You might think twice about applying additional funds to pay off your home early since doing so could deplete your liquidity. The extra money you dedicate to your house is locked in a non-liquid asset. If you need funds quickly, selling your property and accessing your money could take a long time.
Another downside to paying off your mortgage early is the potential prepayment penalties. Because it eats into their ability to make a profit, lenders charge fees when you pay your mortgage off too early. While prepayment penalty fees can vary, most are a small percentage of the outstanding loan balance.
The Bottom Line
Paying off your mortgage early can save you a lot of money in the long run. Even a small extra monthly payment can allow you to own your home sooner. Make sure you have an emergency fund before you put your money toward your loan.
You could be making a higher return elsewhere
Take a step back and think: “Could my money be doing more for me?” If you spend all your hard-earned cash paying off your mortgage, you won't have it to invest in other places—which, of course, limits your potential for a cash return.
For guaranteed savings and the security of owning your home debt free, paying off your mortgage earlier is a better option than investing your extra cash.
In fact, O'Leary insists that it's a good idea to be debt-free by age 45 -- and that includes having your mortgage paid off. Of course, it's one thing to shed a credit card balance by age 45. But many people don't first buy a home until they reach their 30s.
Making extra mortgage payments may help reduce the term of your loan, in addition to the amount of interest paid over the term of the loan. However, while making extra mortgage payments typically comes with benefits, there are other things you may want to consider before doing so.
Paying more toward your principal can reduce the interest you'll pay over time, as discussed above. Additionally, every payment that goes toward your principal builds equity in your home, so you can build equity faster by making additional principal-only payments.
You will most likely have to discharge your mortgage once you've paid off your home loan in full. The procedure of formally removing your lender from your Certificate of Title is known as a discharge. Notifying your lender is usually the first step in discharging your mortgage.
Making a lump sum payment toward your mortgage will decrease what you owe and save money on interest. If you receive some sort of windfall, such as an inheritance or a large tax refund, you can also consider making a lump sum payment toward your mortgage.
Yes, you can pay off your mortgage early. In most cases, you can pay extra to lower your balance faster. Whether you want to pay an extra $20 every month or make a big lump payment, you have multiple strategies to pay off a mortgage faster. Some lenders charge extra should you decide to pay early.
Save on interest
Since your interest is calculated on your remaining loan balance, making additional principal payments every month will significantly reduce your interest payments over the life of the loan. By paying more principal each month, you incrementally lower the principal balance and interest charged on it.
In effect, you make an extra monthly payment each year. The extra money goes toward reducing principal, helping you pay the loan off more quickly. You can also choose to make pay more toward your loan balance each month.
The following month's interest would be calculated on the outstanding home loan principal amount. If you prepay the home loan, you can substantially reduce the interest component of the home loan. The principal amount gets repaid faster, helping you close the home loan early.
Pay extra toward your mortgage principal each month: After you've made your regularly scheduled mortgage payment, any extra cash goes directly toward paying down your mortgage principal. If you make an extra payment of $700 a month, you'll pay off your mortgage in about 15 years and save about $128,000 in interest.
Calculate the Extra Principal Payments
The general rule is that if you double your required payment, you will pay your 30-year fixed rate loan off in less than ten years.
Students classify those characteristics based on the three C's of credit (capacity, character, and collateral), assess the riskiness of lending to that individual based on these characteristics, and then decide whether or not to approve or deny the loan request.
Assuming that the average mortgage age in Australia starts somewhere between 25 and 34 years, then to work out the average age to pay off a mortgage in Australia, you just need to add a 25 to a 30-year term. This would make the average age to pay off a mortgage in Australia between 50 and 64 years.
Age doesn't matter. Counterintuitive as it may sound, your loan application for a mortgage to be repaid over 30 years looks the same to lenders whether you are 90 years old or 40.
Homebuyers often choose a 30 year loan because it creates a more feasible monthly payment. The longer life of the loan, the smaller the monthly payments are. This protects borrowers from being obligated to pay large mortgage payments in situations where budgets may be tight.
If you're on your lender's standard variable rate or you're on a tracker mortgage, there is normally no limit on how much you can overpay your mortgage by. However, fixed-rate mortgages typically have an annual overpayment limit of 10% of your TOTAL outstanding mortgage balance.
Because interest is calculated against the principal balance, paying down the principal in less time on your mortgage reduces the interest you'll pay. Even small additional principal payments can help.