15-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage
A higher payment, dramatically less interest, and a house you own outright in half the time.
A 15-year fixed compresses repayment into 180 months. The payment is meaningfully higher than a 30-year loan on the same balance — but nothing like double, because far less interest accrues over the shorter life of the loan.
Lenders also generally price 15-year loans below 30-year loans, so you are usually getting a lower rate on top of the shorter term. Equity builds quickly from the first payment.
A good fit when…
- You can comfortably carry the higher payment
- You want to be mortgage-free sooner, especially before retirement
- You want to minimize total interest paid
- You are refinancing and do not want to restart a 30-year clock
Worth knowing
- The required monthly payment is materially higher — it must fit your real budget, not your best month
- Less monthly flexibility if income is variable
- You may qualify for a smaller loan amount at the same income
Our take. We often run both terms side by side before you decide. Seeing the actual payment difference next to the actual lifetime interest difference usually makes the answer obvious within about a minute.
Not sure this is the right program?
Most people arrive certain they need one specific loan and leave with a better-fitting one. Tell us what you are trying to do and we will lay out the realistic options side by side — payment, cash to close, and total cost — so you can compare them honestly.
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