Now that you have been the proud owner of your property for more than 12 months, you will hopefully be feeling settled in or have the property securely leased. This point in time is an excellent time to take stock of where you are at with things and perform a property 'health check'.
There are several steps to ensuring you are physically maintaining the property adequately and that you are not paying more than you need to.
1. Mortgage Review
It's time to call your lender and ask for a mortgage review. Tell them that you are shopping around for a better rate and ask them if you are currently on the best deal possible at this time. I saved $2,000 in my first attempt at this and it took me about 15 minutes on the phone to my lenders customer service loans team.
2. Insurance review
Do the same things with your home insurance, now would also be a good time to review your other insurances rates. Also remember to update your insurer with the new value if you have undertaken any renovations to the property since you last set your premium.
3. Utilities review
There are always new specials being launched by the utilities companies so now is a great time to review these as well. Think telephone, gas, electricity, internet, pay TV etc.
4. Inspection of your property
Physically inspect the condition of your property inside and out. Check the paintwork is in order and repair and imperfections or suffer the consequences of damage later on. Clean your gutters, ensure there are no water leaks that may be costing you money.
Spending a small amount of time and effort now on these items could add up to save you enough for a holiday! So it is certainly worth a quick check to make sure you are not wasting any of your hard earned cash. If you find that you are already getting the best deals on everything and your property is in ship shape, you will be able to sleep easy knowing you are doing great !
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For all real estate related information or advice, contact the author Simon Wendt, Licensed Estate Agent at Belle Property Mentone on 0407 040 706.