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Learn more about paying off your mortgage early
As a Credible authority on mortgages, Chris Jennings covers topics including home loans and mortgage refinancing. His work has appeared in Fox Business and GOBankingRates.
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What a mortgage payoff calculator shows you
A mortgage payoff calculator shows you how much of a difference extra mortgage payments can make over the long haul. You can see:
Current loan information
The amount of money you’ll need to add to pay off your mortgage early
What your new payoff date will be
How much interest you’ll save over time
What your new mortgage payment will look like should you choose to put extra toward your loan balance every month
How to use our early mortgage payoff calculator
To use the early mortgage payoff calculator, you’ll need some information on hand, including:
Original loan amount: This is what your loan balance was when you initially closed on your home.
Original loan term: This is how long your current loan lasts. The most common fixed-rate mortgages carry 15-year or 30-year terms.
Remaining term: This refers to how much time you have left on your loan term.
Interest rate: You’ll enter your current loan’s interest rate here.
Extra repayment start date: This is the date you’d like to start making extra payments.
Extra repayment amount: Input how much extra you’d like to put toward your loan balance each month. You’ll enter this as an “extra” monthly payment.
Once you enter this information, the early mortgage payoff calculator can help you make a more informed decision about your repayment efforts, as well as your loan’s costs in the long run.
Check out: Mortgage Payment Calculator: Find Out How Much You’ll Pay
Ready to take the next step? Takes less than 3 minutes.
What to do with a mortgage payoff calculator
There are several reasons you might want to put more money toward your mortgage loan, and a mortgage payoff calculator can help you see these goals in action. You’ll also discover how much you can save in the long run and how much the move will cost you on a monthly basis.
Here are just a few things you can learn when using the mortgage payoff calculator:
See how even a small extra payment can make a difference
You’d be surprised at how much just an extra hundred dollars can make per month. For example, on a $200,000, 30-year loan with an APR of 3% that started on Jan. 1, 2019, adding just $100 to your monthly payment today could save you nearly $16,000 in long-term interest costs and shave over four years off your amortization schedule.
Learn how extra payments affect your monthly budget
The mortgage payoff calculator can also help you see how much extra payments impact your total monthly mortgage costs, as well as your household budget and expenditures.
Once you enter your proposed extra payment, pay careful attention to the new monthly payment amount. Determine if there’s room in your budget for this new total — and don’t forget to factor in other debts, household costs, and expenses.
Figure out how to pay off your home by a certain date
If you’re hoping to have your home paid off by retirement or the time your child graduates college, a mortgage payoff calculator can help you determine the extra payments you’ll need to make to achieve that goal.
Simply adjust the extra payment amount until you see a payoff date that meets your goals, and that’s how much additional you’ll need to put toward your mortgage each month.
Ways to pay off your mortgage early
If you’re not prepared to commit to an extra payment every month, there are other ways you can pay off your mortgage early, too.
Switch to bi-weekly payments
Instead of just paying your mortgage once per month, split your payment in half, making one payment in the middle of the month, and one at the end. Doing so can help you whittle down your balance faster and reduce your total interest costs over the long run.
Make extra payments every quarter
Those extra payments don’t have to be monthly to make a difference. Consider making a quarterly payment instead — ideally, at least a fourth of your normal payment each time. After 12 years, you’ll have shaved a full year off your payoff timeline.
To see the difference a quarterly payment can make:
Tally up the total quarterly payments that you estimate you can afford each year
Divide by 12
Use that as your “extra” monthly payment
Put every windfall towards your mortgage payment
You can also just put windfalls and unexpected influxes of cash toward your loan as they come in. Common examples of these include:
Tax refunds
Inheritances
Holiday bonuses
If this is the route you’re planning to take, divide up your expected lump sum payment by 12 and input that as your extra payment.
Refinance your mortgage
With a mortgage refinance, you can knock several years off your loan repayment schedule while also saving a bunch on interest. If you can lower your interest rate by at least 0.5%, refinancing might be worthwhile.
Credible can help you easily find the latest mortgage refinance rates. You can compare prequalified rates from our partner lenders without leaving our platform — it’s free and only takes a few minutes.