With official cash rates at rock bottom, now is the time to get ahead with your home loan.

Overpay on your monthly repayments: just because interest rates decrease, doesn’t mean you need to drop your repayment amount. In fact, why not increase your repayments as if rates were already higher, or alternatively, round up your repayment to the nearest hundred dollars.

Just putting an extra $50 on your home loan repayment every month can save you close to $14,000 in interest over the life of a standard loan (based on a loan of $300,000, 5% interest rate and 25 year loan term) .

Fix your loan: You can lock in all or part of your loan for the long term so you can enjoy a low rate for years to come. A fixed loan provides security against the uncertainty of rate rises, keeping in mind that if rates go up by 1.0 per cent, your monthly repayment would increase by around $220 for a $350,000 30-year loan.

Use offset or redraw: these home loan features allow you to build a buffer against interest rate rises by providing a facility for you to place extra saved funds for a ‘rainy’ day. With an offset account, you can earn interest on your savings, which is offset against the interest you’re paying on your loan.