Suppose that 10 years ago you bought a home for $110,000, paying 10% as a down payment, and financing the rest at 9% interest for 30 years.

a. Let's consider your existing mortgage: How much money did you pay as your down payment? How much money was your mortgage (loan) for? What is your current monthly payment? How much total interest will you pay over the life of the loan?

b. This year, you check your loan balance. Only part of your payments have been going to pay down the loan; the rest has been going towards interest. You see that you still have $88,536 left to pay on your loan. Your house is now valued at $150,000. How much of the loan have you paid off? (i.e., how much have you reduced the loan balance by? Keep in mind that interest is charged each month - it's not part of the loan balance.) How much money have you paid to the loan company so far? How much interest have you paid so far? How much equity do you have in your home (equity is value minus remaining debt)

c. Since interest rates have dropped, you consider refinancing your mortgage at a lower 6% rate. If you took out a new 30 year mortgage at 6% for your remaining loan balance, what would your new monthly payments be?

How much interest will you pay over the life of the new loan?

d. Notice that if you refinance, you are going to be making payments on your home for another 30 years. In addition to the 10 years you've already been paying, that's 40 years total. How much will you save each month because of the lower monthly payment? How much total interest will you be paying (you need to consider the amount from 2c and 3b)