Reducing the interest you pay on your home loan takes more than just a low rate. The features and benefits attached to the loan also play a very important role. Many Australians don’t fully understand how to use their home loan features to help pay off their loan sooner. One of the most effective ways to do this is by taking advantage of an offset account.
The term ‘offset account’ and how it works is not always well understood, so it can often get overlooked when comparing home loans. However, using a 100% offset account could save you thousands in interest which means it can help you pay your loan off sooner.
How does an offset account work?
A 100% offset account is an account linked to your home loan where you can park your savings and spare cash to reduce the interest you pay. Then, when interest is calculated on your home loan, the balance in your offset account is deducted from the loan amount owing, and interest is only charged on what remains.
For example, if you have a home loan of $500,000 with $50,000 in an offset account, you will only be charged interest on the remaining $450,000.
At Community First, most of our home loans come with offset accounts as standard. In fact, even our fixed home loans come with an offset account. And we don’t charge you any monthly fees to have it. That’s because we’re fixed on value.