Should I pay biweekly mortgage payments?

paying half of your mortgage every two weeks coincides evenly with many paycheck schedules. Plus, buyers can pay off the mortgage six to eight years early.

The downside: many of the programs come with a hefty price tag. If you are interested in paying half of your mortgage every two weeks instead of making one full payment every month, get detailed information on your bank's program, including all the fees and charges.

By paying biweekly, you will experience the benefit of increased equity.

Pay an additional one-twelfth of your mortgage each month. Designate on your coupon that the amount should go against the principal.

Many consumers will use their tax refund checks that they recieve each year to apply directly towards the principal amount of their home mortgage loan. This will pay their mortgage loan off much quicker than not paying anything extra and many times will even pay it off faster than doing bi-weekly mortgage payments. By going this route you are able to avoid the set-up fees for the biweekly mortgage service and you are also able to avoid the monthly fees charged per payment withdrawn from your account.

When a lender offers the options of bi-weekly payments that will come out to be the same as if you made a 13th payment on your mortgage if you were paying monthly because there are 52 weeks in a year. The pros to this is your mortgage is paid off sooner due to the 13th payment. The downside to this if you pay late it will affect your credit. If bi-weekly payments is something you are considering, you you just take your existing mortgage payment (not including taxes and insurance), divide that by 12, and you can add that amount to your mortage each month. Therfore, you are not bound to having to pay that extra amount each month. You can do it as finances permit.

» DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article on 'Should I pay biweekly mortgage payments?' is a collection of contributions by licensed mortgage professionals and is not the opinion of Broker Outpost LLC. Always consult a licensed professional before applying for a mortgage.