Why it’s smart to refinance your home loan

If you’ve had your home loan for a while, there are many good reasons to consider refinancing.

Did you know that banks tend to offer their best home loan deals to new customers? Once they have you locked in, they usually don’t try very hard to retain your business. That’s because they think you won’t be bothered shopping around.

But even a small difference in interest rates or other terms and conditions of your home loan can make a massive difference to the amount you’ll pay over the life of your loan. Refinancing could be one of the best financial decisions you’ll ever make.

Refinancing can help you to:

• Get a lower interest rate. Did you know that you could save tens of thousands of dollars over the full term of the average Australian mortgage of $350,000 if you can secure a refinancing rate that’s as little as 0.5% lower than the one you’re paying now?
• Convert to a fixed rate. Australian interest rates are currently at historically low levels. Many financial commentators are tipping that they will rise soon. You can remove your risk of experiencing mortgage stress if they do by refinancing to a fixed interest rate. This could be a very sensible strategy if you’re planning on starting a family soon and will need to take a period of maternity/paternity leave from work.
• Change the term of your mortgage. Did you know that if you only make your minimum home loan repayments and let your home loan run its full 25 or 30-year term that you could pay hundreds of thousands of dollars extra in interest over the life of the loan? There are many strategies you can use to pay your home loan off quicker if you refinance and are smart in the way you restructure your financial affairs.
• Use the equity you have in your home to finance an investment property. This can be a great way to build your assets and secure your financial future. It can help you to generate long-term capital growth, ongoing rental income and provide you with tax benefits through strategies like negative gearing.
• Consolidate your debts. If you currently have high-interest debt like credit cards and personal loans, you can consolidate all your debts by refinancing them into your home loan. This can save you thousands of dollars in interest if you also restructure your repayments accordingly. Rather than juggling multiple repayments each month, one simple repayment will be all that’s necessary to manage all your debts.

How we can help

At Maxima Group, helping people to refinance their home loan with a better deal is one of our specialist services. It’s never too early or too late to refinance and put smart strategies in place to help you own your biggest financial asset and become debt-free as soon as possible.

Contact us for a free consultation to find out how we can help you!

We’ll take the time to understand your situation and provide you with the best possible advice.

The post Why it’s smart to refinance your home loan appeared first on Maxima Group Website.

Why it’s smart to refinance your home loan syndicated from https://www.maximagroup.com.au/

Tips and tricks to pay off your home loan faster

Owning your own home is the great Australian dream. Have you ever wondered how you can make that dream a reality by paying off your home loan faster?

Here are some tips and tricks that can help you do it, without compromising your current lifestyle.

1. Refinance to a better deal

Most mortgages are long-term commitments, and many people tend to forget about the terms, conditions and features of their loans over time. But that approach can be very costly in the long run.

The home loan industry is highly competitive. Even a small difference in the terms, conditions and features of your loan can have a significant impact on the amount you’ll pay over the life of your loan.

It pays to shop around and see if you can get a better deal. Lenders will often offer attractive deals to try and win your business.

It’s also a smart move to consolidate any other high-interest debts you might have (like car or personal loans) into the best low-interest home loan deal you can find.

2. Be smart about how you structure your repayments

Getting a great loan deal is only one part of the equation. You also need to structure your repayments as effectively to reduce your debt as quickly as possible.  For example, you can make fortnightly instead of monthly repayments.

This simple change can make a big difference to the amount of interest you’ll pay and how long it will take you to pay off your home loan.

You simply halve your monthly repayment amount and pay that sum fortnightly instead. So, if your monthly mortgage repayment is $2,000, you arrange to pay $1,000 a fortnight instead. This will feel virtually the same.

But there are 26 fortnights a year, and only 12 months. So, over the course of a year, you’ll pay $26,000 off your loan using a fortnightly repayment method, instead of $24,000. That’s the equivalent of you making one extra month’s repayment each year without really feeling any financial pain at all.

3. Have an offset account

An offset account allows you to offset the amount of interest you’re charged on your home loan. It does this by reducing your home loan balance by the amount you have in your savings account. For example, if you have $10,000 in an offset account and your mortgage balance is $300,000, you would only be charged interest on a balance of $290,000 (i.e. $300,000 less $10,000).

How we can help

At Maxima Group, helping people to own their own homes sooner is one of our specialist services. It’s never too early or too late to start implementing smart financial strategies to help you own your biggest financial asset as soon as possible.

Contact us for a free consultation to find out how we can help you!

We’ll take the time to understand your situation and provide you with the best possible advice.

The post Tips and tricks to pay off your home loan faster appeared first on Maxima Group Website.

Tips and tricks to pay off your home loan faster syndicated from https://www.maximagroup.com.au/

Tips and tricks to pay off your home loan faster

Owning your own home is the great Australian dream. Have you ever wondered how you can make that dream a reality by paying off your home loan faster?

Here are some tips and tricks that can help you do it, without compromising your current lifestyle.

1. Refinance to a better deal

Most mortgages are long-term commitments, and many people tend to forget about the terms, conditions and features of their loans over time. But that approach can be very costly in the long run.

The home loan industry is highly competitive. Even a small difference in the terms, conditions and features of your loan can have a significant impact on the amount you’ll pay over the life of your loan.

It pays to shop around and see if you can get a better deal. Lenders will often offer attractive deals to try and win your business.

It’s also a smart move to consolidate any other high-interest debts you might have (like car or personal loans) into the best low-interest home loan deal you can find.

2. Be smart about how you structure your repayments

Getting a great loan deal is only one part of the equation. You also need to structure your repayments as effectively to reduce your debt as quickly as possible.  For example, you can make fortnightly instead of monthly repayments.

This simple change can make a big difference to the amount of interest you’ll pay and how long it will take you to pay off your home loan.

You simply halve your monthly repayment amount and pay that sum fortnightly instead. So, if your monthly mortgage repayment is $2,000, you arrange to pay $1,000 a fortnight instead. This will feel virtually the same.

But there are 26 fortnights a year, and only 12 months. So, over the course of a year, you’ll pay $26,000 off your loan using a fortnightly repayment method, instead of $24,000. That’s the equivalent of you making one extra month’s repayment each year without really feeling any financial pain at all.

3. Have an offset account

An offset account allows you to offset the amount of interest you’re charged on your home loan. It does this by reducing your home loan balance by the amount you have in your savings account. For example, if you have $10,000 in an offset account and your mortgage balance is $300,000, you would only be charged interest on a balance of $290,000 (i.e. $300,000 less $10,000).

How we can help

At Maxima Group, helping people to own their own homes sooner is one of our specialist services. It’s never too early or too late to start implementing smart financial strategies to help you own your biggest financial asset as soon as possible.

Contact us for a free consultation to find out how we can help you!

We’ll take the time to understand your situation and provide you with the best possible advice.

The post Tips and tricks to pay off your home loan faster appeared first on Maxima Group Website.

Tips and tricks to pay off your home loan faster syndicated from https://www.maximagroup.com.au/