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For many of us who are buying homes later in life, having the mortgage paid off as soon as possible has many benefits. For this reason, more and more home buyers are considering the choice between 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgage rates. Of course, as with anything, there are many things to consider before signing any papers. It is important to ensure that your interest rate doesn't change over the course of the loan. Many lenders offer deals that are too good to be true. Loans that have 15-year fixed mortgage rates maintain the same amount of interest throughout the life of the loan. This can be an enormous benefit when budgeting monthly payments.

When my husband and I were looking at homes for sale we decided to look into the various loans available with 15 -year fixed mortgage rates. We wanted to pay off the house as soon as possible but didn't want to get in over our heads with high monthly payments.

In addition to considering loans with 15-year fixed mortgage rates we also looked into loans that spanned 30 years as well. We were apprehensive about having a mortgage as we approached the age of retirement so we were concentrating our efforts on loans with 15-year fixed mortgage rates.

However, after taking everything into consideration we chose a 30-year loan instead. There were many things that factored into this. First of all, I discovered that I was having a baby. My contribution to the monthly finances was unreliable since I was going to raise our child at home. Loans that had 15-year fixed mortgage rates required a higher monthly payment. Facing a reduction in income, we decided to act cautiously.

A 30-year loan brought the monthly payments down quite a bit. But, if we choose to do so, we can also make extra payments throughout the year to reduce the principal more rapidly. If you make just a handful of extra payments throughout a twelve month period you can knock years off of your loan. This takes some discipline but it is well worth it in the long run.

Although we would have preferred the loans with 15-year fixed mortgage rates we had to take our needs and financial situation into consideration. As it is things worked out very well.