First Time Home Finance

First time home owners should keep their properties well maintained in order to keep them in excellent condition for as long as possible. Whether you plan to live in your property for the rest of your life, or purchase a larger home when your financial situation improves, you should strive to ensure that your home retains the qualities that first attracted you to it.

Moreover, first time home owners are advised to manage their home loan effectively in order to avoid paying excessive amounts of interest. Smart home loan management can save you money in both the short and long-term.

1.    Perform regular checks on the exterior of your property

When first time home owners choose their house, they will likely select a property that has been well maintained and is in impeccable condition. However, if you want your home to stay in the condition in which you first purchased it, it is essential that you take good care of it. Follow the maintenance tips below to avoid large renovations in the future.

First time home owners should check their properties thoroughly every year.  They should take a walk around the outside of their homes and look for problems with their properties, including:

•    cracks in the foundation
•    peeling paint
•    blocked gutters

While these problems may be relatively easy to solve, ignoring them can be quite costly. If you fix problems before they escalate, your home will steadily increase in value over time.

It is also advisable to test all of your home’s taps and plumbing for drips and leaks. Plumbing issues often go unnoticed until they become actual problems. Turn the water on in the kitchen sink, the bathroom basin, the shower and the bath simultaneously. If the water pressure changes dramatically, you may need to change the pipes.

2.    Shop around for a better home loan

These days, there are many home loan options available to first time home owners, but it can be difficult to choose the best one to meet your needs. However, needs change and therefore so should your home loan. For example, you may be earning a higher salary now than when you first made your purchase, or perhaps your children are about to begin school and you need extra cash to pay for their tuition.

Moreover, since home loans can span up to 30 years, it is entirely possible that new lenders have entered the market and existing lenders may now offer home loans with lower interest rates than before.

Founded in 1999, SA Home Loans is a relatively new home loan provider. First time home owners who bought their properties before then were unable to take advantage of our competitive rates. Take a look at our flexible home loan products to find one that suits your current financial situation.

3.    Change the term of your loan

Choosing to pay off a home loan over an extended period of time may keep your monthly payments low but can cost you more in the long term. If you are now able to afford higher monthly mortgage payments than you were when you first applied for your home loan, consider switching to a home loan with higher monthly payments and shorten the term of your loan.

Alternately, increase the term of your home loan to decrease your monthly mortgage payments. By reducing your monthly payments, you are freeing up disposable income, which can be used to pay school fees, reduce your debt or pay for other expenses. However, it is prudent to remember that extending the life of your loan means that you will remain in debt for a longer period of time.