Hello!

26 Comments

It’s too easy to set and forget your mortgage. Sign the papers, set up the payments and move on to more fun stuff like living your life. While this may mean that you manage to pay your loan off during the agreed term, it’s also possible to shave a few years off by knowing what to look for.

Here are some tips to help you pay off your mortgage sooner:

1) Negotiate

Give your bank a call and ask them if they will negotiate on your rate. Check out what the other banks are offering and see whether you are able to get your bank to match this or reduce your current rate. Often banks often offer their best rates to new customers to get them in the door, however retaining existing clients is also important. For you, a 0.25% decrease can make a difference.

2) Understand the market

Banks want your business. There are many enticing rates and products on offer for new clients. Keep an eye on Canstar which is a great site for comparing rates and products. Work out the cost to change banks and how much you will save. Use this information to negotiate.

Banks will often offer you a cash rebate to move across to them, and this can fully or partially offset your refinancing costs. You are in a better position to negotiate if your debt is less than 80% of the value of your property as changing lenders otherwise can be costly with additional mortgage insurance premiums payable with the new lender.

3) Know the tricks

Fortnightly and weekly payments mean that you can sneak some extra payments in during the year. If you have additional funds that you still want to access, put them in an offset or redraw facility. As a rule of thumb pay off unsecured debt and owner occupied debt before investment debt.

4) Make sure your banking structure is right for you

Do you know what an offset account is and how to get the best out of it? Are you paying principal and interest or interest only? Do you have more than one type of mortgage? What are your rates? If you can pay extra, are you paying it in to the account with the highest interest rate?

5) Check your statements

Make sure that you haven’t been charged additional fees and your interest looks reasonable. Just the act of checking your statements can remind you to look for ways to put extra money in.

6) Know the ancillary benefits

Many banks and financial institutions offer other benefits to their mortgage clients. Know what they are. You may be entitled to a waiver of your annual credit card fee. If your provider offers insurance they may offer a discount. If you have other bank accounts, fees may be waived.

And the top tip that Terry Christo from Loan Market shared is to review your mortgage every year or 2 with your broker or personal banker. Your broker will know the best deal for you if you are seriously thinking about moving institutions. If you want to stay where you are, both your banker and broker may be able to assist with a more suitable rate or package.

Do you have any other tips to share? Please comment below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.
  • Wonderful tips and a timely read for me. Thanks

    Reply

  • Make payments every fortnight instead of monthly. That helps pay things off a lot faster.

    Reply

  • Great tips!! Something worth considering when going for a loan

    Reply

  • Some helpful tips here. I always put my tax return into my mortgage, this helps pay it off quicker too

    Reply

  • Extra tips for paying off the mortgage are always welcome!

    Reply

  • negotiate in the first place for a cheaper loan and don’t be scared to walk away if need be. get them to work for you

    Reply

  • Always ask for a better rate! Work out a budget and stick to it. If you get paid fortnightly… Pay your bills first, allocate $$ for food and petrol, then with the left over $$ divide it by your days left until pay day. Say you have $25 a day left. Every single day that goes by ALL of the money left over goes into either an account you can’t draw cash from or straight off the home load. If you put it into an account at the end of the fortnight transfer the $$ off your home loan. Every single bit helps to reduce the amount of interest you pay a fortnight!

    Reply

  • We have just renegotiated our loan. Bank didn’t tell us that we could get a better interest rate until we asked. Will save a huge amount of money.

    Reply

  • Some great tips there. I’ll definitely be checking out Canstar to compare rates.

    Reply

  • Thank you for the article and helpful tips.

    Reply

  • these are such great tips…thank you for sharing them with us!

    Reply

  • We’re not rich or wealthy, but we have just paid off our second home. When we first bought a home, interest rates were 18%. We saved well to start with a good deposit, then worked hard to pay it off. When we upgraded to our second home, we continued to pay the same amount off the mortgage, even as the interest rates continued to drop. For us, we didn’t miss the money as it was always direct debited to the mortgage. We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved. I hate debt, especially mortgage debt, so it was always a priority for us to work hard to get rid of it.

    Reply

  • Definitely ask your bank for a discount. Telling them you’ve seen other deals or you’re thinking of moving has helped us!

    Reply

  • Great tips, however we never owned a house :)

    Reply

  • Thank heavens I’m passed this now. I did follow those instructions from mother.

    Reply

Post a comment
Add a photo
Your MoM account


Lost your password?

Enter your email and a password below to post your comment and join MoM:

You May Like

Loading…

Looks like this may be blocked by your browser or content filtering.

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join