When you divvy up your monthly budget pie, housing is very likely the biggest slice, especially after you add in utilities, maintenance and of course, your mortgage.
So wouldn’t it be great if you could lower your mortgage payments without refinancing your loan? Or better yet, pay off your mortgage ahead of schedule? Read the rest of this entry »
Getting out of mortgage debt faster is a great way to save money on interest payments. For those who make additional payments on their mortgage it can save them money in the long term. A homebuyer can make prepayments on their mortgage principal any time, once a month or once a year, or whenever they want to. The principal is the amount they borrowed to buy the house and have to pay back to the lender. This is separate from the interest, which is what the lender charges you for lending the money. If you pay extra on the principal, it can help pay off your mortgage before the maturity date of the loan. Read the rest of this entry »
If you type “Mortgage Calculators” into Google you will get over 2 million results and Google’s simple mortgage calculator at the top. The Google mortgage calculator will give you a rough idea of mortgage monthly payments based on a simple calculation of the interest rate and mortgage term. It doesn’t answer any details, like: how many payments do I have to pay in order to pay off my mortgage? In 15 years how much mortgage will I have left to pay if I increase my monthly mortgage payment? What happens if you want to increase or decrease the interest rate, or change the amount of years of your home loan? With all the mortgage loan calculators out there isn’t it best when you can see the big picture of your home loan payment and how it can work for you. Read the rest of this entry »
If you are going to be in your house long term, or forever, prepaying your mortgage is a great idea if you can afford to pay extra. The best way to save money on debt is to not have it! But many people do not realize that prepaying a fixed rate loan does not reduce the monthly payment. Prepaying a loan simply shortens the term. So prepayment builds equity faster, and ends the loan sooner, so you save money by having the loan for a lesser amount of time. Read the rest of this entry »
