortgage-free sooner than planned.

Small extra repayments

One of the most obvious ways to pay off your home loan quicker is to make extra repayments. Depositing lump sums, such as a tax return or work bonus, will always be beneficial, however it doesn’t always take large amounts or windfalls to make a substantial difference – planning for regular, small cash injections can have a great impact over the life of a loan.

Let’s say we give an extra $50 a fortnight on a $500,000 loan, that saves you $32,000 of interest over the life of the loan which in turn will save you just over two years. That’s only $25 a week.

Switch your payment intervals

If you find that you don’t have the discipline to make extra repayments, then simply switching your payment structure can also help save years off your mortgage, as well as simplifying your finances if you are paid fortnightly.

To explain, there are 12 months in a year but 13 four-week cycles, by switching your payment intervals from monthly to fortnightly, you are essentially paying off an extra month per year without even realizing that.

Make sure you have the right type of loan

Ensuring your loan allows extra repayments without penalty will let you to make the most of bonuses or funnel small extra payments to reduce the loan principle more quickly, saving on interest immediately, while an offset account will use your savings or living expenses to reduce your principle, while still allowing you to access these funds from a transaction account.

This is what I have done to my loans, I’ve set the mortgage on my investment as interest-only, but I make the principle and interest payment equivalent by putting surplus rental income into an offset account, because interest is calculated daily but charged monthly, any money sitting in the account will help reduce the loan.

Although you may have to pay extra fees for the offset or redraw account, these may well be lower amounts than the interest saved. Talking to a finance broker is the easiest way to work out whether this option is financially sound.

Paying off your home loan faster isn’t difficult; however, it does require financial discipline and expertise in ensuring the right loan features are in place.

RBA CASH RATE UNCHANGED

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has decided to keep the cash rate at 1.5 per cent for the 25th consecutive month of RBA announcements

MORE TIGHTENING TO INTEREST ONLY LOAN

Earlier this year, the regulator announced new curbs to interest-only lending. Regulator’s focus on tightening of credit regulations on interest-only loans is a welcome change as it has encouraged more responsible lending by banks and other institutions to not place customers under undue stress and thus end up paying more on their home loans, particularly if their loan is an owner-occupied loan.

HOW TO NEGOTIATE IN A SOFTER HOUSING MARKET

Whatever the state of the market, every negotiation is based on the same premise – vendors want to receive the highest possible price while buyers want to pay as little as possible. Both, however, need to give careful thought to how they approach a negotiation when the market is in decline.

TIPS FOR VENDOR’S :

Be realistic ,Take offers seriously AND Be ready to act.

TIPS FOR BUYER’S :

Do your research – be clear about a realistic market price.

Let the agent know if you’re interested in a property

Call now on 1300 30 6767 or enquire through the form.