Many people who are looking to buy a home consider whether they need 30 year or 15 year fixed mortgage rates for their monthly payments. Long term fixed mortgage rates are usual in the US but not so common in the UK. The current fixed mortgage rates in the US reflect the concerns of the sub-prime lending market and the inter-bank rate.

Is a 15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Right for You?

Since many of us are buying homes later in life we would like to have the house paid off as soon as possible. Of course, there are many things to consider before signing any papers, but first you should consider if a 15 year fixed mortgage is suitable for you or perhaps a variable rate short term mortgage may be more suitable

It is important to remember that you want to make sure that the interest rate doesn’t change over the course of the loan. Many lenders offer deals that sound too good to be true. This means that they actually are too good to be true. Loans that have 15 year fixed mortgage rates maintain the same amount of interest throughout the life of the loan. This is beneficial for any of us who don’t like surprises.

Why we chose a 15 Year  Mortgage

When my husband and I were looking at homes for sale we decided to look into the various loans available with 15 year fixed mortgage rates. We wanted to pay off the house as soon as possible but we didn’t want to get in over our heads with high monthly payments.

In addition to considering loans with 15 year fixed mortgage rates we also looked into loans that spanned 30 years as well. We didn’t really like the idea of having a mortgage as we were approaching the age of retirement so we 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.

30 year fixed rate mortgages look very different when you are 25 or 30 years old to how they look when you are 40 years old. Nobody wants to still be paying the mortgage each month when they are 70 years old!

30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage

However, after taking everything into consideration we chose a 30 year loan instead. There were many things that factored into this. First of all, I discovered that I was having a baby. My contribution to the monthly finances was unreliable since I was going to raise our child at home. Loans that had 15 year fixed mortgage rates required a higher monthly payment. We simply didn’t want to get in over our heads.

A thirty year loan brought the monthly payments down quite a bit. We also make extra payments throughout the year to make the principal shrink quicker. If you make a handful of extra payments throughout a twelve month period you can knock years off of your loan. This takes some discipline but it is well worth it in the long run.

Always check the small print to make sure there are no extra charges for settling early and that the interest you pay will be reduced as soon as you make an additional payment onto your mortgage.

Although we would have preferred the loans with 15 year fixed mortgage rates we had to take our needs and abilities into consideration. As it is things worked out very well.