Mortgage Update #2
I called my bank to increase my weekly payments by 5.3% and the change was made immediately. The person on the other end of the phone told me that few people ever call to increase their payments. Most call to decrease them.
I asked what the maximum I could pay on my mortgage and was a little shocked (granted I could have read the mortgage document, but who really wants to do that!). The “pre-payment” options were ridiculously generous.
I am allowed to make annual lump sum payments of 20% of the original mortgage principal. This amounts to $42,000 per year. While this is more than generous, I would probably never be able to make a $42,000 lump sum payment but it does afford me the opportunity to drop any other bonuses or windfalls I receive on my mortgage.
The bank also allows me to annually increase my payments by 25%. Again this is more than enough but if I happen to land a dream job and get a 25% raise in pay, I could increase my payments accordingly.