Hashbarger 2011 Resolution for Homeowners

1. Owners: Accelerate paying your mortgage off. During the bubble era, many homeowners were comfortable with refinancing ad infinitum, so long as they could afford the payment. It was not unusual for homeowners to refi their mortgages every year, pulling cash out for everything from cars to college tuition. After the burst, homeowners who have witnessed friends and neighbors lose their homes are exhibiting a new level of interest in paying their homes off - all the way off. While some money pundits say the cash is better used by investing it, many homeowners seek the security of owning their homes free and clear sooner than planned, which also saves them thousands and thousands of dollars in interest payments over the life of the loan.

Fortunately for them, there are lots of strategies out there for getting your mortgage paid off ahead of schedule. In 2010, we saw the seeds of a trend of homeowners with upwards of 25 years left to pay on their 30-year mortgages with 6.5% interest rates refinancing those loans into low interest 15-year-fixed mortgages, slashing both their rate and the number of years they have left to pay on their loan nearly in half. Interest rates trended rapidly upwards in December, but rates on a 15-year-fixed rate loan are still very low - just barely above 4.25 percent - so if you've had your loan for awhile, you can still cut your interest rate significantly by refinancing into a shorter term loan.

If you can't refinance for any reason or you simply would rather not commit to the higher mortgage payment on a shorter term loan, here's a hack you can use to get your existing home loan paid off sooner - effortlessly: pay half the amount of your monthly mortgage payment every two weeks, rather than the full payment once a month. This results in an extra monthly payment per year, and can pay your mortgage off as much as 6 years early! www.hashbarger.remax-midstates.com