If you pay $200 extra a month towards principal, you can cut your loan term by more than 8 years and reduce the interest paid by more than $44,000. Another way to pay down your loan in less time is to make half-monthly payments every 2 weeks, instead of 1 full monthly payment.
You decide to make an additional $300 payment toward principal every month to pay off your home faster. By adding $300 to your monthly payment, you'll save just over $64,000 in interest and pay off your home over 11 years sooner.
The truth is, if you can scrape together the equivalent of one extra payment to put toward your mortgage each year, you'll take, on average, four to six years off your loan. You'll also save tens of thousands of dollars in interest payments.
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.
If you had a $300,000 loan amount set at 4.5% on a 30-year fixed, paying an extra $250 per month would save you almost $70,000 and you'd pay off your loan seven years and six months ahead of schedule. Or consider a $600,000 loan amount set at 6% for 30 years.
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!
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.
Making an extra mortgage payment each year could reduce the term of your loan significantly. The most budget-friendly way to do this is to pay 1/12 extra each month.
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.
Generally, national banks will allow you to pay additional funds towards the principal balance of your loan. However, you should review your loan agreement or contact your bank to find out their specific process for doing so.
That one additional payment may help you pay off your mortgage as much as three to four years early—and if you make more than one additional payment per year, it's even faster! Not only do you save money on interest, but you'll be clear of having a mortgage payment at all much more quickly.
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.
Pay extra toward your mortgage principal each month: After you've made your regularly scheduled mortgage payment, any extra cash goes directly toward paying down your mortgage principal. 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.
The amount saved will vary based on the initial size of the loan and interest rate. Simply by making an additional payment over the life of a 15-year mortgage for $300,000 dollars at an interest rate of 5%, amounts to an eventual savings of up to 200 dollars monthly.
Paying additional principal on your mortgage can save you thousands of dollars in interest and help you build equity faster. There are several ways to prepay a mortgage: Make an extra mortgage payment every year. Add extra dollars to every payment.
Yes! Make sure you tell your lender that you want your payment to go toward your principal if you do make advance payments on your mortgage. Some mortgage lenders apply any extra payment you make toward your next monthly minimum. This won't help you reduce the amount of interest you owe.
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.