Biweekly mortgage payments

Biweekly payment plan · Half-payments every two weeks

Biweekly mortgage payments are half the monthly payment paid every two weeks instead of the full payment once a month. A year has 52 weeks, so 26 half-payments add up to 13 monthly payments rather than 12, and the extra payment a year goes to principal.

What is biweekly mortgage payments?

A monthly mortgage is paid 12 times a year. Paying half of that amount every two weeks gives 26 half-payments, which is the same as 13 full payments. The loan's rate and scheduled payment stay the same; the thirteenth payment is extra principal, so the balance falls faster and the loan clears before its last scheduled month.

Spread over the year, the thirteenth payment is one twelfth of the monthly payment added to each month. That is the usual way to model it: the scheduled payment times 13 ÷ 12. A true biweekly schedule lands its half-payments on dates that drift across the calendar, two months a year carry three of them, and the result depends on when the servicer credits each one and how it charges interest between them.

A servicer decides how it handles a half-payment. One that holds it until the second half arrives credits a full payment once a month, and the extra payment reaches principal on the date the servicer applies it. The servicer's terms state how a biweekly arrangement is credited.

How biweekly mortgage payments works, with numbers

A $300,000 mortgage at 6% over 30 years has a payment of $1,798.65, so a half-payment is $899.33. Twelve monthly payments come to $21,583.80 a year; 26 half-payments come to $23,382.45, one full payment more. Spread across the months, that is $149.89 a month on top of the scheduled payment.

Modeled that way, the balance reaches zero with the 295th monthly payment, 24 years and 7 months in, against 360: 65 months sooner. The interest comes to $273,849 instead of $347,515, $73,666 less. Worked instead as 26 half-payments a year with interest charged every two weeks at 6% ÷ 26, the loan clears with the 638th half-payment, about 24 years and 5 months in. The figures are this example's arithmetic, with the rate fixed and no payment missed.

Monthly payment, 6%, 360 months: $1,798.65
12 payments a year: $21,583.80
26 half-payments a year: $23,382.45
Extra a year, spread monthly (÷ 12): $149.89
Payments to zero, monthly: 360
Payments to zero, biweekly: 295
Interest, monthly: $347,515
Interest, biweekly: − $273,849
Interest saved: $73,666

Why biweekly mortgage payments matters

A biweekly schedule is an extra principal payment with a fixed size: one monthly payment a year, about 8% on top of the scheduled amount. In the example it takes 65 months and $73,666 of interest off a 30-year loan, the same as paying $149.89 more each month, because the arithmetic is the same.

The modeled payoff date and a real one can differ by a month or two. Half-payments on two-week dates retire principal a little earlier in the month than a smoothed extra does, and a servicer that holds half-payments retires it a little later. The total paid each year is the same either way.

Biweekly mortgage payments in Taiga Finance

The mortgage payoff planner in Taiga Finance, under Scenarios and on the property's page, has a “Biweekly” block with one field, “Starting”, a date that reads “Today” when left blank. Switched on, it moves “Paid off” and “Interest left to pay”, and “Balance over time” draws the plan's balance beside the “Current loan”. On a property with no mortgage, the block reads “No mortgage on this property — there's no schedule to make biweekly.”

The planner models the schedule as the scheduled payment times 13 ÷ 12 each month, and says so under “What this plan doesn't capture”: “Biweekly is modelled as a smooth extra”, with the note that the payoff date can land up to about two months later than a true 26-payment schedule, depending on when the servicer applies each payment. The public mortgage payoff calculator runs the same “Biweekly” block, with the same note, on a balance, rate and term typed in without an account.

The public mortgage payoff calculator →

Key takeaways: Biweekly mortgage payments

Biweekly mortgage payments are half the monthly payment every two weeks: 26 half-payments, or 13 full payments, a year.
The thirteenth payment goes to principal, so the loan clears sooner and costs less interest; the rate and the scheduled payment stay the same.
In the example, a $300,000 loan at 6% over 30 years clears in 295 months instead of 360, with $73,666 less interest.
Taiga Finance's mortgage payoff planner has a “Biweekly” block that models the schedule as one twelfth of a payment extra each month and notes that a real 26-payment schedule can land up to about two months sooner.

Questions about Biweekly mortgage payments

How do biweekly mortgage payments work?

Half the monthly payment is paid every two weeks. A year has 26 two-week periods, so the half-payments add up to 13 monthly payments instead of 12, and the extra payment reduces the principal.

How much faster do biweekly payments pay off a 30-year mortgage?

It depends on the balance and the rate. On a $300,000 loan at 6%, modeled as one twelfth of a payment extra each month, the balance clears in 295 months instead of 360, 5 years and 5 months sooner, and the interest falls from $347,515 to $273,849. The exact date depends on when the servicer credits each half-payment.

Is a biweekly payment the same as paying one extra payment a year?

In total, yes: 26 half-payments equal 13 monthly payments, one more than the 12 a monthly schedule makes. The timing differs slightly, since biweekly half-payments land through the year rather than in one sum, which moves the payoff date by a month or so.