There are several ways to pay off your mortgage faster. Depending on your goals and budget, you may be able to speed up repayment through extra principal payments, biweekly payments, reamortization after a lump-sum payment, or refinancing into a shorter term. The best approach depends on your cash flow, current interest rate, remaining loan term, and whether you want the flexibility to pay extra when you choose or the structure of a required faster payoff schedule.
If you are comparing options, it helps to look at both the savings and the tradeoffs. Some strategies reduce interest without changing your required monthly payment, while others may lower your rate or shorten your payoff timeline but come with closing costs or less monthly flexibility. You can use our refinance calculator to see how a new rate and term could fit into your payoff plan.
Pay thousands less in interest by locking in today! A shorter loan term and a fixed interest rate both help you pay off your mortgage more quickly and build equity faster.
For some borrowers, refinancing may also create an opportunity to remove a private mortgage insurance (PMI) requirement, depending on the loan and equity position. The key is to compare the full picture rather than assume a refinance is automatically the fastest or lowest-cost path.
Great rates and measurable savings may be available if you are a military member or veteran seeking to refinance your home. A VA Streamline Refinance requires minimal or no closing costs and much less documentation than a regular refinance or an original home purchase.
Not sure which program is right for you? Contact one of our specialists today! Sammamish Mortgage Group can advise you on which mortgage refinancing program best meets your needs, and help you refinance quickly and without any headaches.
In addition to refinancing to shorten your term and potentially lower your interest rate, there are other ways to pay off your mortgage faster.
Your amortization is your schedule of payments split into principal and interest from the day your loan starts to the day it ends. If you make a large lump-sum payment toward your principal, you may be able to ask your loan servicer to reamortize the loan.
When a loan is reamortized, the remaining balance is spread over the remaining term using a new payment schedule. In many cases, this lowers the required monthly payment after the lump-sum reduction. Some borrowers choose this for payment relief while still keeping their existing loan in place.
Reamortization is different from refinancing. With a refinance, you replace your current mortgage with a new one, which may come with a different rate, term, and closing costs. With reamortization, you are generally keeping the same loan and applying a lump sum to reduce the balance. If your main goal is the fastest payoff possible, simply continuing to make extra principal payments or refinancing to a shorter term may be more effective than lowering the payment through reamortization. But if you want to apply a lump sum and improve monthly cash flow without taking out a new loan, reamortization can be worth exploring.
If you pay half the amount of your mortgage payment every other week, at the end of the year you’ll have made a whole extra payment that can bring your total owed down. That’s because there are 26 two-week periods in a year, meaning 13 four-week periods. That last four week period is like an “extra month!”
Based in Bellevue, WA, Sammamish Mortgage has been in business since 1995, and we proudly serve customers in the Pacific Northwest region. Currently, we serve customers who are looking for homes in WA, ID, CO, OR & CA. If you’re currently in the market for a home in one of these states, or you’re thinking about buying a home, we’d love to hear from you. Our team of mortgage professionals has a detailed knowledge of the real estate markets of the Pacific Northwest and is able to help customers navigate these markets. View our Mortgage Loan Programs InfoGraphic!
Sammamish Mortgage can help. We serve clients across Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Oregon, and California. Since 1992, we’ve been providing several mortgage programs and products with flexible qualification criteria to borrowers across the Pacific Northwest. Visit our website to get an instant rate quote or to use our online mortgage calculator. Or, reach out to us if you want help comparing refinance scenarios, reviewing rates, or deciding whether a shorter term or another payoff strategy fits your goals.
Common ways to pay off a mortgage faster include making extra principal payments, switching to biweekly payments, applying a lump sum and requesting reamortization, or refinancing into a shorter term. The best fit depends on your cash flow, current rate, remaining term, and whether you want flexibility or a required faster payoff schedule.
Extra principal payments can be a better fit if you want flexibility because you can pay more when your budget allows without replacing your loan. Refinancing to a shorter term can be a better fit if you want a built-in faster payoff schedule and can comfortably handle a higher required monthly payment. Closing costs, your existing rate, and your remaining loan term all matter when comparing the two.
A biweekly payment plan can help you pay down principal faster because paying half of the monthly payment every other week usually adds up to one extra full payment per year. That extra payment can reduce the balance sooner and cut some interest over time.
Paying extra each month typically reduces your principal faster, which can shorten the payoff timeline and lower total interest paid over the life of the loan. The exact impact depends on your loan balance, interest rate, and remaining term.
With refinancing, you replace your current mortgage with a new loan that may have a different rate, term, and closing costs. With reamortization, also called recasting in many cases, you usually keep the same loan and apply a lump-sum payment to reduce the balance, then the remaining balance is spread over the remaining term using a new payment schedule.
Not always. Reamortization or recasting is often used after a lump-sum principal payment to lower the required monthly payment while keeping the same loan. If your main goal is the fastest payoff possible, continuing to make extra principal payments or refinancing to a shorter term may be more effective than lowering the payment through reamortization.
Yes. Extra principal payments can help you reduce your balance and total interest without changing your required monthly payment. This approach gives you the option to pay more when you choose instead of locking into a higher mandatory payment.
Compare the new rate, new loan term, higher required monthly payment, and total closing costs against the interest you may save over time. If your current mortgage already has a favorable rate, or if you want more payment flexibility, keeping the existing loan and making extra principal payments may be the better fit.
That depends on your goals, comfort level, and cash flow. Paying down the mortgage faster can reduce interest and shorten the loan term, but keeping extra cash available may provide more flexibility if your budget changes. Many borrowers compare the value of interest savings against the benefit of maintaining accessible reserves.
Yes. Homeowners in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, and Colorado can compare refinancing with other payoff approaches such as extra principal payments, biweekly payments, and reamortization. The right choice depends on the borrower’s budget, timeline, equity position, current loan terms, and payoff goals.
Our loan officers are ready and waiting to help you apply for your home loan.
Learn more about the people behind Sammamish Mortgage
Whether you’re buying a home or ready to refinance, our professionals can help.
Mortgage Support — 24/7
No Obligation and transparency 24/7. Instantly compare live rates and costs from our network of lenders across the country. Real-time accurate rates and closing costs for a variety of loan programs custom to your specific situation.
Adjust the parameters based on what you want to track
