ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609090010
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
MORTGAGE EQUITY
CONSULTING
Owner: Yonna R. Hamilton
Phone: 731-0295 or 731-4944
Hours: By appointment
Services: Hamilton counsels homeowners on how they can reduce the amount they pay during the life of their mortgage and build equity faster. Her solution: a biweekly payment plan.
Traditional mortgages require one payment a month, or 12 a year. With a biweekly plan, homeowners pay every two weeks, or 26 times a year, equal to paying 13 monthly payments a year. The savings can soon add up. For example, a 30-year, $100,000 mortgage at 10 percent would have monthly payments of $702.06. Over the life of the mortgage, the interest would be $172,741.60. Biweekly payments would be $351.03, the mortgage would be paid off in 20 years, 10 months, and the interest would be $110,007.11, for a savings of $62,734,49.
Under a biweekly plan, payments are electronically debited from your account every two weeks. Because many lenders require full payments, no matter when or how often they are made, homeowners must provide one month's full payment before the program can begin, and they must make sure their account has sufficient funds when the debits are made.
Begun in the Northwest and Midwest in the 1980s, the technique is catching on elsewhere in the country. Hamilton will go to interested homeowners' homes to answer questions.
Fees: A one-time $395 fee to Hamilton, and a $2.50 fee with each electronic debit. Lenders may also charge a fee to go onto the biweekly plan or they may offer it at no charge; ask your lender for their policies.
Owner's Bio: Hamilton, 37, is a registered nurse and mother of two teen-agers who was looking for a way to earn extra money to pay for her children's college expenses. She and her husband are on a biweekly plan, and during the past year she has signed up family and friends. Now she is looking to expand her business.
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Hamiltonby CNB