Master Your Mortgage in 5 Steps

Easy 5-step plan to pay off your mortgage on your budget and on your time

We can help you master your mortgage in five steps.

You’ve already set your new home budget, now it’s time to build your mortgage plan.

Buy a home you can afford

Before you even sign the papers to your new casa, crunch the numbers. How much house can you actually afford. (Not how much are you pre-approved to buy! There’s actually a real difference here.)

And we mean crunch all of the numbers—like credit card debt, college loans, retirement savings plan, monthly budget, etc. Are you left with enough cash for a solid 20 percent down-payment and enough cash flow to cover your mortgage? Do you have enough left over in your cash reserve to cover a few months of mortgage payments just in case disaster strikes?

If you answered yes to all of those questions, sign away, Mr. Hancock! Ready for 5 steps to mastering your mortgage? #YouGotThis!

When should you put extra cash toward your mortgage?

Have a good month? Awesome! Get a large tax return? Great! Ready to use that cash to take a bite out of your big debts, like your mortgage? Maybe. Howeber, before you pull out your mobile pay, check a few things first.

Saving and investing is all about balance. Yes, young grasshopper, many people talk about paying off their mortgages aggressively with extra dough lying around. But consider doing this only after you’ve taken care of high interest credit card debt and loans, and you have a bigger plan for your cash flow and personal finance (debt management, college savings, retirement, etc.)

All set with your budget and debt payment plan? Awesome. You’re almost ready to throw down more cash at your mortgage. Just be sure you don’t have any prepayment penalties. And, consider what your interest rate is compared to the current mortgage rates—could you make more if you invested that excess cash in the market?

Make a plan to pay off your mortgage aggressively

If you have the funds, plan to be aggressive with your mortgage payment right from the get-go. That way, you’re buying a home you know you can afford—comfortably, too—and you’ll be chipping away at your debt faster, helping you pay less in interest over time.

Mark your calendar for your monthly payment

Buyers beware! Don’t be late on paying your mortgage bill. It may seem like common sense, but it happens to the best of us. Missing a payment can lower your credit score and even cause your interest to accumulate. Yuck! One easy way to avoid this is to set up an automatic payment plan. This way you can sleep easier at night knowing your bill has been paid on-time. (Just make sure that you will have enough funds in your checking account each month to ensure you don't overdraw your account and accrue overdraft fees.)

Is escrow is right for you?

An escrow service automatically sets aside money for your property taxes and insurance that the mortgage lender will pay on your behalf. Your mortgage lender may offer or insist on an escrow service for your loan. They tend to do that because escrow increases their security that you won’t default on these expenses.

Escrow can be a great forced-budgeting tool that ensures you’re putting away enough to cover your expenses. And, it helps keep you from having to write these big checks twice a year.

However, the downside is that escrow accounts typically don’t pay the interest on funds that you could otherwise earn in other accounts. And, once you set aside the money in escrow, you can no longer access it easily.

Are Mortgage payments forced savings?

Hey, we’re always fans of saving money. But just know that you should not rely on your mortgage as a primary investment. Yes, your aggressive monthly mortgage payments can help you pay off your house sooner and save on interest (less debt = 🙌). But, don’t assume that your home value will increase each year. One of the factors that contributed to the 2008 housing crisis was that people bought homes they couldn’t afford. They assumed the value of their home would increase each year and then down the road they could just refinance it with an assumed higher real estate value. So when the home values didn’t go up as much as expected, people were left underwater on their mortgages and ultimately lost their homes. Many people’s largest asset is their home. But we advise you to think differently. Look at your home as a place to live rather than a prized asset. In other words: don’t bank on those “savings” paying out.

Now you’ve sufficiently mastered your mortgage! Remember: financial planning doesn’t have to be hard. #YouGotThis. We can help.