One of the most important documents any home mortgage buyer will receive at the closing of the loan is the mortgage table. Also called an amortization table, a mortgage table is a clear listing of every mortgage payment for the life of the loan. It breaks out the amount of each mortgage payment into interest and principal portions, so you as the homeowner can clearly see how much of the home is being paid off with each mortgage payment they make.

Paying off your mortgage early

In addition to its informational value, a mortgage table is a useful tool for those seeking to pay off the mortgage early. Many home buyers find that making an extra principal payment each month can help them cut the length of the mortgage in half. This is an excellent strategy for those home buyers who want to pay down their mortgage without the costs and hassles of refinancing the mortgage. In addition, the beauty of using the mortgage table to make extra payments is that you are under no obligation to make that extra payment every month. If you run short of cash one month, you can simply make the regular mortgage payment. You would not have this flexibility if you loan mortgage refinance to a 15 year mortgage loan, for example.

Does your loan allow early payment?

Before using your mortgage table to pay off the mortgage early, however, it is important to make sure that your particular mortgage loan allows for early repayment. Some mortgage loans, especially those with very low initial interest rates, can assess prepayment penalties that could negate the benefits you get from using your mortgage table to pay down the mortgage loan.

Assuming that there is no prepayment penalty at work, using the mortgage table to pay off a home mortgage loan early is generally a good idea. When assessing whether or not to pay off a mortgage loan early, the most important consideration of course is the interest rate. If the interest rate on your home mortgage is lower than prevailing rates, it may be best not to pay it off early. If, however, the interest rates are higher than the prevailing mortgage rates, it may be a good idea to dig out that mortgage table and see if you can retire that debt.

Even if the home mortgage rate on the mortgage loan is low, many home buyers like the idea of retiring that debt and getting out from under it. Many people simply do not like to be in debt. If you are one of those people, you may want to use the mortgage table to pay off the debt, even if the interest rate is somewhat low. No matter what you use it for, however, it is important to take a look at your mortgage table to keep track of just how much of your home you currently own.