Daily Real Estate News | April 13, 2011 |
Mortgage Free?
Here are a few ways you can pay off their mortgage early, according to a recent article at Bankrate.com.
Add a little payment to principal. Use mortgage calculators to see how adding a little extra payment to your principal–even $100–can shorten the length of your loan and reduce the amount of interest you’ll pay on it. Tracy Piercy, CEO of MoneyMinding.com, says home owners can just round their monthly payments up (e.g. $644 to $650) to find savings too–just an extra $6 per month on a $200,000, 30-year loan can save you four payments at the end of your mortgage loan.
Refinance. Interest rates are low and you can often can get an even better rate if you refinance into a shorter loan term. For example, 15-year loans are a popular refinancing choice. You’ll have higher payments, but you’ll be paying less overall interest. Or if you don’t want to commit to the higher payments, take out a 30-year loan but make payments as if you had a 10- or 15-year loan, experts recommend.
Make biweekly payments. Pay half your regular mortgage payment every other week instead of once a month. By doing so, you’ll have made 13 full monthly payments by the end of the year and on a 30-year mortgage, that extra payment can chop about six years off your mortgage.
Source: “4 ways to pay off your mortgage earlier,” Bankrate.com (April 2011)
