Skip to main content

Larger Payment, Shorter Term, Bigger Savings



Some people consider a house payment as basic as monthly utilities but with a plan and some discipline, you can be mortgage free.

Consider a person borrowed $300,000 at 3% for 30 years, the principal and interest payment would be $1,264.81 and at the end of 12 years, the unpaid balance on the mortgage would be $210,900.

If that same person had financed the home on a 15-year term at 2.5%, the payments would have been $2,000 but the unpaid balance at the end of 12 years would be $69,310.  The homeowner will have a larger equity but they have also had to make higher payments.

15-year mortgages usually have a lower interest rate than the 30-year loans and at the time this article was written, the difference in a 30-year loan was about 0.5%.  A 15-year loan gives the lender their money back in half the time.  If rates go up during the interim, they will be able to loan it at the higher rate sooner.  For that reason, they are usually willing to offer a slightly lower rate on the shorter term.

Having a lower rate means paying less interest but another remarkable thing happens, lower interest rate loans amortize faster than higher rate loans.

 

30-year

15-year

$300,000 mortgage for 30 years

3%

2.5%

Monthly payment

$1,264.81

$2,000

Unpaid balance at end of 12 years

$210,900

$69,310

Increased equity

 

$141,590

Additional monthly payment

 

$735.56

Additional total payments for 12 years

 

$105,920

Savings

 

$35,670

This recognized wealth building technique with higher payments, saves interest and retires the mortgage sooner.  The shorter-term mortgage requires a commitment to make the higher payments each month rather than giving the borrower flexibility to spend or invest the difference each month for as long as the loan is in place.

To make you own calculations, go to the 30yr vs. 15yr Comparison.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Make Your Home Offer the Most Appealing

Sales in February 2023 were up 14.5% month over month and still down 22.6% year over year according to the NAR Housing Snapshot.   The median sales price dipped 0.2% to $363,000 and there are 2.6 months supply of homes on the market compared to 1.7 months a year ago. "Inventory levels are still at historic lows, and consequently, multiple offers are returning on a good number of properties." According to Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of REALTORS�. It is still important to have a strategy for potentially competing with other buyers on the house you want to buy.   The plan should include several available provisions and options, so that at the time of drafting the sales offer, you can consider exactly what to include based on the situation. Unless a person is paying cash, you need to be pre-approved by a trusted mortgage professional long before you start looking at homes.   Include the written pre-approval letter along ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cash-Out Refinance

With the rapid appreciation that homes have had in the last two years, most homeowners have equity.   A common way to release part of the equity is to cash-out refinance but some homeowners may not be eligible currently. This type of loan replaces the current mortgage by paying it off and an additional amount of cash for the owner.   Generally, lenders will consider a new mortgage up to a total of 80% of the current value. Typically, the rate on a cash-out refinance will be slightly higher than a traditional purchase money mortgage.   As is in any lending situation, the rate depends on the borrower's credit and income.   The best interest rates are available to borrowers with higher credit scores, usually over 740. Loan-to-value can affect the rate a borrower pays also.   A 70% loan-to-value mortgage could be expected to have a lower interest rate than an 80% LTV because there is a larger amount of equity remaining in the property and therefore, less risk ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Before You Leave Town...

Along with all the planning of what you're going to do and where you're going to stay, consider this checklist to make you feel more comfortable while you're away from home. Ask a trusted friend to pick up your mail, newspaper and keep yard picked up to avoid an appearance of not being at home. Stop your mail ( USPS Hold Mail Service ) and your newspaper. Don't post about your trip on Facebook and other social media until you return; some burglars look for this type of announcement to schedule their activities. Do notify police or neighborhood watch - especially if you're going to be gone for more than just a few days. Let your monitoring service know when you'll be gone and if someone will be checking on your home for you. Light timers make it look like someone is home. Set multiple timers for various times to better simulate someone at home. There are plug-in modules for lights and appliances that would allow you to control...
2 comments
Read more