15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage
The 15 year fixed rate mortgage is also a popular mortgage in Florida. Like the 30 Year fixed rate it offers the most stability of any mortgage product.
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How do I Buy a Home with a 15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage?
The loan is basically as described in the name. It is a loan that you have 15 years to pay. You make 12 payments a year over 15 years for a total of 180 payments.
15 Year fixed rate mortgages usually have better interest rates compared to 30 year fixed rate mortgages but the payments are higher since the mortgage will be paid off in 15 years not 30.
Your interest rate stays the same, so your mortgage payment stays the same through the life of the loan. Your property taxes and homeowner’s insurance will change but your mortgage payment will not. This is a fully amortizing loan which means after your last payment the loan will be paid off and you will own your home free and clear.
How Does a 15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Payment Work?
One thing you should know about the monthly payment of a 15 year fixed rate mortgage: You will start off paying more of the interest than the principal until about halfway through the life of the loan. Then you will swap.
This is because the interest amount is based on the outstanding loan balance, which is reduced with each principal payment. As your loan balance goes down, you will be charged a smaller amount of interest each month.
But this does not affect the size of the monthly payment, which stays the same for the life of the loan.
For a No Obligation Pre Approval Call 772-349-3861
3 Parts to a 15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage
- Interest: The amount of interest you pay is determined by the interest rate (a percent of your remaining loan balance). With the 15 Year Fixed Rate Loan your interest rate is the one that you see at your closing and does not change. You will make the same payment 180 times, once each month over the next 15 years or 180 months.
- Principal: Principal represents the original amount of money you borrow from your lender to buy your home. If you buy a $200,000 home with a 20{4acb8ec5558a9960cd4482a973653334e741371bc957c686c2e0a82098bbe235} down payment ($40,000) and take out a loan for the rest, your principal balance would be $160,000.
- Amortization: Amortization is the term used to describe the process of paying off a mortgage or the debt. An amortization table shows you how long your mortgage will last and how much you will pay in principal and interest per month or year.
As you make monthly payments, a portion of your money will go toward interest and principal. The rest goes toward property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and—if applicable—homeowner’s association (HOA) dues and private mortgage insurance (PMI).