Sprive versus do it yourself. Which is better?
Within weeks, we’ve had thousands of new users now using Sprive to pay off their mortgage faster. Some of our customers have never overpaid before, whilst others have previously made overpayments on their own. It’s great to see that our app is adding value to such a broad range of people.
In this article we explain why using Sprive is so much better than trying to make overpayments on your own.
We give your bank a brain – month to month, a typical person spends more in some months and less in others. If that’s the case, why should your overpayments be the same amount each month? Our AI helps you optimise your overpayments, based on your spending so that you can maximise the interest you save without impacting your lifestyle.
During setup, we ask our users to set a monthly min and max limit. Your minimum is the amount you’re happy for Sprive to auto-save irrespective of your spending. The set maximum serves as the upper limit for our algorithm to work with. If you’ve spent lots, then we’re likely over the month to take something closer to your minimum. In months, where you have spent a lot less than normal, we are likely to auto-save an amount closer to your maximum.
Track your progress – if you’re making overpayments on your own, then you’ll need to rely on spreadsheets if you want to track your savings. With Sprive, you set a goal and then we help you get there. Along the journey of becoming mortgage-free, you can track how many years you’re on track to take off and the amount of interest you’re due to save.
Through our easy-to-understand dashboards, you can monitor your progress. You’ll be amazed at how much of an impact regularly chipping away at mortgage can have. With that extra clarity, you can make better decisions when it comes to managing your personal finances.
Provide guidance – we’re here to help you make sure you get this right. Lenders often make paying off your mortgage faster, more confusing, and difficult than it should be. As an example, often you need to tell your lender that you want your overpayments to keep your monthly payments the same before you start.
We try to make it simple and tell you what you need to know via the app. If you have additional questions, just reach out to our team at hello@sprive.com and we’ll be happy to help.
Homeownership – You can monitor the value of your home and how much of it you own. We refresh the data monthly, so as home prices change and your mortgage goes down, you can track progress, and watch you own 100% of your property over time.
We also estimate your loan to value and show you how close you are to potentially unlocking cheaper deals when you next re-mortgage by getting below the next LTV threshold.
Your mortgage – within the app we automatically source your mortgage information via your lender. This is refreshed on a monthly basis, so you can see all the key details around your mortgage in one place. No more hunting around for your mortgage statement!
Payment limits – most lenders allow you to overpay 10% of your outstanding mortgage. So if you have £250,000 outstanding, that means within a 12 month period you can pay an extra £25,000 towards your mortgage at no penalty.
For many people that’s plenty. However, if you have custom limits or you’re in a position where you feel you’re at risk of breaching your permitted allowance, then you’ll want a way of tracking this. You can either do this via a spreadsheet on your own or use our inbuilt feature within the app.
Chip away regularly, hassle-free – making overpayments has never been easier. With one tap you can make payments to your lender. You also have complete control of the amount you pay to your mortgage lender and have the option to withdraw any money we auto-save for you, should you need the funds back.
With lenders calculating interest daily and front-loading interest payments, the more regularly you chip away, the more interest and years of your mortgage you will save.
It’s completely free – you get the benefit at no cost to you. There are no hidden charges at play here. We’re on a mission to save you money, not take it from you. We’re developing a feature that helps our users make sure they’re always on the best mortgage deal. Should we help you re-mortgage, we will be paid commission from your mortgage lender.
We’re just getting started – we’ll be adding amazing new features over time, all focused on helping you save money on your mortgage and pay it off faster.
We'd love for you to join us on this journey and tell us how we can improve so that we can better serve you on your journey towards becoming mortgage-free.
