Getting a Fixed-Rate Mortgage

Considering whether you need a 30 or 15 year fixed mortgage rate is important for people looking to buy a home and concerned about their monthly payments. Most people that buy a home later in life want to have the mortgage paid off as soon as possible. Take some time to think about everything carefully before any agreement is signed. Ensuring the repayment remains the same throughout the mortgage term is very important.

If you are offered a deal that appears to be too good to be true than it probably is. A 15 year fixed rate mortgage means the interest rate remains stable for the life of the loan. For many people with regular incomes, this is a definite benefit as there are no hidden charges. Both my wife and I decided to research fixed rate mortgages when we started looking at homes for sale.

Having a realistic, sustainable monthly payment on our mortgage was important even though we wanted to pay off our debt as soon as possible. It became obvious that we had to look at fixed rate mortgages over a longer period and not just 15 year plans. We didn't really like the prospect of having a mortgage as we approached retirement so were really hoping to get one of the loans with 15 year fixed mortgage rates. There was a lot of pressure to have the house paid off as soon as possible.

It took some time but we finally chose to go ahead with the 30 year mortgage plan. There were many things that factored into this decision. Discovering my wife was having a baby was the most important reason. As she intended to raise our child at home we couldn't rely on her financial income to the monthly expenditure. Loans that were based on 15 year fixed mortgage rates required a much higher monthly payment. For us it just wasn't feasible as we would just be in over our heads. We found that the monthly repayments on a 30 year loan were more manageable.

If we have spare cash throughout the year then we can use it to reduce the capital sum. We also found that we were reducing the number of years left on the mortgage by making these payments. This takes some discipline but it is well worth the effort it in the long term. Our desire for a 15 year fixed rate mortgage was second place to our more immediate needs. Anyway, everything worked out fine despite our hesitancy.
 

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