[Texas Eagle]

You can achieve some of the same benefits of shorter-term mortgage simply by taking out a 30-year mortgage and making extra principal payments.

That's what we did. We had our loan officer print out the numbers for a 30 year loan at 5.75% and a 15 year loan at 4.75%. Then we had him figure out the monthly payment broken down by prinicipal and interest.

We discovered that even with the lower rate for the 15 year loan, we would save tons of money that would otherwise go to interest by going with the 30 year loan and make the 15 year payments.

[Skywalk]

The financial advisor, Rick Edelman(IIRC) advises AGAINST short-term mortgages, making extra payments or trying to "get rid of a mortgage."

His philosophy is that because of people having their homes taken away from in the Depression that it's become a part of the culture to fear foreclosure. Problem is, the law is different, the bank can not call in what you owe before it's due. Essentially, people are wasting their money by trying to get rid of debt and also mistakenly believe that their house is their best investment.

Like Edelman says, it's just a place you live in(Unless you're heavy into real estate.)