Paying off a mortgage

[JediNeo]

I know the CC forums there are suggestions on how to pay down one's debt. I couldn't really find anything in this forum on ways to pay your mortgage and save on the interest. Is it not allowed? I didn't really see anthing in the TOC stating we couldn't talk about it. 

Looking around the web the most popular I've seen is making bi-weekly payments if your lender allows for it. They say if you can do this, at the end of the year it will equal one full extra payment. 

Are there any other ways to help payoff your mortgage faster?

[Anonymous]

A few ways to save money and pay off the loan faster are to pay more than what is due, make extra payments, or refinance into a lower rate or shorter years if you qualify/can afford the payments.

[dragontears]

When I refi my mortgage it dropped my payment by over 200/month. Since I was comfortable paying the original amount I continue to make the same payment with the extra going to principal. According to my calculations doing this will save me 41k over the life of the loan and I will pay it off in 18 years

[ezdriver]

Pay more than is due each month. If your mortgage statement does not provide data fields to identify the extra money to be applied to principal, write two seperate checks and specifi one to be applied to principal. Your don't want your extra payments to be misapplied by the mortgage servicing company so ensure that it isn't. 

[StartingOver10]

There is a rule of thumb that one extra payment per year applied to principal will save you something like 7 years. 

To get more accurate information, go to bankrate.com ( http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/mortgage-calculator.aspx) and input your mortgage info into the mortgage calculator and experiment around with either one extra payment per year or $X per month extra or any other extra payment you find comfortable to make and you can see the tremendous savings you achieve.  Even small amounts help.  

EZ is right. Make sure the extra payment is applied to principal and is made at the same time as your regular payment. 

[IOBA]

Or you can do what I do - throw every extra penny you have on the mortgage principle.  I do ARM's instead of fixed rates.  I have been very successful in paying off every mortgage VERY early by doing this.

Wells Fargo would get pissy with me everytime I did it.  They claimed they weren't a "bank" and extra principle only payments were not allowed.  Uh, yes Wells Fargo IS a bank and yes extra principle payments ARE allowed.  *eye roll*

Chase flat out refused to credit the extra principle payments in a timely manner.  (The government agencies are still investigating this becuse it is illegal.)

So go for it.  Pay extra every chance you get.  At the end of the day, the end of the month, the end of the year, it saves you money.  

[Anonymous]

IOBA, i was always under the impression arms are a bad idea. Plz tell me more about how it aids you in paying off mortgage faster.

[Anonymous]

I plan on using the bi-weekly method that NFCU offers. Also, after I build my savings back up and build the needed garage, I plan to always use my tax returns as extra principal payments on my mortgage. My house is extrememly cheap compared to what I have seen in these forums, so I am hoping to use the tax method to pay it off very early. (Note: I claim zero on my W4 so I usually get a decent return back). Does anyone else do this?