There's a simple trick to reduce the repayment period of your mortgage and save thousands of dollars over the course of your loan: Make additional payments which apply toward your principal. People use different methods to accomplish this goal. Paying a single additional payment once per year is perhaps the easiest to keep track of. If you can't pay an additional whole payment in one month, you can split that large amount into 12 smaller payments and write a check for that additional amount monthly. Another option is to pay a half payment every other week. The effect here is that you will make one additional monthly payment in a year. These options differ a little in reducing the final payback amount and shortening payback length, but they will all significantly reduce the length of your mortgage and lower your total interest paid.
It may not be possible for you to pay more every month or even every year. Remember that virtually all mortgage contracts will permit you to pay extra on your principal at any point during repayment. You can take advantage of this rule to pay down your mortgage principal when you get some extra money.
For example: a few years after buying your home, you receive a huge tax refund,a very large inheritance, or a non-taxable cash gift; , you could pay a portion of this windfall toward your loan principal, resulting in enormous savings and a shortened payback period. Unless the loan is quite large, even a few thousand dollars applied early can yield huge savings over the duration of the loan.
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