How to Pay of a 15 Year Mortgage Early and Fast!
For many home buyers, the only real decision they have to make is whether to have a 15 or 30 year fixed mortgage rate? Many people wait until they are older before taking on the responsibility of a mortgage so an early payment of this large debt is an important issue to think about. But, before you commit yourself and sign any documents, there are points you need to think about. One point to remember is ensuring that your monthly mortgage repayment remains the same throughout the entire period of the loan.
Steer clear of lenders that are offering unbelievable deals because they probably are. A 15 year fixed rate mortgage means the interest rate remains stable for the life of the loan.
There are no hidden costs involved with this type of plan which is great for many people that want a regular monthly payment. When we were looking to buy a home, my wife and I decided to go for a loan with a 15 year fixed mortgage rate.
Our aim was to pay of the mortgage as soon as we could without getting into trouble with high monthly payments. So in consideration of this point we also looked at longer, 30 year fixed rate mortgages as well.
Considering longer term fixed rate mortgages was one option if we could not afford a 15 year plan. Because we did not want to have a mortgage close to retirement, we hoped we would be able to afford a shorter 15 year fixed rate mortgage. Too much pressure was placed on the early repayment of the mortgage loan.
Taking everything into account we finally went for the easier 30 year mortgage plan instead. Many factors were taken into account when reaching this decision. The main reason was that I found out my wife was pregnant.
Her regular monthly income would become unreliable because she wanted to be at home raising our child. Our monthly payment would have been too high if we had committed ourselves to the 15 year fixed mortgage plan. For us it just was not feasible as we would just be in over our heads. A thirty year loan brought the monthly payments down to a reasonable level.
We are also able to make extra payments throughout the year to make the principal shrink quicker. It is possible to take years off your loan if you can make a few extra payments during each year. It may be easier said than done, but this approach does pay off eventually. Our first choice would have been to go for the short term 15 year fixed rate mortgage solution but this did not help with our more immediate situation. In retrospect, everything worked out great for us by going down this road.
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