Hannah Tattersall
12th October 2022
Motherhood and Lifestyle blogger and popular influencer Olivia White (House of White) has two young children and has spent the past six years renovating her family home. She certainly knows how tricky it can be to manage money when one person is working part time (or not at all: hello maternity leave) – not to mention while undergoing something as costly as home renovations.
“Because of all these changes, it has meant our home loan needs changed too,” she says. “How flipping annoying is navigating home loans and going through the motions to work out what is the best one for you?”
Olivia was given the chance to test UNO Home Loans’ loanScoreTM technology and see how her loan compared to others out there in the market. Needless to say, she found the tool very useful and was even happy to share her experience with her 147,000 Instagram followers, and in a blog post on her website, House of White.
Thanks Olivia!
Here, we’ve broken down some of the points Olivia makes in her blog post:
Olivia’s top tips to save big on your home loan
Be On The Lowest Interest Rate
A recent study conducted by UNO on Household Financial Waste revealed that 59% of consumers have never asked their lender or broker for a better rate since they took out their loan.
As Olivia notes, people are not actively keeping an eye on their loans. “And as best home loan rates change and lenders change their products, you can very quickly be on a rate or using a product that does not benefit you,” she writes.
Using a service like UNO’s Active Home Loan Management is great because it gives you regular updates on your current rate and compares your loan to other loans available on its panel of lenders.
Pay Extra
“Paying even the slightest bit extra to your loan is going to benefit you,” writes Olivia. “Even if you cannot do it constantly, but just when you can, means you reduce your interest, which is calculated daily.”
Consider Outside of Big Banks
In the wake of the banking Royal Commission, Australia’s biggest banks have faced a lot of scrutiny. “I think it’s become pretty clear that we cannot assume our banks have our best interests at heart – but we already knew that right?
“These financial institutions rely on our complacency and it is up to us to remain vigilant in making sure we have the best products for our current situation,” Olivia writes.
“The same goes for brokers, who often work with a small group of lenders that benefit them.”
UNO has a panel of 29 lenders to choose from (including the Big Four) and will keep you updated on new and better products for you.
Use A Redraw/Offset Account
Olivia and her husband have a redraw account which she says they use “basically like a savings account” but also to save money on interest. “Whenever we come into large sums of money, we put these lump sums straight on our home loan.
“Every little cent counts as your interest is calculated daily!”
To read more of Olivia’s tips check out her blog post on her website here: http://houseofwhite.com.au/6-simple-ways-to-save-big-on-your-homeloan/
And to speak to someone at UNO to find out we can help with your loan, check out loanScore here https://www.unohomeloans.com.au/analyse-my-loan
Also read: The parent trap: keeping your home loan under control while on parental leave
Content shared with the approval of Olivia White
