Extra Payments toward Primary Residence Mortgage?

Question

Hi all! I own two long-term rental properties (1 duplex and 1 single family) and also own a primary residence that I live in. The duplex will be fully paid off in two years (3% interest rate) and the single family is only about five years in (3.625% interest rate). That was my primary residence for five years before I converted it to a rental property. My primary residence was purchased in October 2025 (6.375 interest rate).
My question is, should I make an extra monthly payment towards the principle on the primary residence's mortgage to save on interest? I am not sure if I will be in the house longer than 5 years and am not sure what to do and what is beneficial. Thank you all for your knowledge and advice in advance!

Bill B. · Answer

Feel free to put the cash in a bank cd or high yield savings account. You can earn 4.5-5% interest and still have the cash sitting around in case of an emergency.

If you pay down the loan you’ll only save 3-4% and if you suddenly need $10-$20k for roof/ac/etc etc you won’t have it. Only time it would make sense to pay if off would be a single payment that would then increase your cashflow. Even then you’re financially better off with the CD/Savings account.

Jess Friedman · Answer

@Jules Aton Yep, I've had the duplex since 2015. Can't wait to be done with the loan! I don't plan on contributing any extra monthly payments to either rental property as both have all expenses covered by tenants' rents.

Ned Carey · Answer

Paying off your mortgage at 6.375% is the same as investing 6.375%.  Except you loose a small part of your mortgage interest deduction by paying down the loan.

Bryce Jamison · Answer

It depends. If you have an emergency fund, aren't saving cash for another investment, and are fairly conservative when it comes to debt, then absolutely. Every extra dollar you put towards it will save you 6.375%, so it's basically a savings account with the same rate.

If you have an emergency fund, need cash for other investments, and like to leverage debt more, I'd save all extra cash for the next investment and not pay extra on the principle.

There's also a middle ground. Maybe you pay an extra $100 a month instead of an extra $500. There's no "wrong choice". You can always save the cash and decide a year later to throw it at the mortgage.

Jules Aton · Answer

Hopefully the reason the duplex is almost paid off is due to you owning it for years because I definitely wouldn't make additional payments toward a 3% mortgage. If I understand correctly and your primary residence is 6.375% that is less clear cut although I tend to feel a TSM index fund has a solid chance of significantly beating that amount long term which I would estimate as about 4.5% ish? after tax deduction. Seems stocks are on sale now too.

Austin Moore · Answer

I think it all depends on what your goals are. If you dont plan to be in the residence long and want to recover some equity with a sale in a few years then yes, I think making at least one extra payment per year could be very beneficial.

Extra Payments toward Primary Residence Mortgage?

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