How to Reduce Your Mortgage

One Additional Mortgage Payment a Year

There's a simple trick to significantly reduce the length of your mortgage and save you thousands of dollars. The trick is to make one extra mortgage payment a year and apply that payment toward your loan's principal.

This is the method being used by "Bi-Weekly Mortgage Reduction Services or mortgage saving programs". What they are doing is taking your 1/2 your mortgage payment every two weeks holding on to it until you send the other half and then sending it in.  You are doing that 26 times a year.  So it adds up to one extra mortgage payment a year.  For that they charge you a set up fee of $75 - $500.  And about $3-7 dollars each time you send money in.  It costs you a approx $182 a year to do it.  Over the length of the loan  $4500 to do it.  If you are discliplined you can do it yourself and save the $45500.   Only, when you do it yourself, you don't pay a third party unnecessary set-up costs and fees!  If you pay an extra payment at the beginning of the year it is better because it is that much less that interest is accrueing on.  So you are paying off your Michigan home quicker

Example: $100,000 loan, 30-year mortgage, 6.5% fixed interest rate

One-time Payment

It may not be possible for you to increase your monthly mortgage payment. Keep in mind that most mortgages will permit you to make additional payments to your mortgage principal at anytime. Perhaps, five-years after moving into your home you receive a larger than expected tax return, or an inheritance or a non-taxable cash gift.  You could apply this money toward your loan's principal, resulting in significant savings and a shorter loan period.  Some banks will allow you to re-amortize your loan.  Ask your mortgage person or lender for their rules.  Where this comes in to play many times is when a seller still has his old home.  When they finally sell the home then they have a large amount of cash to put on the mortgage.  They don't want to refinance and be charged closing costs.  Ask your bank about re-amortizing your loan.

Example:

With a $100,000, 30-year, 6.5% fixed interest rate mortgage loan, the borrower will pay a total of $227,542.98 to pay back the loan in 30 years. That equals $127,542.98 in interest payments.

If the same borrower makes a one-time $5,000 payment the first day of year 6, he/she will pay a total of $204,710.75 and pay off the loan in 27 years (324 months). That's a savings of $22,832.23 in interest. 
That is a huge savings for your Michigan home and you.