Your home loan is probably your biggest financial commitment – yet amazingly, almost 40 percent of home owners never take steps to review their loan.

The thing is, there are sensible reasons to put your home loan under the spotlight at least once a year.

Rates don’t stand still for long

In a rapidly changing mortgage market, a loan that was highly competitive back in the day, can quickly lose its lustre. In 2017 for instance, several lenders increased their home loan rates independent of any change in the Reserve Bank’s official cash rate. Your bank isn’t about to let you know if a competitor has a lower rate, so you could be missing out on a better deal.

If you don’t know the rate you’re currently paying, it makes it even harder to know if you’re paying more than you could be on your home loan.

A lot can happen in your life

It’s not just about rates. Over the course of 12 months, plenty can happen in your life, and your home loan needs may change in terms of features and flexibility.

Or, you may be aiming for new goals, like saving money by streamlining personal debt. Perhaps you’re thinking about how you could use home equity. Since 2006 the median house price in Australian capital cities has more than doubled, and it could make sense to put that equity to work.

It all adds up to smart reasons to have your home loan reviewed once a year, and your Aussie Broker is well-placed to help. Not only is your Aussie Broker a home loan expert, who knows what’s happening in the mortgage market, they are also familiar with your circumstances.

You could save a bundle by refinancing

Your Aussie Broker offers a home loan health check that’s quick, easy and best of all, it comes at no cost to you. It may turn out that your home loan still ticks all the boxes in terms of features and a competitive rate. But it could also show that you could benefit by switching to a new loan in a process known as “refinancing”.

Refinancing can come with costs – mainly discharge fees on the old loan and application fees on the new one. These costs vary between lenders but on average, they can add up to around $700. So you need to be sure refinancing puts you in front financially.

Your Aussie Broker can crunch the numbers to be sure refinancing is the right move for you. It all starts by setting a date for a home loan health check, then make it an annual event to stay on top of your home loan year by year.

Talk to your Aussie Broker today to have your home loan reviewed by an expert.