With property prices around Australia skyrocketing and the cost of living going up too, saving up a deposit for a home seems to be getting harder by the day.

As anyone who’s spent time shopping for a home loan understands, there’s more to a home loan than the headline rate. In this guide, we’ll run you through some of the features you should look out for to make sure your mortgage works for you.

Taking out a home loan to purchase a property can be exciting, but what can often dampen your enthusiasm is all the complicated home loan jargon that gets thrown around in the process.

If you are one of the many first home buyers out there struggling to save up that ideal 20% deposit, you might be happy to hear you can get in earlier with just a 5% deposit. But before you think “where do I apply?”, we should mention there’s a price to pay and it’s called lenders mortgage insurance.

Have you built up some equity in your home through extra repayments or your property has appreciated in value? Then you could be eligible for a line of credit loan that allows you to draw on a portion of that amount to fund things like an upcoming renovation or new family car.

When taking out a home loan in Australia, one term you're sure to come across regularly in your research is “LVR". But what does LVR mean? And why is it so important when it comes to mortgage costs?

If you're a freelancer, self-employed worker, small business owner or contract worker, getting a standard home loan can be difficult when you don’t have proof of salary documents like payslips or group certificates. This is where a low doc home loan comes in.

Reducing the amount of interest on your home loan takes more than just a competitive rate. The features you choose also play an essential role.

Taking out a home loan can be a pretty clear cut deal focused solely on securing financing to help you purchase property. But if you want to sort out a few other financial needs with the same institution, you might consider a packaged home loan.Many lenders present packages as a way for customers to save money across the life of their mortgage, alongside other financial products. An interest rate discount is on the table, along with more cost-saving features than a ‘no frills’ home loan, in exchange for you signing up to a bundle deal of the institution’s other products like credit cards, insurance or savings accounts. It sounds pretty swish, but it’s super important to consider all the loan costs, the additional features and discounted interest rate and size it up against other home loan types. Then compare this to the overall cost of holding the extra financial products separately or with other institutions. It may be convenient to have everything in one package, but it’s not automatically the most affordable option, even with the discounted interest rate.Once you’ve done your mathematical due diligence, then you can check out the packaged home loan options below.

When it comes to servicing your mortgage, you’ll be able to choose between two repayment options: principal and interest, or interest only. Which one you go with will depend on your reasons for buying the property in the first place, along with your financial circumstances. For a breakdown of what you need to know about each repayment type and what they mean for owner occupiers and investors, read on.