Mortgage Basics 101: What is amortization?

 

Ryan Zupan here with City Wide Financial. This is the first of a series of segments I’m going to do on the basic elements of your mortgage. We’re going to first talk about amortization. The amortization is like the lifespan of your mortgage. Making regular payments, this is how long it will take you to repay the loan. The longer your amortization, the less your payments will be. All things being equal, the shorter the amortization, the higher your payments will be.

So why would anyone want a shorter amortization? The longer you draw out your mortgage, the longer your amortization, the more interest you will pay over time. So you want to find a middle ground, where you have a mortgage payment you feel comfortable making, but also one that isn’t going to have your mortgage follow you around until retirement.

Right now, in Canada, the longest amortization you can choose with less than 20% down, is 30 years. There are a few institutions that will accept 35 year or longer amortizations with 20% down, but those are really exceptions & you don’t want your mortgage to follow you around that long.

If you choose, say, a 30 year amortization, all is not list. If you go with accelerated payments, say accelerated bi-weekly payments, you’re going to bring that amortization down to pretty close to 25 years. You’re going to lose 5 years right out of the gate.

Even, when you first buy, if you’re worried that you don’t want your mortgage to follow you around until retirement, there are lot of strategies & ways that we can cut that time down & save you money.

For more information on the different elements of a mortgage, check out my later videos or contact me:

Ryan Zupan
Mortgage Planner
604.250.6122
ryan@mortgagecentrebc.com