If you’re determined to cancel your home loan as soon as
possible this is not a bad idea, you can put extra money towards the loan but
there are some things you need to be aware of.
Depending on the amount of
money you destine every month towards your home loan you could reduce the length
of it from months to years and of course you would be paying less interest on
the principal as you would be reducing it systematically.
Interest or
Principal
However, there are some home loans in which you pay first the
interest and then the principal so if you put more money towards the loan you
would just be giving the lending institution an advance which is pointless.
Prepayment penalties
There also some loans that have prepayment
penalties.
Since the lending company earns money from interest they want to
make sure you won’t pay off the loan in advance and thus reduce what otherwise
they would be gaining, thus, they charge a percentage on the outstanding amount.
If this is the case you will need to consider whether you would benefit from
paying off the home loan sooner.
Perhaps it would be wiser to just carry
on with the scheduled repayment program.
Building Equity while reducing
debt
If you’ve read the small print and there are no prepayment penalties and
the interest rate and principal are balanced, then you can put more money
towards paying the loan sooner and benefit from reduced interests and a
reduction on the length of the loan also.
And as the remaining debt
decreases you’ll be building equity on your home which will let you get extra
money from your house to make repairs, go on vacations, buy a car or any other
purpose.
Other options: Financial Advice, Refinance
If you’re not
sure about your decision, don’t hesitate to contact a financial advisor, there
are also many online sites offering advice on mortgage and mortgage refinance.
You can always contact them if your current lender won’t give you a solution to
your needs.
You can always refinance your home with better terms if the
current market situation is better than it was when you acquired your loan or if
your financial situation and income have improved.