How to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early
Want to get rid of your house payment for good by paying off your home loan? Here are five tips for how to pay off your mortgage early.
Rachel Cruze
Mortgage Payoff Calculator
Use our mortgage payoff calculator to find out how increasing your monthly payment can shorten your mortgage term. To learn what your monthly payment will be based on your home price, interest and more, use our mortgage calculator.
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Mortgage Payoff Calculator Uses
With this mortgage payoff calculator, estimate how quickly you can pay off your home. By calculating the impact of extra payments, you can learn how to save money on the total amount of interest you’ll pay over the life of the loan.
Planning to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early?
Use the "Extra payments" functionality to find out how you can shorten your loan term and save money on interest by paying extra toward your loan's principal each month, every year, or in a one-time payment.
Understand Your Mortgage Payment
Your mortgage payment is defined as your principal and interest payment in this mortgage payoff calculator. When you pay extra on your principal balance, you reduce the amount of your loan and save money on interest.
Keep in mind that you may pay for other costs in your monthly payment, such as homeowners’ insurance, property taxes, and private mortgage insurance (PMI). For a breakdown of your mortgage payment costs, try our free mortgage calculator.
Accelerate Your Mortgage Payment Plan
Get creative and find more ways to make additional payments on your mortgage loan. Making extra payments on the principal balance of your mortgage will help you pay off your mortgage debt faster and save thousands of dollars in interest. Use our free budgeting tool, EveryDollar, to see how extra mortgage payments fit into your budget.
Calculate Different Scenarios
See how early you’ll pay off your mortgage and how much interest you’ll save.
Let’s say your remaining balance on your home is $200,000. Your current principal and interest payment is $993 every month on a 30-year fixed-rate loan. You decide to make an additional $300 payment toward principal every month to pay off your home faster. By adding $300 to your monthly payment, you’ll save just over $64,000 in interest and pay off your home over 11 years sooner.
Consider another example. You have a remaining balance of $350,000 on your current home on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. You decide to increase your monthly payment by $1,000. With that additional principal payment every month, you could pay off your home nearly 16 years faster and save almost $156,000 in interest.
Mortgage Payment Terms
Mortgage terminology can be confusing and overly complicated—but it doesn’t have to be! We’ve broken down some of the terms to help make them easier to understand.
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Original Loan Amount
Your original loan amount is the amount you financed in a mortgage loan when you purchased a home. For example, if you put 20% down on a $200,000 home, your original loan amount would be $160,000.
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Remaining Loan Balance
Your remaining loan balance is the amount you have left to pay on your mortgage loan. If your original mortgage loan was $250,000 and you’ve paid $30,000 in principal during the first five years, your remaining loan balance would be $220,000.
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Loan Term
The loan term is the amount of time it will take to pay a debt. Loan terms are typically based on how long it will take if only required minimum payments are made.
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Home Equity
Your home equity is the difference between the value of your home and how much you owe on it. Let’s say your home is valued at $310,000 and you owe $250,000 on your mortgage. Your home equity is $60,000. To calculate your own home equity, just subtract the amount you owe from the market value of the property.
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Interest Rate
When you have a mortgage on your home, the interest rate is the ongoing amount you pay to finance your home purchase. Your interest rate is typically represented as an annual percentage of your remaining loan balance. For example, a 4% interest rate on a $200,000 mortgage balance would add around $652 to your monthly payment. As your principal balance is paid down through monthly or additional payments, the amount you pay in interest decreases.
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Monthly Payment
Your monthly payment represents the total amount you pay for your mortgage (principal and interest), homeowner’s insurance, property taxes, and neighborhood HOA fees. We recommend keeping your monthly payment around 25% of your monthly take-home pay so that you can still achieve your other financial goals.
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Amortization
Amortization is the process of paying off debt with a planned, incremental repayment schedule. An amortization schedule can help you estimate how long you will be paying on your mortgage, how much you will pay in principal, and how much you will pay in interest. Making changes to how large or frequent your payments are can alter the amount of time you are in debt.
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Extra Payments
Making extra payments toward your principal balance on your mortgage loan can help you save money on interest and pay off your loan faster. If you want to make extra payments on your mortgage, budget extra money each month to put toward your principal balance.
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Prepayment Penalties
A prepayment penalty is a fee that can be charged if your mortgage is paid down or paid off early. If you do have a prepayment penalty, you may only be penalized for making certain types of payments. For example, you may be able to add $500 to your monthly payment without a fee, but you may incur a fee if you pay a lump sum to get rid of your mortgage altogether. Many mortgage loans do not have prepayment penalties, but it’s important to check with your lender if you’re not sure.
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