For many home buyers, the only real decision they have to make is whether to have a 15 or 30 year fixed mortgage rate? Many people wait until they are older before taking on the responsibility of a mortgage so an early payment of this large debt is an important issue to think about. But, before you commit yourself and sign any documents, there are points you need to think about. One point to remember is ensuring that your monthly mortgage repayment remains the same throughout the entire period of the loan.

It seems that some lenders are happy to offer deals that appear too good to be true and they usually are. Loans agreed with a 15 year fixed mortgage keep the same interest rate throughout the entire life of the agreement.

This is always a good thing for those people that do not like surprises. My wife and I had already decided to research long term fixed mortgage rates when we started looking at homes for sale.

Having a realistic, sustainable monthly payment on our mortgage was important even though we wanted to pay off our debt as soon as possible. This meant we had to consider 30 year fixed rate mortgage plans as well as those of 15 years.

Still, having a mortgage close to retirement was not what we were looking for, so we decided to try for a loan with a 15 year fixed mortgage. There was obviously very good reasons to finish paying the loan off early.

Taking everything into account we finally went for the easier 30 year mortgage plan instead. Many factors were taken into account when reaching this decision. The main reason was that I found out my wife was pregnant.

Because she wanted to be at home for our child, her income would not only be uncertain but also irregular. The financial commitment per month on the 15 year fixed mortgage rate was just too high. We could see the financial problem of getting in too deep even though there were benefits to a shorter loan period. Despite the trepidation of having a longer term loan, it did reduce the repayments considerably.

We found that if we could make a few extra payments throughout each year then it would gradually reduce the principle sum owed. It is possible to take years off your loan if you can make a few extra payments during each year. This may be difficult but well worth the effort in the a few years down the line. Our desire for a 15 year fixed rate mortgage was second place to our more immediate needs. Things worked out well anyway, even though we were unsure about it to start with.