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Paying off your home loan sooner

First Home Buyers

15 Nov 2021

| Home Loan

A home loan doesn’t have to be a 30-year commitment. There are many things you can do to reduce the time of your loan, and save yourself thousands of dollars in interest as well.


Fortnightly vs Monthly

The interest on your home loan is calculated daily on the total amount that you owe, so an easy way to reduce the amount of interest is to increase the frequency of your payments. So instead of only making one payment every month, break it up into weekly or fortnightly payments.

Making fortnightly repayments instead of monthly means that you will make an extra repayment over the course of a year, which over the course of a 30-year home loan, can end up saving you thousands.

E.g. If you are making $1,000 monthly repayments you will pay $12,000 in a calendar year ($1,000 x 12 months). If you break that down into $500 payments every fortnight, then you will pay $13,000 in a calendar year ($500 x 26 fortnights).

Have a look at our repayment calculator to see how much you could save!

Repayment Calculator


Redraw

You can also use your home loan as your savings account with our redraw facility. Any extra repayments you make in addition to your standard repayments will be available for you to redraw any time you like. So if you’re saving for a holiday, new car, or maybe just for a rainy day, why not use your home loan instead of a savings account!


Home Loan Offset Account

A Home Loan Offset Account is basically an account that is linked to your qualifying home loan and any funds you have in your offset account will be ‘deducted’ from your home loan balance resulting in lower interest charges.

Here is an example - let’s say your variable rate home loan balance is $250,000. If you link your Home Loan Offset Account with a balance of $50,000 to your home loan, you will only be charged interest on your home loan based on a $200,000 balance.

Over the life of the loan it could save you thousands. Home Loan Offset Accounts are available with selected Credit Union SA Variable Rate Home Loans.

Home Loan Offset Account


Extra Repayments

Every little bit helps. It’s a cliché, but when you’re talking about home loans nothing could be more accurate. We’re not suggesting that you pour all of your available money into your home loan, but after you move in and the dust settles you notice that you have an extra $100 a fortnight, then you should consider adding it to your loan.

The best part is that all your extra repayments will be available, should you need them, through our redraw facility. There’s no downside!


This is general advice only and doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Conditions, fees and lending criteria apply and are available on request.

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Struggling to save up enough of a deposit to buy your first home or first investment property? Then our Family Guarantee could be just the thing to get you into a place you can call your own. Our Family Guarantee enables first home buyers with limited savings to enter the property market sooner*.

Here's how it works – If your parents or other family members have equity in their home, investment property or have a Term Deposit with Credit Union SA, you can use that equity or investment to guarantee a portion of your loan.

Which family members can provide a Family Guarantee?

  • Parents
  • Parents-in-law
  • Step-parents

Credit Union SA will consider the provision of guarantees by other immediate family members where a guarantee from the above-mentioned family members would not be appropriate.

When can a Family Guarantee be used?

Guarantees from family members can only be provided to assist first home buyers/investors to:

  • purchase a new property;
  • purchase an established property;
  • build a new home.

Where a borrower is entitled to a government grant, the entitlement will not be affected by the provision of a Family Guarantee. Family Guarantees will not usually be accepted by the Credit Union where offered to support borrowings for a second/subsequent property or for any other purpose.

To find out more about leveraging the equity in Mum and Dad's home so you can get into yours, have an obligation-free chat with one of our experienced staff, Mobile Managers or download our guide.

Download our Family Guarantee Guide

*Subject to responsible lending criteria.

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