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You can do this by performing a mortgage payment calculation. There are certain considerations when you calculate mortgage payment levels that suit you that you need to keep in mind: How much mortgage can I afford? What type of mortgage should I get? What kind of loan payment schedule suits me best?
As always it is best to start at the beginning. How much mortgage can I afford: answering this question is easy - but you must be honest with yourself! Look at your earnings and savings and your expenses. How will these be affected by a mortgage? Some expenses like rent will disappear when you are a homeowner but a mortgage will bring other expenses (you may have removal costs and you'll almost certainly have legal costs). An online financial calculator will allow you work out exactly how much you can afford to commit to in a mortgage.
Now you must decide what kind of mortgage is best suited to your needs. There are various types of mortgage but don't let this put you off - the choice makes it easier to find a mortgage that suits you best.
The two most common types of mortgages for homeowners (commercial mortgage rates are applied to business premises) are repayment mortgages and interest only mortgages. You can also have a combination of the two.
With a repayment mortgage you pay off part of your mortgage every month but with an interest mortgage only the interest is paid off each month. When you consider what type suits you remember that an interest only mortgage rate (always calculate loan interest as well) will be considerably smaller. Although this will appear attractive you will need to be able to pay of the rest of the loan at the end of your loan payment schedule. You can do this by investing money - but poor investments will lead to a shortfall and you will need to take advice at how to invest money so that it grows with your mortgage.
When you have settled on a mortgage that suits you (you'll find a weekly mortgage calculator allows you to break your finances down better than a monthly breakdown) there are other still a few more things to consider. What are your mortgage closing costs? These might make the final amount you pay much higher - especially if you pay your mortgage offer quicker than the original loan payment schedule. Are you able to claim any discounts like small business tax deductions? What are the bank loan rates (an interest rate calculation will help you here)? You might also be affected by mortgage loan origination - check your mortgage provider is dealing with your mortgage themselves and not farming it out as this may increase the amount you pay. It is always best to shop around and find the best deal!
When you calculate mortgage payment levels that suit you should know what you can afford. After that it is easy to calculate a payment that is tailor made to suit you best.
For example, if you borrow $200 000 over 30 years at a rate of 5%, your monthly repayments would be around $1074. Over 30 years, you would actually pay $1074 x 360 (months), which is $386 640. That's $186 640 in interest! What you have to do is to find an extra $246 a month, and pay $1320 a month into the mortgage, you'd cut 10 years off the repayment period - the loan would be fully paid in only 20 years. Moreover, your total payments would be $316 664, saving $69 756!
The flaw in this technique is that it ignores the time value of money. Everyone knows that money is worth less now than it was when they were younger. If you take that $1074 mortgage repayment, for instance, in 30 years time, when the last payment is due, it would only be worth $437 in today's money.
A dollar now is always better than a dollar in a year's time, or in 10 year's time. You cannot simply subtract the mortgage interest amount for a 20 year mortgage from the interest on a 30 year mortgage. What you need to do is calculate the Present Value of each mortgage.
First method of repayment:
The Present Value of a 30 year mortgage with repayments of $1074 at a 5% interest rate is $200 066.
Second method of repayment:
The Present Value of a 20 year mortgage with repayments of $1320 at a 5% interest rate is $200 066.
The two repayment schemes are exactly equal. The $69 756 'saving' in the interest rate is really just the effect of adding the extra $246 a month into the repayments - in fact, that $246 a month adds up to $59 040 over 20 years.
Let's think this way. What if you took that $246 a month and invested it in, for example, mutual funds? If you could get a return of 10% p.a., after 20 years you would have $186 804. With inflation at 3%, that would be worth $102 597 in today's money.
Why would the banks recommend that you pay off your mortgage quickly? Surely the longer the income stream lasts, the better? The banks love being able to prove that their recommendations will 'save you money'. But in reality, the banks do understand the time value of money. They know the true value of that extra $246 a month that you're giving them now, not in the future. And the shorter the time you take to repay the mortgage, the lower their risk, and the sooner their money comes back to them to be loaned out again.
There are some arguments for paying your mortgage back quickly - for one thing, the quicker you pay, the quicker your equity grows. But you should understand that every dollar you give the bank now is a dollar that you can't invest. You then miss opportunity to invest and a return 10 percent or even 15 percent!