Assignment:
Five years ago, you bought a house for $151,000. You had a down payment of $30,000, which meant you took out a loan for $121,000. Your interest rate was $5.75% fixed. You would like to pay more on your loan. You check your bank statement and find the following information.
Escrow payment: $211.13
Principle and Interest payment: $706.12
Total payment: $917.25
Current Loan balance: $112,247.47
Q1. How much additional money would be needed to add to the monthly payment to pay off the loan in 20 years instead of 25? If you currently meet the monthly expenses with less than $100 left over, would it be reasonable to do this?
Q2. It might be possible to pay the current balance off in 20 years if you refinanced the loan at a lower interest rate. The interest rate that you qualify for will depend in part on your credit rating. What is the highest interest rate you could refinance at in order to do this? Determine the interest rate that would require a monthly total payment that is less than your current total payment. Also, refinancing costs you a couple of thousand dollars up front in closing costs.
Provide complete and step by step solution for the question and show calculations and use formulas.