Mr. and Mrs. Smith bought their starter home in the year 2017 on the 4^th of August. Today is the end of the 4^th year (48 months) that they have been paying a fixed rate of 4.45% on their house that they purchased for $325,000 with a down payment of equal to 23%. The term of the mortgage was 25 years. Its time to renegotiate their rate and they also are looking into the possibility of buying a bigger house down the road. Should they take a fixed or a variable rate mortgage? Given that the current rates are pretty low, they are able to get a variable rate of 1.55% for the next two years.

How much were they paying per month on their mortgage until today? How much will be their monthly payments if they avail the lower variable rate mentioned above for the next two years? How much will be their mortgage balance two years from today?