Interest-only loan fixed rate for 10 years vs fixed 30 year

Interest-only loan fixed rate for 10 years vs fixed 30 year

Member since 2021 · 5 posts · 2 votes

Hi everyone!  I'm a newbie here buying my first condo property here in West Town Chicago, and am wondering if anyone has bought property with or has thoughts on an interest-only loan that is fixed rate for x amount of years (<30) instead of a regular fixed 30 year mortgage for the sake of maximizing the equity you get when you sell?

For context:
I intend to live in the unit for at least 2 years, then rent it out (cash flow is ~200$/month in the current market, way less than 1% cap rate), and eventually planning to sell it in 5 years where hopefully the appreciation has kicked in so that I can use it as a down payment for a duplex to start building more wealth. 

The reason I'm considering this is a regular 30-year mortgage starts off with me paying $465 for principal and $1020 for interest per month, whereas with the interest only loan with fixed 10 year rate: I will start with paying $564 of principal (with the same total monthly payment). So just as a ballpark, averaging that 100$ over 5 years is an additional $6000 into the equity, which is not a lot but not nothing either.

Of course, there is additional risk with taking this interest-only loan which is only fixed rate for 10 years, but in my mind it seems very unlikely that I won't be able to sell the house in 5 years (between 5th year of when I start trying to sell and the fixed rate of 10 years). Do you think it's worth taking that risk? Is there something I might be missing? Would really appreciate all your inputs, thank you!

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  • Rental Property Investor · Fairmont, MN · Member since 2019 · 184 posts · 123 votes
    4y

    @Sean Anggani This is slightly confusing on exactly what you are trying to explain. An "interest only" loan will not pay down any principal, so you will not pay down any of your debt. The 10 year vs 30 year fixed rate options I'm assuming is what your trying to decide between? Interest rates were at historic lows, and are starting to go up in the upcoming months. Even if you are thinking you might sell in 5-10 years, locking in a historically low interest rate for 30 years is a pretty good feeling. If you decide to keep the property, having that rate lock for another 20+ years you will thank yourself. You can always make additional payments towards the loan if you want to pay down your debt quicker.

  • Real Estate Broker · 3412 S. Harlem Avenue Riverside, IL 60546 · Member since 2015 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    4y

    @Sean Anggani I think you are missing something here. Interest only means you don't pay any principle at all during the I/O period. This means you have no debt pay down at all. While I personally like the interest only period a lot, it normally just helps you juice your cash flow a lot after stabilizing a property. I have two loans on apartment buildings here in Chicago currently that are in the I/O phase.

    I think you would probably be fine doing either loan, but the thing to keep in mind is that if you truly hold the property for a while you will want to have the better long term debt in place. With that being said, most investors either sell or refinance in a 5-7 year period so they can take advantage of the equity they have built to buy more real estate. 

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