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Four Ways To Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

 

Paying off my mortgage was the best financial decision that I ever made.  I previously shared how it has allowed greater flexibility within my family.  As a result, I have also become more aggressive at work and have received multiple bonuses and raises in return.  Because I no longer have a mortgage, I feel incredibly free.

 

If you are interested in paying off your mortgage early, here are four ways to help you do so.

 

1.  Make Extra Payments When You Can.

When I first started to pay off my mortgage, I began by rounding up to the nearest hundred.  If the mortgage payment was $2,859, I rounded up to $2,900.  Although it may not seem very significant, over time, those extra payments really add up.  By doing so, I knocked off three months from my mortgage.  All I did was add a little over $40 a month, or roughly $1.25 a day.

 

I received some of the best financial advice when I first started working.  My boss encouraged me to strive to live off of the amount of my first paycheck for the rest of my life.  Admittedly, at the time, I thought that would be super simple to do.  After all, my eyes nearly popped out of my head after receiving my first paycheck.  I never thought I’d need more than that.  Let me tell you, the temptation of lifestyle inflation is more real than I had imagined.

 

Even so, I took heed to my boss’s advice.  Whenever I received a raise or a bonus, I would increase my monthly mortgage payments.  While my friends were buying nice cars, I was still driving a decade-old, well-loved car.  My wife affectionately referred to my Honda Prelude as a spaceship, but I was keeping my eye on the prize: no mortgage.

 

Please note: whenever I made extra payments, I always ensured that it went towards the principal.  It doesn’t make sense to have additional money go towards the principal and interest.  Why pay more interest than you have to?

 

2.  Find Extra Roommates.

I am an introvert, so being around people constantly can be draining.  If I had my preference, I probably would have lived alone before I got married.  However, I knew in order to pay off my mortgage that I needed to make the most of my home’s space.  Thus, I tried to occupy every room in the house.  I quickly found three housemates who would pay rent and help to pay off my mortgage.  

 

Of course, it wasn’t always a perfect situation.  It was a rarity to be alone in peaceful silence.  But at the end of the day, the short-term sacrifice was worth it.

 

By receiving rent from the guys each month, I received almost $100,000 over the course of 8 years.  I eagerly threw that money towards my mortgage.  

 

So yes, roommates/housemates are definitely worth it.

 

3.  Make Bi-Weekly Mortgage Payments.

If you’re like majority of Americans, you may receive a paycheck every two weeks.  In this case, you should have the ability to make bi-weekly mortgage payments.  The advantage of this is twofold.  Firstly, when you make monthly payments, you make 12 payments per year.  When you make bi-weekly payments, since there are 52 weeks in a year, you will make 26 bi-weekly payments.  That equates to 13 monthly payments, which would essentially allow you to make an additional “monthly” payment for the year.

 

Here’s a quick example.

 

You take out a $200,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 3.5%, and your federal tax rate is 20%.  In this case, you could expect to pay around $900 per month.  A bi-weekly payment plan would call on you to pay $450 every two weeks.  

 

By repaying the loan on a bi-weekly plan, you would pay off the loan in 26 years and 2 months versus 30 years.  This would shave off almost four years.  Plus, you would save almost $18,000 in interest over the life of the loan.

 

Please be aware that certain mortgage lenders make the process to make bi-weekly payments incredibly easy, while others make it incredibly difficult.  Make sure before you start to make these biweekly payments that you have checked with your mortgage lender.  

 

Quick side note: you do not need to pay a third party to do this work for you.  While they may make it seem difficult or onerous to navigate, it really is not.  I encourage you to work with your mortgage lender directly.

 

4.  Refinance Your Mortgage.

One of the easiest ways to pay off your mortgage faster is by refinancing your mortgage into a shorter period of time.

 

My mortgage started as a 15-year loan at 4.5%.  After a couple of years, I refinanced my mortgage due to falling interest rates.  I could have opted to lower my payments and pursued another 15-year loan.  

 

Instead, I chose a 10-year loan at 3.5%, which had even lower rates than the 15-year loan at 3.75% at the time.  The best part was that I even saved a couple of dollars each month.  I poured back those dollars into my mortgage because I had refinanced into a lower rate.

 

While there are a bevy of options available, any one of these will help jumpstart your way to paying off your mortgage.  As someone who has paid off his mortgage, I couldn’t recommend doing so more.

 

So readers, are you interested in paying off your mortgage?  Have you implemented any of these strategies?  Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I am in the paying off mortgage camp, so this post definitely resonates with me! $100,000 is amazing! That’s a lot of revenue to generate from having roommates. I can see how it has helped with your mortgage payoff.

    Mr. FAF and I are putting most of our disposable income towards the mortgage principal (after maxing out our 401k and saving for other impending expenses). I feel so happy whenever our principal amount goes down and can’t wait for it to reach $0!

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    • Thanks for sharing Mr. Freaky Friday!!! I think the emotional weight alone is worth getting rid of your mortgage 🙂 I’d really rather not jump back into a mortgage if I have a choice again 🙂

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  5. I can pay off my mortgage if I want to. However, I have no intention to pay it off anytime soon as I believe that I can make better use of my money.

    There are two reasons for me not wanting to be debt free. The first is my annual mortgage rate of 2.75%. The second is that I believe I can make a better return on my investments over the mortgage rate.

    If I paid off my mortgage, I only have my home and very little investable assets working for me. On the other hand, if I don’t, I have an additional combined $1.5M worth of stock and real estate working to increase my wealth. Hence, I am not in the mortgage free camp and don’t think I will be unless the interest rate is higher than 6%.
    Leo T. Ly @ isaved5k.com recently posted…The Easiest Way To Boost Your Retirement Savings By $100,000My Profile

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      • Thanks for sharing Jason!!! I definitely see both sides of the coin. I’d probably be a little further ahead if I didn’t pay off my mortgage but I am really pumped with where I am emotionally 🙂

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    • Great post, but I have to take the contrary position as Leo explains quite succinctly.

      For a while, I was paying an extra $100 each month toward my mortgage principal, and an extra $100 each month toward toward my car loan principal.

      I asked a very a friend with more financial savvy than I if I should consolidate the extra payments on one loan. To my surprise, he asked what my average rate of return was in my investment portfolio. About 8% I said.

      He asked what is the interest rate on your mortgage and car loan. Mortgage is 3.125% and car loan is 1.9%.

      OK, he said. Wouldn’t it make more sense to add $200 a month more to your investment account and make 8% on that money, instead of paying it to either loan where you are paying much less?

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      • Thanks for sharing Richard!!! I definitely agree that if you can invest and make more in the market it makes a lot of sense. Personally, since the market bounces up and down I was okay paying off some of my debt to act as a diversified bond with a guaranteed rate of return. But I definitely see the wisdom in investing in the market.

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  6. Quite a few years ago after my wife and I got married, we were able to pay off our mortgage by combining households, savings, incomes and living within our means. We lived in the house for another almost 20 years. Being mortgage free was a huge benefit and a pillar to our financial success over the years. We invested the excess funds that were no longer being allocated to the mortgage. It’s not easy or even possible for everyone to do, but I believe everyone should give it serious consideration as it relates to their own financial affairs. Tom
    Tom @ Dividends Diversify recently posted…Rags To RichesMy Profile

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    • Thanks for sharing Tom!!! My wife and I hope to emulate some of the success that you and your wife have had. We are pouring all of our funds into investments and hoping that in the long run it will all pay off 🙂

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  7. Nice write up and tips. Why do people give preludes funny nicknames? I had a friend who drove one forever and we called it his skateboard. Made no sense.

    I think we are going to attack the mortgage next year. This is our first year ever maxing out both our 401Ks and both IRAs. Whoop woo!!! So next year we plan to keep maxing both of those out and putting extra towards the mortgage. We went with a 15 year to start with which has definitely been a good decision.

    I can only imagine how good it would feel to eliminate our mortgage. I remember how amazing it felt making our last student loan payment. Freeeeedom!!!
    Grant @ Life Prep Couple recently posted…Should You Buy A Home GymMy Profile

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    • I have no idea why people give Preludes such weird nicknames. It was a great car for me and I loved driving it, even if my wife hated it.

      Congrats on maxing out your 401k and IRA. That’s huge and definitely an incredible feat!!! Keep up the awesome work!!!

      Reply

  8. Lifestyle inflation prevents so many people (I’m guilty, too) from realizing financial freedom earlier. If I could only go back 20 years and warn myself not to fall victim to this trap…doh!

    We refinanced our 30 to a 15 for a better rate (when we owed roughly 20 years). We also through any little bonuses throughout the year at the mortgage. Amazing what just a few $250-$500 bonus payments will do to your amortization schedule.
    Jason@Simple Man Money recently posted…My Problem with FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early)My Profile

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    • Thanks for sharing Jason!!! I definitely agree that it’d be nice to go back in time and tell myself what to do. Although honestly I’d probably say buy a bunch of Apple, Google and Amazon stock 🙂

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    • I definitely agree that roommates are a great way to bolster your income and pay off your mortgage that much faster. Although it you definitely need to screen out some of the potential people that come across your path. It’s not easy living with everyone.

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  11. All great tips, but I do hope folks are cautious with #1. I know too many people who put every extra dollar toward the mortgage principal without seriously considering what happens if they lose their job / get into a cash crunch. All that extra equity won’t help you if you can’t make your next mortgage payment (though it will help the bank have a better cushion for foreclosure…). If you can swing it though, it’s amazing how it can accelerate your payoff. Great post.
    Paul recently posted…Shots Versus GoalsMy Profile

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  12. The wife and joined the mortgage-free club this year and have no regrets! With a paid off mortgage, we now have ultra-low annual expenses and will qualify for the best tax rates, healthcare subsidies, tuition grants, etc.

    To help speed up our pay off, we moved in with family for a few years while renting out our house to help accelerate things. If we ever buy another property in the future, it will be in cash! 🙂
    Joel recently posted…Replacing Fear With FlexibilityMy Profile

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    • Wow congrats Joel!!! That’s awesome that you joined the mortgage-free club!!! It’s definitely a great feeling. Plus congrats on moving in with your family and renting out the property. Sounds like it paid off big time!!!

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  13. Not having a mortgage anymore does feel very liberating:) At the same time I sometimes wonder if I would be better off if I had invested those extra payments instead? I guess , at least with the mortgage it is a sure thing, not so much with investments.

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    • I reran the numbers recently and the difference in return hardly makes it worth it for me. I am definitely happy with paying off my mortgage even though I’d probably be slightly ahead of where I am today.

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  14. We’re in a similar boat, and will be paying our mortgage off about 10ish years early.

    What’s funny to me is that the same folks who say “Past performance isn’t a guarantee of future returns” are the same who say “The stock market historically returns 7-9%, so you should definitely avoid paying your mortgage early.” these two seem deeply at odds with each other. 🙂

    For me, even if the math suggests otherwise, I know that I’ve got a guaranteed return, and I’m not going to be comfortable going into early retirement without my mortgage paid off. I can hit my numbers goals of mortgage payoff and investing an adequate amount, so why wouldn’t I? 🙂
    Dave @ Married with Money recently posted…We Cut The Cord (Kind Of)My Profile

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  16. I agree, and no amount is too small to make a dent in the overall interest paid on the mortgage loan and the amortization period. Even small adjustments like rounding up monthly or bi-weekly payments to the next $10, $20, or $50 will go a long way.
    Having a tenant is the one option I’m unable to live with – I like my privacy too much. 😉

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  17. I totally agree with all of those. Although I haven’t been as good as increasing my monthly payment when I have gotten raises. It has basically stayed the same for the last two years (I have 9 years on 2.875%). I make bi-weekly payments and I refinanced from a 15 years to a 12 with no closing costs (and lowered my interest rates). One thing I might also recommend is that whenever I get a small reimbursement or something I put it on the mortgage. So sometimes I will get $45 or something for an extra payment or a refund I take that money and put it on the mortgage. I also put all of my change in these cups in my office and when they get to the top I take them to the bank and put it on the mortgage. Again, it is usually only a couple hundred bucks a year, but I will go out of my way to buy something for $1.06 knowing I am getting $.94 and that I put that money in a cup that goes to the mortgage. I do admit I wish this balance was below six figures, but it should be next year (hoepfully).
    Jason recently posted…What Gets You Out of Bed In the Morning?My Profile

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  18. I would have to imagine that paying off a mortgage feels great. I have taken a balanced approach and pay it down as the “bond” position in our portfolio. I think one of the biggest parts of this is not starting out in a house that is more then you need. If that is the case your journey will be much longer. Buy something that you enjoy and can easily make the payments on, the payment has no stressful effect on me and investing in a taxable account is a fair alternative that I do as well. I do have to disagree when people get so set of paying off their mortgage that they forgo investing and building the other pillars of their “financial house”.

    When did you pay off your place?
    Damn Millennial recently posted…Saving/Investing Growth Rate > Investment ReturnsMy Profile

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    • Thanks for stopping by!!! I paid off my house in 2012, after owning it for 8.5 years. While I could handle the payments it is definitely a great feeling it’s totally paid off now 🙂

      Sounds like you have your financial house in order and have your priorities set!!! Awesome job.

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  21. We have used strategies #1 and #4 in the past. We have always paid a little extra. At first just rounding up to the nearest $100 and then added a little more as we were able to financially. We are now exactly 3 years from paying off our mortgage and it is def. part of our FIRE plans to have no mortgage debt. We wrote exensively about the pros and cons and considerations of both strategies (to pay down early and to not pay down early and invest instead). It really boils down to each person (or family’s) financial circumstances. We are all different with different goals, assets, income potential, tax situations etc. etc. I do wonder if the GOP is successful in taking away the tax deduction for mortgage interest for future home loans if that will have an impact on strategies in the future (at least in HCOLAs anyway). Based on the current proposal, our remaining interest here in our final 3 years would not be deductible for our situation so it’s full steam ahead on getting rid of this debt forever!
    Mrs. Need2Save recently posted…Crafting Your Exit PlanMy Profile

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    • Looks like since it only applies to new homes with mortgages that you should be safe in deducting your mortgage 🙂 That’s incredibly exciting about paying off your mortgage in three years. It’s definitely an incredible feeling not having a mortgage 🙂

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  22. We’ve taken the refinancing route. We’re on our 2nd refi, but have knocked off a total of 8.5 years in the process! Of course now, we are less than 15 years away and will continue to refi as we are able. I know there is some cost to doing this, but I think the savings of interest makes up for it! Looking forward to getting rid of it completely eventually!
    Steven Goodwin recently posted…Fun money activities your kids will love now, that will also help set them up financially for lifeMy Profile

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    • That’s awesome to hear Mike!!! I always love to hear when lenders make it easier for people to pay off their mortgage and show them the tangible benefits from paying their mortgage off earlier 🙂

      Reply

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