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Question: Rates have risen since I got a mortgage so I don’t want to refinance. What’s the quickest and easiest way to knock down my mortgage balance and owe less to the lender?
Check today's rates here and apply for a conventional refinance (Nov 3rd, 2026)
Answer: For most mortgages, there are five strategies to reduce mortgage debt without refinancing.
Occasional extra principal payments
First, there is the occasional prepayment. In this situation, every so often you add money to your mortgage payment by using the “extra principal” line on your payment coupon.
If you go this route, check your mortgage balance in the coming month. That way, you can make sure your balance reflects the additional payment.
Large lump-sum payments toward mortgage debt
Second, the term “extra principal” usually means that the borrower chips in some money here and there to reduce the principal balance. However, sometimes a borrower wants to make a single substantial payment, say $10,000 or $20,000.
In that case, call the loan servicer before you make a larger payment. Ask whether the servicer will treat the payment as a “curtailment.”
If the servicer counts it as a curtailment, the interest rate remains unchanged and the loan balance drops significantly. On a fixed-rate loan, that alone does not lower your monthly payment. But you can ask the servicer to re-amortize, or “recast,” the loan. A recast lowers the minimum monthly payment because the loan needs less each month to be self-amortizing over its remaining life.
Work out the terms of a curtailment with the lender in advance. Then everybody understands what will happen once the lender receives your payment.
Regular prepayments that cut mortgage debt faster
Third, you can plan to make regular prepayments, say $100 every month. For example, if you have a $175,000, 30-year mortgage at 4.25%, the monthly payment for principal and interest will be $861.
Add an extra $100 per month, and you will repay the mortgage in 293 months instead of 360 months. As a result, the loan term drops by 67 payments.
In practice, most 30-year loans do not actually last three decades. So you will most likely sell or refinance and simply owe less mortgage debt at closing.
Fourth, you can effectively decide your loan length. If you raise the monthly payment on our $175,000 loan to $1,317, you will repay it in 15 years. Similarly, paying $1,084 per month gives you 20-year financing.
Match a bi-weekly schedule with monthly payments
Fifth, you can create what is effectively a bi-weekly payment. Instead of paying $861 for principal and interest each month, you would pay $430.50 every two weeks.
Such a schedule will surely pay off the loan more quickly. However, some servicers charge a fee for a bi-weekly payment plan.
The solution is to skip the fee and still get the same essential result as a bi-weekly payment. You can easily do this by dividing your current monthly payment by 12. Then add the result to the extra principal line of your payment coupon.
In this case, $861 divided by 12 gives you $71.75. Add $71.75 to $861, and the total monthly payment comes to $932.75. Multiply $932.75 by 12, and you get $11,193.
Likewise, multiplying $430.50 by 26 gives the same result.
You will sometimes hear about third parties who offer to operate bi-weekly payment programs on your behalf. Naturally, if you enroll in such a program, you will have to pay various fees and charges. That money could pay down your mortgage debt instead.
Your mortgage agreement is with the lender, so you must ensure every required payment arrives in full and on time. If a third party pays late or does not pay at all, your credit will suffer.
Check for prepayment penalties first
For these strategies to work, your loan must allow prepayments without penalty. Federal rules limit prepayment penalties on most mortgages, but some loans out there can still ding you for prepayments.
Typically, if your mortgage coupon has a line that allows you to add “extra principal” or something similar, you should be okay.
If you have any questions about penalties, call your loan servicer. Ask what penalties, if any, apply to your mortgage.
Check today's rates here and apply for a conventional refinance (Nov 3rd, 2026)
