Comments on: How to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early

By: Rose

Rose — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:42:56 +0000

My husband passed away a couple months ago. He told me whatever I do he wants me to pay the mortgage off. So, I did a couple days ago and I will tell you what it feels great! I dont plan on moving anytime soon but it will be nice not having to pay 1500. a month to make someone else richer!

By: tanya

tanya — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:52:09 +0000

what about weekly or even daily payments

By: Debbie

Debbie — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:03:25 +0000

As of today, we’ve paid $22,400.00 We are almost one year ahead of schedule. By the end of the year, God willingly we will have 13 years left on the mortgage instead of 14 years.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:07:03 +0000

It is now almost the end of June and we’ve paid over $16K on the principal of our mortgage. It’s not easy, but we keep plugging along. My goal is to have our $243,500.00 3.75%/15 years paid off by January of 2018.

By: Gerry M

Gerry M — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:03:44 +0000

I forgot to mention that my first refinance was made free. I literally transferred the balance from my original mortgage to the new one without paying a single penny on fees. I only had to take an increase on my interest rates that was offered at that time from 5% to 5.375%. But I was already paying 6%. So I lowered my monthly payment from 1190 to 1090, but I kept making the same $1190 I was making when at 6%. The second refinance plan will pay itself off in December of this year (2011). The amount that I paid on fees, I would have paid them on interest if I had kept my original 30 yr mortgage at 5.375%. I believe that if you can take a drop of 1% on your interest rates for a refinance plan, you consider refinancing your mortgage. Of course every case is different and every situation needs to be analyzed carefully before making these decisions. It is not very easy to go from 1200 to 1450 on the monthly payment, but it’s worth the effort in the long run. I just wished I had started with this mentality the first time I purchased my home. My balance would’ve been much lower now. Thanks for replying to my post.

By: DianaB

DianaB — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:31:38 +0000

While this sounds very enticing, the amounts of money spent on refinancing fees and costs I would think would be a huge waste (especially only to gain barely 4/10 % in interest rate the first time). That money could have been put against the principal (more than once, as I see refnancing seems to be rather the norm for Gerry). You can pay off your mortgage in 15 years without going through all this hassle and fees with just very good payment application habits.

By: Gerry M.

Gerry M. — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:50:21 +0000

I did these things on my mortgage. I started with a principal of $198k @ 6% interest rate in 2008. In 2009 I rolled over to a lower interest rate plan @ 5.375% in 2009 with a principal balance of $194k. I maintained the same payment I was making when rates were 6%. In sept. 2010 my principal went down to $189k. I refinanced to a 15yr term @ 3.875% and my balance today is $186k. It really felt very nice to reduce my interest payment from $900 to $800 and now to $600 per month. Also principal payments going from $100 to $250 and now to $800 per month. The best plan to pay off a loan is to always make payments at least 50% towards principal. every dollar you are paying on a principal is a dollar you are putting in a savings account. Don’t use mortgage interest as an incentive to prolonge your debt, but instead as a resource to reduce the amount of taxes you have to pay. For every $100 dollar you earn is always better to pay $33 to the IRS and keep $67 in your pocket than pay $100 dollar on interest and only keep $33 from your income tax return. If you can’t pay off your home 15 yrs or less, try buying a smaller home. You have the rest of your life to purchase the home of your dreams. Interest rates are not going to stay low for ever, but they just keep getting lower and lower every year since 1981.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 28 May 2011 20:32:40 +0000

@ mike
that is awesome dude
I was nearly 30 when i bought my house. But after a divorce and other bad situations i got a 15 year loan…and have been making a few extra paymens here and there…as of now i got the loan down to less than 13 years and am keep taking it down.. also you have a quicken program it will automatically deduct your payments and it is neat to watch the last payment go down and every now and then disappear when you make extra payments

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 21 May 2011 22:22:23 +0000

These are some good tips. I am using all 4 strategies to pay off my mortgage, hopefully by age 30. That’s what my blog is about. First, I set up automatic payments, which are bi-weekly. They are taken out the Monday following each paycheck. Then I plan to make a yearly contribution, around tax time. About 3K. Thirdly, I track my monthly expenses, and send a portion of what is left to the mortgage company. They’ve done a good job of keeping up with all the extra payments so far. My initial loan was 15 years. I’m on track to pay it off in 3-5, depending on how I do.

By: coronado

coronado — Fri, 20 May 2011 17:42:17 +0000

You will reduce your mortgage payments by 6 years. So, instead of paying for 30 years, you’ll pay it off early in 24 years. Your lender should be able to give you amortization on how many months your mortgage loan will be shorten if you continue this kind of payments for the duration of the loan.