How to pay down your mortgage faster?

[zoey]

Any ideas on how to pay down a large mortgage faster?  We have a good interest rate but just want to pay it down faster without alot of surplus.   I know you can add principal monthly or make an extra payment.  Just wondering if there are other methods not requiring much surplus.

Thanks.

[4EEM]

No.  Paying more principal is the only way....or you could sell...that would pay it down quickly.

[Lendinghand]

biweekly payments

[pauly99]

Pay biweekly if possible. Otherwise monthly as usual and write one check for the monthly mortgage which covers principal and interest and write one check that lets the bank know that it is for principal only.

[bmac22]

It also depends upon the program which you are in. If you are in a fixed program any principal that you knock down will have no effect on the lowering of your monthly payment. It will merely shorten the life of the loan. A program such as the pay option ARM allowws you to knock of a lot of principle and also lowers your monthly payments each month due to the reamortization of the loan each month. The more you knock off the lower principal that the interest rate would be applied to. It's a very good program if you use it wisely.

[ted0lewis]

I pay off my mortgage very fast using the extra payment approach; with every payment came an extra couple of dollars, as much as I could affort...before you knew it I was down to 35,000.00; however, becareful not to take away from other debits; when and where possible always inclue extra money on payments of any bill, and just be patient...

Ted

[rbaxter]

On the bi-weekly payment thing, be careful that there is not a fee charged by the lender to administer this program.  A lot of times, the fee is as much as the amount of additional principal you are paying down.  You are really just paying the lender for the discipline of the bi-weekly payment.  Extra prinicipal payments each month would have the same net effect as a bi-weekly program, if you have the discipline to do it.

The other way to do it in a disciplined way would be to refinance into a 15 or 20 year mortgage as opposed to a 30 year.

[mtnwizard]

Your home is your best source of cheap funds. Rather than pay down your mortgage, get as much money out of your home as you can and payoff higher interest items such as credit cards and personal loans.