[TimmyB]

to do in the next month? I am a first time buyer, and trying to decide how and when to go about financing. One month ago, the 30 year rates were below 5%, now around 5.3%. The 15 year is still around 4.6%. I will be borrowing around $144k, and want to pay about $1k/month (not counting taxes and insurance). Should I wait for rates to come down on 30year, and just pay down principle monthly? Or should I jump on the 15year, and maybe pay a little more monthly?

[joemoser1948]

Depending on where the house is located, it's hard to imagine how you can keep total mortgage payment down that low, particularly for a 15-year fixed rate, on that large a loan amount. Remember that the "real" mortgage payment will need to include taxes and insurance. Check one of those mortgage "calculators" to see what interest rate you would need for that sort of monthly payment. Rates probably already hit their lowest and will probably rise slowly in the coming months, increasing as the recovery continues.

[bobby769]

IMO, rates are more likely to stay where they are and least likely to drop more.a 15yr loan at 5% on 144k will yield a monthly payment of about $1150, whereas a 30 yr mortgage will yield a monthly payment of $773.00Make sure that you can afford the other things like homeowners insurance and property taxes.If you have the financial discipline I'd suggest a 30yr mortgage but instead of sending them just the $773, send them an extra $400 as principle only and that will in essence become a 15 yr mortgage. The benefit to doing this is that if you ever find your self in a bind needing money, you can just send the $773. This works only if you have the financial discipline to send the extra principle only payment.