When you make a mortgage
payment, part of that payment goes towards paying the
interest due on your debt, while any remaining money pays
off the principal owing on your mortgage. This is
important, because your new principal balance will be used
to determine the interest expense on your next payment. As
you increase the payment frequency (i.e. Pay your bi-weekly
instead of monthly) you pay down your principal faster, and
in turn lower the amount of interest paid on your debt.
Take advantage of your
pre-payment privileges
Another way to pay down
your principal owing faster and reduce your interest expense
is to take advantage of any pre-payment privileges that your
institution grants you on your mortgage.
These privileges can take
the form of double-up payments that allow you to effectively
double the amount of payments that you make toward your
mortgage in any given month, or annual lump sum pre-payments
that allow you to make a payment once per year against your
mortgage. The maximum allowable pre-payment is usually
based on a percentage (10%-15%) of your original loan
amount.
Have more than one term
in your mortgage
When your mortgage term
expires, you are able to make any amount of payment toward
your debt prior to renewing for a new term. By dividing
your mortgage into more than 1 term (see tip #2), you are
able to increase the frequency at which you can make
additional pre-payments on your debt. For instance, a
borrower that has their mortgage split between a 3-year and
a 5-year term has one more opportunity to make a lump sum
payment (after year 3), instead of having to wait until the
single term expires if they chose just a 5-year mortgage.