Many people who are looking to buy a home consider whether a 30 year or 15 year fixed mortgage rate is best for their monthly payments. No-one wants a mortgage hanging around their neck forever but with home buyers entering the market later, an early repayment of this loan is important. However, before you rush in and sign any papers, there are points to contemplate. Probably the most important point is a guarantee of a constant interest rate for the duration of the loan.
It is not uncommon to see lenders offering deals that are too good to be true. Loans agreed with a 15 year fixed mortgage keep the same interest rate throughout the entire life of the agreement. For those individuals that don’t like hidden surprises, this is always a benefit. Both my wife and I decided to research fixed rate mortgages when we started looking at homes for sale.
Even though it was important for us to pay off our loan at the earliest possible opportunity, we didn’t want high, unrealistic monthly payments which we would have trouble maintaining. When we considered fixed rate mortgages we also looked into even longer term loans that spanned 30 years as well. Still, having a mortgage close to retirement wasn’t what we were looking for, so we decided to try for a loan with a 15 year fixed mortgage. We felt that there was a great deal of emphasis on paying the mortgage off early.
After careful consideration we decided to take the longer term 30 year repayment option instead of the 15 year plan. There were many things that lead us into making this choice. The main reason was that I found out my wife was pregnant. My wife was going to raise our child from home so her addition to the monthly income would be restricted. The problem we could see was the increased financial commitment on a monthly basis if we had opted for the 15 year fixed mortgage rate. We just simply didn’t want to get in over our heads with a higher monthly payment. We found that the monthly repayments on a 30 year loan were more manageable.
Being able to make additional lump sum payments during the year means the outstanding loan reduces faster. It is possible to take years off your loan if you can make a few extra payments during each year. This is well worth it in the long term but it does require some discipline. Our desire for a 15 year fixed rate mortgage was second place to our more immediate needs. Things worked out well anyway, even though we were unsure about it to start with.
Learn more about loans and debt consolidation visit Fixed Mortgage Rate