The same principal and interest payment for the life of the loan. Predictable, plannable, and still the right answer for most U.S. homeowners — especially when rates are uncertain.
Your principal and interest stay flat. Taxes and insurance can move, but the loan piece doesn't.
No adjustment dates to track, no caps to understand, no rate-shock to plan for.
Make extra principal payments whenever you want, with no penalty on standard programs.
If rates drop, a rate-and-term refi captures the savings without changing your overall strategy.
$953/mo more on the 15-year saves roughly $341k of interest. If cash flow supports it, the 15-year is one of the highest-return moves available to a homeowner.
For illustration only. Numbers are hypothetical and don't represent an offer, rate lock, or guarantee. Actual rates, payments, fees, and qualification depend on your credit profile, the property, the lender, current market conditions, and required taxes & insurance. APR will differ from interest rate. 8Twelve Mortgage is an independent brokerage and arranges — but does not make — loans. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Term length is the biggest lever you control. A 30-year is the default for a reason — lower payment, more flexibility. But shorter terms save staggering amounts of interest over the loan's life.
A 30-year doesn't force you to actually take 30 years. You can pay it like a 20- or 15-year by adding to principal each month, but you keep the option to drop back to the lower required payment when life throws something at you. That optionality is worth a lot.
Discount points let you pay upfront for a permanently lower rate. The math comes down to break-even: divide the cost of the points by the monthly savings to find how long it takes to recoup. If you'll keep the loan past that break-even, points pay off; if not, take the par-rate option.
Mortgage rates track mortgage-backed security prices, which move with broader bond markets — not directly with the Fed funds rate. That's why mortgage rates sometimes move opposite to Fed announcements. We watch the daily MBS market and lock when the indicators turn favorable for your file.
Don't pick a fixed rate and forget about it. Build a refinance plan into the original loan: at what rate would a refi save you enough to be worth doing? Set an alert, and let the market come to you. We do this for active clients automatically.
30-year for flexibility and lower required payment; 15-year for materially lower total interest and faster equity build. Many borrowers split the difference with a 20- or 25-year term, or take a 30-year and pay it like a 20.
On the same rate, a 30-year loan typically pays more than double the total interest of a 15-year loan. The 15-year usually has a slightly lower rate too, widening the gap further.
Yes, on virtually all modern U.S. mortgages. There are no prepayment penalties on FHA, VA, USDA, conventional Fannie/Freddie, or most jumbo loans.
Pricing tiers improve at 720, 740, and 760+. Above 780, you've captured almost all the score-driven discount. We'll show you what each tier saves on your specific loan size before applying.
It depends on how long you'll keep the loan. The break-even on most point buydowns is 3–5 years. If you're certain you'll keep the loan past that, points can be smart; if not, take the no-points option.
Yes — that's the whole point of a refinance. Rate-and-term refis are a normal part of long-term mortgage management.
A 3-minute application. Soft credit pull. A real rate from a broker shopping 50+ lenders for you.
