The mortgage industry is on the rise once again. The number of mortgage applications is at its highest level since April. Refinances are also up 7% over the past week.
For the vast majority of Americans, a mortgage is the largest loan they will take out in their lifetime. This is why debt-conscious borrowers want to pay it off as quickly as possible. Many people want to know how to pay off your mortgage faster.
Read on for a guide to paying your mortgage off quickly. Explore tips and tricks for paying off your mortgage early.
Additional Principal
One technique for paying off your mortgage early is making an additional principal payment each month. Your monthly mortgage payment is comprised of principal and interest.
The amount of interest that you pay each month is calculated by applying the interest rate to the outstanding balance. The principal is the difference between your fixed monthly mortgage payment and interest charged.
Paying down principal is important because this is how homeowners build equity. The more principal that you pay down means that you owe less on the home.
By paying additional principal each month, you can build equity faster. Also, this helps you shave total interest expenses off the life of the loan.
With the principal balance declining faster and interest expenses curtailed, the end result is paying off the mortgage before the loan term expires. A mortgage calculator can help you see the impact of additional principal payments.
Biweekly Payments
Another effective strategy for paying off your mortgage early is making biweekly payments. Most borrowers are under the assumption that mortgages are paid on a monthly basis. However, paying biweekly is an option that helps shorten the loan.
In most months, there are four full weeks. Some borrowers elect a biweekly payment plan where the monthly obligation is split into two. Essentially, two biweekly payments are equal to one monthly payment.
However, there are two months per year when an additional payment is made. This is because there are 52 weeks in a year and biweekly payment schedules take 26 payments.
A mortgage with 26 biweekly payments is equal to 13 monthly payments. This means that you are paying 1 full monthly payment to principal each year. Over the course of a 30-year mortgage, this strategy takes years off the mortgage.
Refinance
You can take advantage of lower interest rates by refinancing your mortgage. Now, we are not talking about taking out a new 30-year mortgage.
Instead, the goal here is to refinance to a 10 or 15-year mortgage. Many borrowers are surprised to learn that they can open up a 10 or 15-year mortgage without significantly increasing their mortgage payment.
Your Guide to Paying Your Mortgage Off Early
Here, we gave you some strategies for paying off your mortgage early. It is possible by making additional principal payments. Adopting a biweekly payment structure or refinancing also are effective.
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