PAYING your home loan fortnightly instead of monthly will save you in the long run, according to the CEO of a Warwick bank.

Loan terms and repayments can offer many options for people, and Warwick Credit Union CEO Lewis von Stieglitz advised there was no right or wrong way to approach it.

"Making payments every fortnight instead of monthly saves heaps of money and puts extra money in prepayments, which you can re-draw if you need to," he said.

"The best loan term is what you think is a reasonable time you can pay off - you need to work out a term you can repay it over."

For first home buyers, Mr von Stieglitz suggested thinking about what the right home loan is for you.

"You need to work out how much money can afford if interest rates go up," he said.

"You need to make sure you're in a financial position to withstand a bit of pain if something goes wrong."

Every bank has an online calculator to work out how much a person can borrow, but Mr von Steiglitz advises people to think more about what they can actually afford to borrow.

"You have to be thinking about plan B - how the next five years will work," he said.

"Always leave yourself with a contingency plan - if you've little a bit of contingency you'll have money for furniture and other things.

The Credit Union CEO encouraged buyers to question whether they needed a mansion as a first home

"I've seen people who spend every last dollar on a house and they end up in a financial straight jacket," he said.