Are Biweekly Mortgage Payments Worth it?

We have all seen the letters that come with our mortgage payment bill, "save tens of thousands", "save $60,000, "pay your mortgage off 5 years early". The offers are real but is it worth signing up for?

The answer is yes and no.

Basically, a biweekly mortgage payment is paying half of your monthly mortgage every two weeks. 

Loan Type

Purchase Refinance with Cash out Refinance

State

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District Of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

FICO Score

Superior (780-850) Exceptional (760-779) Excellent (740-759) Very Good (720-739) Good (700-719) Above Average (680-699) Average (660-679) Fair (640-659) Need Improvement (620-639) Poor (350-620)

Loan Amount

$

Points

Up to 0 points Up to 0.5 points Up to 1 points Up to 1.5 points Up to 2 points Up to 2.5 points Up to 3 points

LTV

%

Loan Term

 15-Year Fixed  20-Year Fixed  30-Year Fixed  5-Year ARM  7-Year ARM  10-Year ARM

Show Advertiser Disclosure

The lenders whose rates and other terms appear on this chart are ICB's advertising partners. They provide their rate information to our data partner RateUpdate.com. Unless adjusted by the consumer, advertisers are sorted by APR from lowest to highest. For any advertising partners that do not provide their rate they are listed in advertisement display units at the bottom of the chart. Advertising partners may not pay to improve the frequency priority or prominence of their display. The interest rates, annual percentage rates and other terms advertised here are estimates provided by those advertising partners based on the information you entered above and do not bind. Any lender Monthly payment amounts stated do not include amounts for taxes and insurance premiums. The actual payment obligation will be greater if taxes and insurance are included. Although our data partner RateUpdate.com collects the information from the financial institutions themselves, the accuracy of the data cannot be guaranteed. Rates may change without notice and can change intraday. Some of the information contained in the rate tables including but not limited to special marketing notes is provided directly by the lenders. Please verify the rates and offers before applying for a loan with the financial institution themselves. No rate is binding until locked by a lender.

Lender

APR / Rate

Fees / Points

Payment

NMLS #1835285

4.919%

15-Year Fixed

4.750%

$4,500

Includes 0.625 points for $2,500

Lender Fees: $2,000

$3,112 /mo

Next >

NMLS #2562839

4.942%

15-Year Fixed

4.750%

$5,125

Includes 1.000 points for $4,000

Lender Fees: $1,125

$3,112 /mo

Next >

NMLS #757416

5.226%

15-Year Fixed

5.125%

$2,672

Includes 0.668 points for $2,672

Lender Fees: $0

$3,190 /mo

Next >

NMLS #2059741

5.231%

15-Year Fixed

5.125%

$2,792

Includes 0.698 points for $2,792

Lender Fees: $0

$3,190 /mo

Next >

NMLS #6606

5.382%

15-Year Fixed

5.240%

$3,732

Includes 0.933 points for $3,732

Lender Fees: $0

$3,214 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1025894

5.503%

15-Year Fixed

5.375%

$3,348

Includes 0.662 points for $2,648

Lender Fees: $700

$3,242 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1835285

5.625%

5-Year ARM

5.500%

$5,524

Includes 0.881 points for $3,524

Lender Fees: $2,000

$2,272 /mo

Next >

NMLS #2562839

5.739%

5-Year ARM

5.625%

$4,997

Includes 0.968 points for $3,872

Lender Fees: $1,125

$2,303 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1835285

5.842%

30-Year Fixed

5.750%

$4,000

Includes 0.500 points for $2,000

Lender Fees: $2,000

$2,335 /mo

Next >

NMLS #2562839

5.856%

30-Year Fixed

5.750%

$4,625

Includes 0.875 points for $3,500

Lender Fees: $1,125

$2,335 /mo

Next >

NMLS #757416

5.961%

30-Year Fixed

5.875%

$3,724

Includes 0.931 points for $3,724

Lender Fees: $0

$2,367 /mo

Next >

NMLS #2059741

6.034%

30-Year Fixed

5.990%

$1,876

Includes 0.469 points for $1,876

Lender Fees: $0

$2,396 /mo

Next >

NMLS #1025894

6.200%

30-Year Fixed

6.125%

$3,196

Includes 0.624 points for $2,496

Lender Fees: $700

$2,431 /mo

Next >

NMLS #6606

6.343%

30-Year Fixed

6.250%

$3,944

Includes 0.986 points for $3,944

Lender Fees: $0

$2,463 /mo

Next >

Rate data provided by RateUpdate.com. Displayed by ICB, a division of Mortgage Research Center, NMLS #1907, Equal Housing Opportunity. Payments do not include taxes and insurance premiums. Actual payments will be greater with taxes and insurance included. Rate and product details.

You are saving a ton of money over the life of a loan because you are making an one extra monthly payment every year when you pay your mortgage biweekly.  Instead of making 12 payments a year, with biweekly payments you are making 13 payments per year. Paying down your principal early is saving you a boat-load of mortgage interest payments.

Banks and mortgage companies have done an excellent job marketing biweekly mortgage payments and some charge hundreds of dollars to sign up.

Why pay for the privilege of paying your mortgage early?

You don't!

Instead of signing up for these biweekly programs you can achieve the same results by making one extra mortgage payment annually. If you don't have the money to make an extra mortgage payment at once, spread the extra payment thoughout 12 months by paying down a little extra principal each month. Banks make this process easy for you by providing an extra line on your monthly mortgage payment. Look for the line that usually is "extra principal payment".

To figure out how much money you will save over the life of a loan use an excellerated mortgage payment calculator. You will be asked the mortgage amount, interest rate you are paying, length of the mortgage and how much additional money do you want to pay monthly. You will be pleaseantly surprised how much you can save over the life of a mortgage. Calculator