A Few Ways You Can Get Your Mortgage Payment Lower
The house payment is the largest ongoing bill in the budget of most homeowners. Financial advisors suggest a maximum of thirty-three percent of the households’ take home pay be budgeted for this monthly outlay; ideally house payments are left around 25%.
Tough financial periods are experienced by most of us at some point in our lives. During this challenging economic time even more people are fighting to maintain. Many already have lost their homes due to the financial struggles our country is facing. Those of you that have been affected by unplanned medical expenses, reduced income, unemployment or another economic distress, then you may want to try one of these ideas to make your mortgage payment lower.
If you have experienced a cut in pay one of most viable choices for you is a mortgage modification. In this process the homeowners’ representative gets in touch with the lender and discusses new terms for the mortgage to make it more affordable for the homeowner. This is a detailed and time consuming process that is best performed by experienced professionals. You may be tempted to attempt to get your mortgage payment lower via a mortgage modification by yourself but you will probably end up frustrated without having accomplished anything.
Another way to get a lower mortgage interest rate is the refinancing of your existing mortgage. Mortgage interest rates are especially reasonable at the time of this writing and are expected to stay so for several months. If you owed $200,000 a one percent drop would reduce your mortgage $250 a month. A $150,000 refinanced, with a one percent decrease in the interest rate, would put your mortgage payment lower by approximately $100. It will cost you some money upfront but if you shop around you should be able to minimize your application fees and closing costs. In addition the savings you will experience will pay for the cost of refinancing eventually. One should note that this method of making your mortgage payment lower is more practical for people who plan to live in their home long enough for the monthly savings to pay off.
Another option is downsizing, finding a smaller and less costly house. Sometimes you can find a less expensive home that matches the size of your existing house if you are amenable to living without some features or in a less prestigious neighborhood. You may have to perform some maintenance work or sprucing up but good deals can be found. Think about moving to a suburb if you are living close to the middle of a metropolitan area since land values are usually lower there.
Some folks have chosen to buy multi-family housing and live in a part of it while renting the rest. For example, a duplex would allow you to live in one side and rent the other which would help with the monthly loan payment. Once you have built some equity you could sell the duplex and move into a single family home. This option may be thought more an investment and, if the market is right, the rent you charge could lower your house payment.
The next method could sound contradictory, but is worth listing: Pay an additional amount on your loan every opportunity you get. Since any extra payments go straight toward your principal it reduces the total amount you owe. Because your mortgage insurance is determined by the principal you still owe, as you pay on your mortgage your insurance cost goes down. Another benefit to paying extra and always on time is that loan companies are more agreeable about working with you if you experience a financial difficulty and need to skip a payment or want to apply for a loan modification.
Most mortgages are thirty-year loans. Make sure your due diligence is comprehensive and you are receiving the best deal available regardless of which method you choose to make your mortgage payment lower. Choose wisely and you could be saving tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage.
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