Thanks for the responses! I see. Yeah, I think they're just different places trying to get me to buy mortgage insurance. I asked my mortgage broker to make sure it's nothing I'll really need. She hasn't gotten backt o me yet.

The biweekly thing is still confusing to me. I'll probably do what you guys suggested and pay extra towards the principal when I can. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to all this...can someone tell me why by paying off a bigger principal help with the interest? I thought the lender already calculates the exact amount for each month already and it's just a matter of paying it off as we go or I can save it into a bank account and pay it later? Thanks everyone!!

Hey Mike,

When you buy a house it is amazing the amount of junk mail you will receive and for many years sometimes. The documents these places send look so official because they are. They have searched the local registry and found your name and address to add to their database. They are officially wanting your business, your money.

You may already have mortgage insurance because most lenders will require you to buy at closing. So unless you are told otherwise your lender would have secured any requirments with regards to insurance before now. You can call your lender and see what they have to say.

Hmm, If you are trying to stretch your monthly payment over two checks you may need to check your closing docs for details on the the bi-weekly option. From my experience you can send an extra payment each month on your own, if that is your goal. Just make sure to mark the memo "To be applied to Principal Balance" and date the check. If they are returning a check like that then better find your closing mortgage docs and see what your agreement says about extra payments. If you can swing the extra payment every month you can save yourselfs thousands of dollars paying this way. Check out the link below to a financial expert I have respect for. He can explain all the do's of mortgage payment lingo.

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/askdave/index.cfm?event=dspAsk…

Good Luck,
Karissa Moore, Realtor
Hogan Real Estate, Inc.
978/ 410-5248

Hi Mike. The typical mortgage insurance only benefits the lender as it will pay when you default on the mortgage. Mortgage insurance is usually not a voluntary thing. I have never heard of anybody getting mortgage insurance after the close of escrow. Perhaps, the offers that you receive in the mail are more like a disability/accident insurance that will pay your mortgage after an accident or when you become legally disabled. That kind of insurance is different from true mortgage insurance as it covers different occurrences. At this point, true mortgage insurance can be tax deductible (please check with a tax adviser for details), while the disability/accident insurance that will pay your mortgage is not tax deductible, at least not to my knowledge.

As far as paying your mortgage bi-weekly is concerned. I am assuming you want to pay it bi-weekly to pay off your mortage sooner. You can accomplish the same thing by just paying an additional payment once a year or just make additional payments towards the principal. Your monthly bill should come with a payment coupon that has a place where you can indicate how much extra you are paying towards the principal. I have never heard of a third party service through which you can pay your mortgage bi-weekly. If there's such a place, I am sure there's a fee for it, either a one-time setup fee or monthly charge as nobody works for free. Having to hire a third party to pay your mortgage bi-weekly seems to defeat the purpose of saving money over the long run. Good luck to you.

Bi Weekly is a service that is offered not through your lender. Check into this before you do it. I believe that even if you refi your loan it will stay with you. Instead of doing this you might want to just pay an extra payment every year. It will do the same things and you will not have to do it if your situation were to change and you were not able to keep this up. You can always add extra money to your principal when you make a payment every month.