What are some ways to pay down my mortgage faster?

Bi weekly payments! Pay half your payment every 2 weeks will eliminate about 5 years off a 30 year loan.

Making bi-weekly payments is a great way to reduce your principal balance without paying extra per month. Also sending an additional 10% principal payment above your current payment will help you pay your loan off faster. Good luck!

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT use a bi-weekly program. Instead, read my blog post on how to beat the bank at their own game. You can find it here... https://www.lender411.com/mortgage-articles/7506/are-bi-weeklys-good-for-you/ ~ Bert Carpenter, The LoansA2z team of NOVA Home Loans ~ NMLS 40586 ~ Licensed in California and Arizona ~ www.LoansA2z.com 888-889-9950

By making more than the minimum payment.. The more you pay, the quicker you pay off your loan.. Bi-weekly payments, or pay an extra $100 or so every month, so that in a 12 month period, you've made 13 payments... this can save you up to 5 years or more off the end of your loan.. Most financial planners will tell you that paying extra towards your mortgage is not the best use of your money... and they would be right.. The extra you pay towards your mortgage is not easily accessible, and it's constantly at risk.. But there's something about a home that's paid for that gives a lot of folks a sense of security, so most folks will still try to get there.. I'm a Broker here in Scottsdale AZ and I only lend in Arizona. If you or someone you know is looking for financing options, feel free to contact me or pass along my information. 480-287-5714 WilliamAcres.com

Making additional payments towards your principal balance each month will do the same as making two payments per month. Many lenders don't allow bi-weekly payments and if they do, they may charge you a fee to implement this.

Bi Weekly payments or sending an additional 10% payment towards your principal will help you reduce your principal balance, thus reducing the amount of interest.

Bigger payments... Refinance to a lower rate and continue making the same payment, and automatic bi-weekly payments all come to mind.

The best thing you can do is talk to a good mortgage planner. You may or may not want pay it down faster. It all depends on what your objective is big picture. Given the choice of holding on to a mortgage loan with a rate in the 3's is better than having no mortgage at all. Paying off a mortgage in today's rate environment is a financial mistake considering the net effective interest rate is below the rate of long term inflation. Your money is better off in a savings account or under your mattress even as opposed to doubling up cash flow into an illiquid asset.

I'm a fan of the bi-weekly payments as well. Kick it up a notch further by adding additional principal to each bi-weekly payment.

bi-weekly payments are virtually no different than making 1/12 of your payment extra every month, and I'm not a fan. Most of the services that offer bi-weekly payments simply hang onto your money until they have extra to make an extra payment for you. And, they are making money by having your money (and thousands of other people's) in their accounts so that they can invest it and make money for themselves. Just figure out how much extra you can afford to pay every month and include it with you payment. Even sending in an extra $600 once a year (when you get your tax refund?) is almost exactly the same as sending $50 a month extra. Doing it monthly doesn't hurt as much as sending a large check. OR, simply set up a separate savings account yourself, put half of the mortgage payment in that account every 2 weeks. Set up your mortgage to be drafted from that account. 2x a year you will have extra money in the account, use that to make an extra payment on the mortgage - which is EXACTLY what the bi-weekly services do - and it doesn't cost you anything!

Make sure, if you are doing additional monies every month, you have to pay the principle and not just extra payment.. i knew of someone who was making extra payments and never applied it to the principle.. for more info , email me at yourloanpartnerforlife@live.com

for you forward mortgage gurus (I'm a reverse guy) what about him refinancing (without fees) into a 15 year, how would that help. of course it his payment was the same or less than his current mortgage, how much would that save him?

I can assist you with a nice spreadsheet that you can use, however $100 per month applied to principal will make a huge difference. Let me know if I can be of assistance.Thanks

You have seen many answers, Biweekly, additional principal, refinance into a shorter term, refinance and continue with the same monthly payment. all work.

You can do a few things, just depends on how much extra money you have.1) Pay your monthly mortgage payment bi-weekly. You can do this via your banks "bill pay" instead of using a service. This will take off one extra monthly payment per year.2) You can pay a lump sum every year with your tax return or when you receive a bonus. This will cut the principle balance down, which in turn will cut your overall interest payments made.3) You can pay extra with every payment you make. Whether it be monthly or bi-weekly. Any money you pay extra will go toward the principle balance if you indicate it to do so.4) Do all the above

Pay off your smallest balance credit card, which has a rate FAR HIGHER than your current mortgage rate. When that credit card balance is zero, add that monthly payment to your regular mortgage payment. Continue to do this with your remaining credit cards, and watch to see how fast your mortgage balance will disappear.

Depending on your interest rate, doing something as simple as making one extra payment per month could reduce a 30 year mortgage 5-7 years obviously saving you thousands of dollars. Also you could look at a mortgage calculator and give it your current; loan balance, interest rate and then experiment with years to pay it off in (5, 10, 15...) This will give you an idea of what your monthly payments would have to be to pay it off on your preferred time table schedule. All you would do then is pay extra every month and note on your payment to have all extra applied to your principle. This being said, I would highly recommend seeking out your Financial Planner to make sure that the extra money you are paying every month could not be put to better use. Remember that in retirement you will have to balance your debt and income. Paying off your house might be the right thing to do but also there might be better options for you, everyone is different. Good Luck!!

What I have my clients do is take their monthly payment and divide it by 12 months, and add that as a principal balance payment each month. Should shave about 8 years off, save thousands in interest and reduce the effective interest rate. The loan gets reevaluated at the end of the year so another way is to put that extra payment in some savings type account and just pay in one lump some at the end of the year.

Extra payment each year can cut 7 years off of a 30 year mortgage! Easiest way and a better average reduction on principal is to take a payment, divide by 12, and add that to each payment. Another good way if you can afford it, is to add the next principal portion of the payment to this payment. You can find this information in the amortization statement that came with the loan. One other way is to add a single amount to every payment, $100, $500, a $1000, etc. You can also do your own amortization statement based on your goals.