If you make an extra payment of $700 a month, you'll pay off your mortgage in about 15 years and save about $128,000 in interest. If $700 a month is too much, even an extra $50 – $200 a month can make a difference.
This strategy can shave four to six years off a typical 30-year loan, depending on your interest rate. On a 15-year mortgage, biweekly payments may cut one to three years from the repayment time, depending on the loan amount and interest rate.
Both a 15-year and 30-year mortgage can have fixed interest rates and fixed monthly payments over the life of the loan. However, a 15-year mortgage means you will have your home paid off in 15 years rather than the full, 30-year mortgage so long as you make the required minimum monthly payments.
The biggest benefit is that instead of making a mortgage payment every month for 30 years, you'll have the full amount paid off and be done in half the time. Plus, because you're paying down your mortgage more rapidly, a 15-year mortgage builds equity quicker.
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.
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.
Paying off your mortgage early is a good way to free up monthly cashflow and pay less in interest. But you'll lose your mortgage interest tax deduction, and you'd probably earn more by investing instead. Before making your decision, consider how you would use the extra money each month.
Adding Extra Each Month
Simply paying a little more towards the principal each month will allow the borrower to pay off the mortgage early. Just paying an additional $100 per month towards the principal of the mortgage reduces the number of months of the payments.
Average 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate
Rates are at or near record levels in 2021 with the average 30-year interest rate going for 3.12%.
Using one of these options to pay off your mortgage can give you a false sense of financial security. Unexpected expenses—such as medical costs, needed home repairs, or emergency travel—can destroy your financial standing if you don't have a cash reserve at the ready.
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.
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.
Can you get a 30-year home loan as a senior? First, if you have the means, no age is too old to buy or refinance a house. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits lenders from blocking or discouraging anyone from a mortgage based on age.
On a $300,000 mortgage with a 3% APR, you'd pay $2,071.74 per month on a 15-year loan and $1,264.81 on a 30-year loan, not including escrow. Escrow costs vary depending on your home's location, insurer, and other details. Credible is here to help with your pre-approval.
“Using Mortgage points, also known as loan origination points or discount points, you can pay off your mortgage in 10 years,” said Rodrigo Gonzalez, a real estate investor. “These are fees that a borrower pays to a lender in order to get a lower interest rate on a mortgage.
The additional amount will reduce the principal on your mortgage, as well as the total amount of interest you will pay, and the number of payments. The extra payments will allow you to pay off your remaining loan balance 3 years earlier.
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.
Benefits of a 15-year mortgage
A 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, with its lower interest rate and higher payment amount, builds home equity faster because you pay down the principal balance quicker.
The interest paid on a 20 year loan would be $63,440, and the interest paid on a 15 year loan would be $41,365. A 20 year loan saves $48,271 in interest, while the 15 year loan saves $70,346. This shows that a 20 year loan saves 68.6% of the interest amount that a 15 year mortgage does!
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!