A home loan summer transformation

There’s a lot happening in the property market at the moment. With never-seen-before interest rates, to banks and lenders dropping the interest rates on a variety of their home loan products, there are some serious opportunities out there for the taking - just in time for a summer transformation. 

What a great time to whip your mortgage into shape this summer. Believe us, it’s actually a lot easier than getting a 6-pack too (unless we’re talking about beer).

Let’s begin the transformation:

Get a check up

The start of any good transformation starts with an assessment of the current situation. When it comes to your home loan, this is where a Home Loan Health Check comes into play. 

What is it?

It’s a free service that Mortgage Choice offers to evaluate and compare your current home loan with hundreds of others on the market, from our wide panel of lenders. 

It takes into account the interest rate, fees you’re paying and features of the loan to make sure it’s still the right home loan for you. 

What are the benefits?

With the changing nature of our lives, things that once were a priority can shift around. 

Whether your situation has changed since you first took out the loan (e.g. started a family), you want to consider other home loan options on the market, you’re coming to the end of a fixed rate or planning some renovations or perhaps are considering buying an investment property (or anything else in between) - assessing your current situation against your home loan to see if it’s still meeting your needs can pay off significantly.

How does it work?

Once you set a meeting with your local Mortgage Choice broker, they will assess your current home loan repayments, remaining balance, features and many other factors to then see if another home loan might better suit your needs and then present you with the findings.

Know what you want to achieve

A good start would be to know if you’d rather have a structured payment plan to suit your budgeting, or whether you’re wanting to pay off your home loan faster.

This can then play into the features your current home loan offers, whether you’re using these to your advantage or discovering if another type of loan would better suit your current situation and what you want to achieve.

A fixed-term home loan can help you if you’re wanting to keep your budget in order, knowing your set repayments over a set amount of time. 

A variable home loan could work well if you’re wanting to utilise an offset account, make additional repayments and want to work towards paying off your mortgage sooner.

It’s not all about lower numbers

As much we can all get caught up in the numbers game when getting into shape, when it comes to your mortgage, it’s not always all about the lowest number. The smallest interest rate on the market sounds like a great option, but it might not be a home loan that suits your needs.

Many other factors can come into play than just a low interest rate, such high account fees and particular home loan features you’re wanting.

Double the frequency

Just like with workout out, the more you exercise, the more you’re likely to see results. If you’re currently making monthly repayments on your mortgage, it could be time to turn it up a notch to fortnightly.

You might not feel the results of such a change instantly, but when we take a look in the longer term, you’ll be paying about an extra instalment each year. Switching from 12 monthly repayments to 26 fortnightly payments can see great results in the longer term.

Don’t let it slip for too long

We all know that it’s harder to get back into shape than maintaining it. Just like with your mortgage, it’s good to know what’s happening in the market and what it could mean for you. The best part is, your broker can help with that.

There’s no need to be your own expert, but if you give your mortgage some thought every year or two, your broker can help assess what’s happening in the market and provide some information and options for your next move.