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Saturday, August 1, 2015

The Race for Equity
Choosing the Right Loan Program
 

Those who take property ownership seriously often look for options
to build equity at a faster pace. An aggressive approach is to 
select a 15-year loan program over a 30-year mortgage.

A 15-year loan works well for home buyers budgeting time and 

money, those who are possibly looking forward to a debt-free 
retirement, or those who plan to upgrade to a larger home 
within 15 years. But this requires a sincere commitment to 
making substantially larger monthly payments.

Provided the homeowner can afford the financial commitment

of a 15-year loan, they will pay significantly less money in 
interest simply because the life of the loan is spread over 
a shorter period of time. This will result in a smaller tax 
deduction over a shorter period of time. However, they
need to be aware that unless they are extremely financially 
secure, even a minor setback can have a tragic impact on
their ability to make mortgage payments on time and in full. 
The bottom line is that it's probably not a good idea to put all
available cash into a mortgage payment and lose any hope
of a financial cushion in the event of emergency.

A less vulnerable approach is to consider making principal

prepayments on a 30-year loan, or to invest the extra dollars
into another type of asset accumulation account. Here the 
compelling question is, is it better to take the risk of a non-guaranteed
investment, or bank on the guaranteed savings on mortgage interest?

Making prepayments on a 30-year loan is often deemed to

be the safer route, and the borrower can make the extra 
payment when they want to, rather than through obligation. 
If the homeowner has made less than a 20% down payment, 
principal prepayment offers them the ability to have their loan
reviewed by the lender for the purpose of removing any private
mortgage insurance payment (PMI) earlier than expected.
First, the borrower needs to discuss prepayment procedures 
with their lender, and take into consideration whether there is 
any prepayment penalty associated with their financing before
initiating prepayments. They should also note that principal 
prepayment reduces mortgage interest, which is tax deductible.
Depending on what their tax bracket is, this may or may not be
 beneficial to them.

If the extra money is invested in some other vehicle, the earnings

will be reduced by taxes (unless the money goes into a tax-exempt fund). 
The borrower should compare the mortgage rate to the rate of return
on another type of investment, and decide if it makes more sense on
an after-tax basis to invest the extra money somewhere else and have 
the ability to liquidate those assets if necessary.

Bi-weekly mortgage plans are another option for building equity at 

a faster rate, but consumers should be wary of companies that
ask for a setup fee and monthly charges. The most important thing 
to note is that each client has different goals. These are just a few 
options for building equity.



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