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FOOL'S EYE VIEW
Before I begin, I should point out that, after 12½ years of happy home-owning, I sold my family home in the spring, so I'm currently renting a property. One topic that I intend to avoid is how you can increase the value of your home through decorating, DIY, home improvements and so on. As my wife will confirm, I'm more "Clumsy Cliff" than "Handy Andy" in this respect! Still, I made it halfway through a 25-year mortgage and picked up quite a few tricks along the way, so here are ten ideas to help you to get more from your home. 1. Keep your house in good repair After a decade of mild winters, weather forecasters are warning of a "big freeze" this winter (and, as I sit writing this in my icy loft, I think it's already here!). Of course, severe weather can do serious damage to your property, so it makes sense to protect the value of what may be your biggest asset. As we explained in Twelve Tips To Protect Your Home, a few simple precautions could save you a fortune in repair bills! 2. Join the mortgage mutiny! With £940 billion of mortgage debt shared between around 11½ million homebuyers, the average mortgage debt is close to £82,000. At an average annual interest rate of, say, 5.5%, the average homeowner is paying around £4,500 a year in interest alone. However, it's a mortgage, not a marriage, so don't feel obliged to stick with the same partner year after year! Indeed, demanding a better deal from your existing lender, or divorcing it and running off with a more attractive rival, could save you around £1,500 a year. So, don't practice mortgage monogamy and always shop around for the tastiest deal. You'll find a host of handsome home loans in our Mortgages centre! 3. Invite "Roger the lodger" into your life If you're looking for ways to subsidise your housing costs, one of the most tax-efficient routes is to take in a lodger under HM Revenue & Customs' Rent a Room scheme. Under this scheme, you can earn tax-free rent of up to £4,250 a year if you let a furnished room in your home. That's almost £355 a month towards your bills, without a penny of tax to pay. 4. Pay less for home improvements Relax; I'm not going to give you my favourite bodging tips! What I want to do is to save you money when you finance work around your home. For major building work, such as a double-storey extension, a secured loan or remortgage is usually the cheapest option. Then again, always remember, "Your home is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loan secured on it". For medium-sized jobs, such as a new kitchen, a low-cost personal loan usually fits the bill. Just one warning: don't sign on the dotted line until you've read my Five Tips To Choose A Loan and checked out the Best Buys in our Personal Loans centre! Finally, as I explained in this article, many double-glazing, bathroom, kitchen and conservatory firms charge ridiculously high rates of interest on their oh-so-convenient loans. If you want to be a brainy borrower, why not get an interest-free loan that lasts up to a year with a 0% credit card? 5. Chop your Council Tax If you live alone (or live with anyone under eighteen), you can claim a 25% discount off your Council Tax. Also, check your Council Tax band here and, if you believe that your property has been wrongly placed in a higher band, you can appeal to your local authority. If your appeal is successful, it could save you hundreds of pounds each year, but don't hold your breath! 6. Protect your home - inside and out - for less If you have a mortgage, your lender will insist that you have building insurance to protect your home against damage and disaster. However, don't buy this cover from your mortgage lender, otherwise, thanks to my Rule of Three, you could pay three times as much a Best Buy provider would charge! Indeed, shopping around for buildings and contents insurance could save you, say, £200 a year from this point forward. Punish your premiums in our Insurance centre! 7. Rent out your driveway or garage I lifted this idea from this brilliant book: A Bit on the Side: 500 Ways to Boost Your Income, which was written by my Foolish chum Jasmine Birtles. If you live in a busy area or near to a station, airport or sports stadium, but don't have a car or rarely use one, you can make a few (taxable) quid on the side by renting out your garage or driveway to commuters or local businesses. Your driveway could generate, say, £10 per weekday; on the other hand, a garage in upmarket Kensington & Chelsea could reap £20,000 a year! 8. Avoid "dead" money! If you have a partner and/or children, life insurance to cover your mortgage is a must, unless you want your family to be thrown out of their home after you die. However, if you bought this cover from your mortgage lender, you've been mugged, because your premiums may be several times higher than they need to be. It's a doddle to find cheap life cover for your mortgage online, so get cracking! Get quality quotes in our Insurance centre! 9. Stop burning your cash We Brits face a "double whammy" over the next few months, because higher oil prices, the soaring cost of gas, and sub-zero temperatures will lead to much bigger energy bills for the next few months. Hence, you should do two things: first: cut back on your energy usage, these tips will help. Second, switch to cheaper energy suppliers. Fool Partner uSwitch can help you to do this without fuss. 10. Don't get mugged by MPPI! Almost a quarter (23%) of all UK mortgage borrowers has some form of mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI). These policies pay monthly benefits to homeowners who are unable to work because of accident, sickness or unemployment. However, as I revealed in The £10 Billion Mortgage Protection Racket, the vast majority of these policyholders are being taken for a ride. Most MPPI customers buy this cover from their mortgage lender and, as you'd expect, lenders charge an arm and a leg for their policies. Some homeowners are being overcharged to the tune of £400+ a year, which adds up to ten grand over the 25-year life of a mortgage! To be honest, I've never bought MPPI in my life, despite working in this industry for eleven years. I prefer to self-insure through monthly saving into my emergency fund. That way, I have something to fall back on when times are tough, plus I get to keep the cash if I never "claim"! However, if you must have the peace of mind that MPPI offers, get a quote from Fool partner Helpupay via our Insurance centre. Alternatively, try independent providers British Insurance, Payprotect and Paymentcare. I hope that this article makes you a happier homeowner! More: Check out our great credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, insurance and energy deals!