The bottom line is that a borrower who consistently pays 2 weeks early will save money on a simple interest mortgage.
When you make biweekly payments, you could save more money on interest and pay your mortgage down faster than you would by making payments once a month. When you decide to make biweekly payments instead of monthly payments, you're using the yearly calendar to your benefit.
In most cases, you will save no money by making your monthly mortgage payment early. Since mortgage payments are made in arrears, unlike rent payments, there is no benefit by paying early.
"Your loan balance accrues interest every day and reducing that principal balance every 14 days (26 half payments per year) saves more in interest charges than one full additional payment every 12 months, even though the total amount in payments every year remains the same."
Well, mortgage payments are generally due on the first of the month, every month, until the loan reaches maturity, or until you sell the property. So it doesn't actually matter when your mortgage funds – if you close on the 5th of the month or the 15th, the pesky mortgage is still due on the first.
Making additional principal payments will shorten the length of your mortgage term and allow you to build equity faster. Because your balance is being paid down faster, you'll have fewer total payments to make, in-turn leading to more savings.
Biweekly payments accelerate your mortgage payoff by paying 1/2 of your normal monthly payment every two weeks. By the end of each year, you will have paid the equivalent of 13 monthly payments instead of 12. This simple technique can shave years off your mortgage and save you thousands of dollars in interest.
Biweekly payments accelerate your mortgage payoff by paying 1/2 of your normal monthly payment every two weeks. By the end of each year, you will have paid the equivalent of 13 monthly payments instead of 12. This simple technique can shave years off your mortgage and save you thousands of dollars in interest.
Is There a Best Time Within the Month to Make an Extra Payment to Principal? Yes, the best time within the month to make an extra payment is the last day on which the lender will credit you for the current month, rather than deferring credit until the following month.
In this scenario, an extra principal payment of $100 per month can shorten your mortgage term by nearly 5 years, saving over $25,000 in interest payments. If you're able to make $200 in extra principal payments each month, you could shorten your mortgage term by eight years and save over $43,000 in interest.
Okay, you probably already know that every dollar you add to your mortgage payment puts a bigger dent in your principal balance. And that means if you add just one extra payment per year, you'll knock years off the term of your mortgage—not to mention interest savings!
The Biweekly Payment Option
As with the weekly payments, you will end paying off your mortgage more quickly if you pay every other week. If you make 26 payments of $800, you end up paying $20,800, the same amount you would pay making weekly payments, compared to $19,200 for monthly payments.
How the homeowner makes their mortgage payments can save a lot of money over the life of the loan. Tens of thousands of dollars can be saved by making bi-weekly mortgage payments and enables the homeowner to pay off the mortgage almost eight years early with a savings of 23% of 30% of total interest costs.
You should aim to have everything paid off, from student loans to credit card debt, by age 45, O'Leary says. “The reason I say 45 is the turning point, or in your 40s, is because think about a career: Most careers start in early 20s and end in the mid-60s,” O'Leary says.
If you decide you can't afford your overpayments, you can reduce or stop them at any time and go back to your original monthly mortgage repayment. Paying a lump sum off your mortgage will save you money on interest and help you clear your mortgage faster than if you spread your overpayments over a number of years.
Throwing in an extra $500 or $1,000 every month won't necessarily help you pay off your mortgage more quickly. Unless you specify that the additional money you're paying is meant to be applied to your principal balance, the lender may use it to pay down interest for the next scheduled payment.
If your lender allows biweekly payments and applies the extra payments directly to your principal, you can simply send half your mortgage payment every two weeks. If your monthly payment is $2,000, for instance, you can send $1,000 biweekly.
By doing this, the term of the loan is reduced from 15 years to 13.4 years, and drops the total amount of interest paid into the mortgage from $127,029 to $111,653. It is possible to save even more by making extra payments if the interest rate is higher.
If your lender doesn't offer a biweekly payment option, you can create one for yourself. It's relatively simple to do: Divide your monthly mortgage payment by 12, and make one principal-only extra mortgage payment for the resulting amount each month.