8 tips to get a harder-working home loan

It’s lucky Aussie homeowners are a pretty resilient bunch.

All the interest rate rises over the past couple of years have delivered a serious reality check, leaving variable rate home loans higher than they’ve been for a generation.

So you need to get your home loan working as hard as possible particularly if your fixed rate loan is about to reach the end of its term and you’re facing a sudden  increase in repayments.

The good news is there are ways you can set up your home loan to pay less interest in the long run and take years off your mortgage.

Here are a few quick tips to get your home loan working harder.

1. Set up an offset account 

If you haven’t already, check if you can link an offset deposit account to your home loan. An offset account operates like a transaction account, but it reduces the interest you pay as interest is only charged on the mortgage balance less the offset balance.

You can link up to 10 offset deposit accounts to each variable AMP home loan that you have. You can set up offset accounts for big ticket items like holidays, a car purchase or renovations or even everyday necessities like shopping and bills.

The combined balance of all your offset deposit accounts will reduce the interest payable on your loan. You can also connect a visa debit card to your offset account that operates like an everyday account and makes it easy to withdraw your funds.

If you have an AMP home loan, you can apply for an offset account in less than five minutes – simply complete this form.

2. Take advantage of your redraw facility

AMP variable home loans offer a redraw facility to access extra repayments you might have made. If you have unexpected expenses, it’s worth checking if you have available funds on your home loan that you could redraw. You’ll just need to remember this could extend the life of your loan so you end up paying more interest in the long run.

If you have an AMP home loan, you can access any redraw available via the My AMP mobile app or online banking from your desktop.

3. Consolidate other debt into your home loan

You’ll generally find the interest rate on your home loan is lower than the interest on your credit cards or personal loans. So if you have any debt, you could transfer this to your home loan so you don’t pay as much overall interest.

4. Change your repayment amount

Creating a budget could help you get across how much income you’ve got coming in, how much you need for the essentials and where the rest of your money might be going. This will help you identify if there’s any room for movement and if you could potentially repay a little extra. AMP’s Budget planner calculator could help you crunch the numbers.

5. Change your repayment frequency

Paying fortnightly instead of monthly, for example, can make a big difference to the interest you pay in the long run.

6. Change your repayments to principal and interest

Making principal and interest (P&I) repayments can reduce your outstanding loan balance and lower the amount of interest you’ll pay over the life of the loan. But don’t forget switching to P&I can increase your regular repayments.

7. Renegotiate your interest rate

If you see a lower rate with another provider, drop us a line and we may be able to help with a better deal.

8. Consider whether to refinance

If you’re having cashflow challenges, you could think about refinancing to reduce your repayments. But bear in mind this could mean extending your loan term.

We offer a range of home loans with different features and benefits – there’s something for everyone. Explore our home  loans online or book a call with one of our home lending specialists today.

Use our refinance calculator to see how much your monthly repayments could reduce with an AMP home loan.