5 Home Mortgage Tips to Maximize the Value of Your Loan

Your mortgage will be one of the most expensive purchases that you make in your lifetime. Because of this, you must know how to manage your loan and keep it current.

Are you looking to get a new home and want to get the most out of your loan? You’ll want to keep reading to find out more! These five tips will help you a lot.

1. Make a Larger Down Payment

To increase the value of your loan, you’ll want to make sure that you put as much money into your down payment as you possibly can. The more you pay upfront for the house, the less you’ll owe on the loan overall- giving it a higher value.

To do this, you’ll need to do your best to save up for the mortgage. It can be hard, but you’ll need to do your best not to take anything out of your house fund. You can do this by opening a new savings account strictly for saving for your loan.

Try setting up automatic transfers with your bank. You can set these transfers to occur every week or every other week. It happens in the background, and you don’t have to remember to save!

Overall, the larger the down payment you can offer, the more value your loan has. You won’t have to pay as much back in interest over the years, you’ll owe less on your monthly bills, and you’ll get better rates.

Benefits of a Large Down Payment

Several benefits come with paying more on your initial down payment. You’ll have lower mortgage interest rates, which make your home loan more valuable. You also won’t appear to be as risky to lenders, making getting the loan much, much easier!

Another benefit is that you receive reduced mortgage insurance premiums. This insurance covers the risk of a borrower not paying back their loan. However, if you have less to pay, you won’t have to worry as much about the cost of this insurance.

When you put more down on your home loan, its value goes up! You’ll need to save as much as possible before even getting the mortgage.

2. Make Payments on Time

You’ll also need to make sure to make your payments on time. If you don’t, the value of your loan is sure to drop! Your credit score will also go down, making it harder to get other types of loans in the future.

Plus, as you make more on-time payments, you build up equity in your home! Equity directly increases the value of your loan because it’s the difference between your home’s worth and what you still owe on it.

You’ll want to start building equity today. It’s a great tool that you can use to pay off large expenses. Many families use their equity to pay for renovations or college tuition.

In short, making your payments on time means that you won’t have to worry about your loan hurting your credit score. You’ll also have the opportunity to build up equity, increasing the value of your loan.

3. Pay Off Small Debts First

Next, you’ll want to try paying off any other debts before getting a mortgage. With less debt, you can apply for better loans, giving you access to much more valuable ones!

When you have more debt, lenders will only give you the worst interest rates. Over time, you’ll pay a lot more than what your home is worth! Instead, it would help if you lowered your debt first. That way, you can have access to lower interest rates.

The less you owe before you apply, the more value you’ll get from your new home loan. It’s challenging to pay off debts, especially while saving for a house, but it’s very worth it.

4. Choose Missed Payments Wisely

If you do have to miss a payment, you’ll want to ensure that your mortgage is still secure. You’ll want to make sure that you miss other payments before you miss paying back your home loan.

For example, if you choose between missing a credit card payment or your home loan, you’ll want to pay the credit card bill late. You must prioritize paying back your mortgage over your other loans.

Not only will your home loan’s value not drop this way, but your housing will stay secure. In tough financial times, you should ensure you cover your home first!

Overall, if you do have to miss a payment someday, you should skip other payments before making a mortgage payment.

5. Make One Extra Payment a Year

Next, you can also try making one additional mortgage payment in a year. Paying 13 payments in a year instead of 12 can greatly reduce the total cost of your loan. Plus, you’ll finish paying off your home a lot earlier. It’s also an easy way to build up more equity in your home- giving your loan a much higher value overall.

You can make this extra payment over a year, so it doesn’t impact your budget. All you need to do is pay 1/12 more each month. So, if you have a monthly bill of $800, you’d instead pay $867 each month.

After a year passes, you’ll have made an extra payment of a little over $800! Doing so drastically increases the value of your home loan because you build equity faster while also reducing the length of the loan.

You can also make an extra payment through biweekly payments or a single lump sum at the end of the year.

Paying off your mortgage early can increase your financial stability and save you interest money. Overall, it’s well worth paying more on your home loan!

Check All Your Options

There are probably more home loans available to you than you might realize! You’ll need to do your research and shop around to ensure that you get the best possible deal with the highest value. Making a larger down payment can get you a lower interest rate, so you pay less on the home overall.