Mortgage Pay Off Early

Many banks now offer a Biweekly mortgage. With a Biweekly mortgage you make 1/2 of your monthly payment every 2 weeks. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, you will make 26 payments during the year. This is the equivalent of 13 monthly payments. Let’s use an example of a $300,000, 6% mortgage with [...]

Have you taken advantage of lower interest rates and refinanced your mortgage? While you have lowered your monthly payment, your total interest costs may be higher! Assume the example below is a mortgage taken out in January of 2005: Loan Amount               Years               Rate                 Payment                                   Total interest $250000                      30                    7.5 %               $1,663.26                        [...]

Throughout this site we have used a fixed rate mortgage as an example. The principal of prepaying also applies to ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGES (ARM). If your monthly payment has dropped due to lower interest rates, now would be a good time to start prepaying. Just continue to make the same monthly payment you have been [...]

PLAN 8: BUILD UP EQUITY QUICKLY FOR YOUR NEXT HOME You have seen how much money you can save over the life of the mortgage. You may be hesitant to start prepaying if you plan to move in a few years. You may think you will not reap the benefits of the savings. If you [...]

PLAN 9: RAISE YOUR EXEMPTIONS Do you get a tax refund check every year from Uncle Sam? Do you realize that you are giving him a 0% loan every year, while your paying interest on your mortgage? A way to get some of that money now (so you could prepay your mortgage of course) would [...]