Should you get a 15 or 30 year mortgage? Do you need a 20% down payment to buy a house? How long should you keep your mortgage documents? How do you get started with a loan to buy a house? It’s Mortgage Monday on Great Day Washington, WUSA9! Chong Yi shares his mortgage expertise and answers these questions.
Tune in every month for Mortgage Monday to get your mortgage questions answered. AND, if you have a question, post it on the Facebook page and have it answered LIVE!
Are you a real estate agent, title company or financial advisor? Want to join Chong on the show? Send us an email or post it on Facebook!
2026 update: What about the proposed 50 year mortgage? Find out more here.
TRANSCRIPT
GDW Welcome back, today we’re kicking off our new series. It’s called Mortgage Monday. During this series Chong Yi of The Yi Team at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation has advice on the latest insider knowledge on buying a home.
GDW Good morning, good to see you again Chong.
CY Good to be back.
GDW Welcome to Mondays!
CY This is my favorite day of the week. and today is my favorite day because it’s our first show together.
GDW So what should we expect on Mortgage Mondays?
CY Well, it’s going to be national nap day on every day, that’s today. That was awesome. Haha!
GDW Yeah, yeah. Today IS national nap day!
CY Haha! We’re going to take naps, and we’re going to talk about anything mortgage related, as it relates to your finances, your personal finances.
GDW So you asked viewers to send in some questions over social media, and you’re so excited to be educating people in the process. Because many people just don’t know, even if they’ve bought a home, they just don’t know the ins and outs of it like you do, an expert. So the first question is:
SHOULD YOU MAKE EXTRA PAYMENTS IN YOUR MORTGAGE TO PAY IT DOWN SOONER?
GDW What is your opinion?
CY So before I answer that question, can I make a quick comment?
GDW Oh sure.
CY We’re welcoming back Jen Hansel to our team. She’s been out, and shes’ going to be back and we missed her, and I love her, and she’s coming back next week. So I just wanted to mention that. *wave*
GDW Oh, well welcome back! And you’ve got the “family” at your company. So that’s why you guys work so well together.
CY Yes. For sure.
GDW So you are the experts. What do you think about the mortgage payment?
CY A lot of people look at mortgages as debt. I look at it as a financial tool. I think I’ve said this before in the show, if you were to buy a $600,000 of, let’s say, Amazon stock. You have to have $600,000 to buy that stock. But with a mortgage, that mortgage allows you to buy a $600,000 property putting 5% down. So for $30,000 you can own a $600,000 property. With a low interest rate environment, like we have, I’m not a huge fan of paying extra towards your mortgage. You can make more money outside of your mortgage and have your money grow for you elsewhere.
GDW Yeah. So, now mortgage interest rates are about 4.3% for 30 year loans, 3.8% for 15 year loans. You’re saying that’s low right now?
CY That’s very low. And that can change.
GDW Haha
CY So if you’re looking at a 30 year loan, if you have a 4.3% interest rate, after your tax benefit, you’re really paying like 3.3% or even lower. So the question is, that money that you’re directing towards the principal of the home, could you make more money outside? The answer is, I think so. The question I’m always asked is “where am I going to get it”? Just for starters you can invest in an index stock where the S&P fund has grown at 9.7% since the 1920’s”. So the answer to that question is absolutely, you can let your money grow elsewhere.
GDW Alright, another question we have is,
HOW LONG SHOULD YOU KEEP HARD COPIES OF MORTGAGE PAPERWORK, WILL I NEED THEM LATER?
CY That question comes personally from by better half, Lorraine. We couldn’t find her mortgage documents when we were doing taxes, her taxes. The quick answer is, at least for a year, so you can do your taxes. But overall, I think you should keep them anyway because at some point you may want to refinance to reduce your payment. Or when you’re selling your property you may need to show that documentation. And nowaday’s everything is so digital that you can keep those documents for as long as you need to.
GDW Okay, that’s good to know. So the next question is,
SHOULD I DO A 15 OR A 30 YEAR LOAN?
CY That’s an awesome question. I’m a huge believer in borrowing as much as you can, for as long as you can, in a low interest rate environment, which is where we are now. So, you can pay off your mortgage sooner with a 15 year loan. However, that difference, that delta between a 30 year payment and a 15 year payment, you can direct that outside of your mortgage and let the appreciation and money grow for you. So here’s a great example: there’s a client of ours that we showed this to, and we calculated it out. Instead of 15 years, if they did what we’re talking about they’re going to pay it off in 12 years.
GDW Oh wow!
CY Yeah, so we can show you the math on that.
GDW Well, that’s what the experts are for. That’s what you guys are for, to figure all this stuff out. All right, our next question:
DO WE NEED 20% FOR MY DOWN PAYMENT TO BUY A HOUSE?
CY NO.
GDW I think that just scares people sometimes.
CY It does, it does. And I think a lot of times you’re trying to save that money and the market outgrows you. So while you’re saving money the value of the homes goes up.
You can actually have 0% down, although I’m not a huge fan of that because I think you should have some equity stake in your home. But 3% down, 5% down, they are all options that we can provide.
GDW That’s good to know because I’ve heard people say, “Man, I should have bought 10 years ago when I was thinking about it!” But if they’re saving, and the way prices are now, it might be that you just don’t have as many options. This is good information here.
CY Yeah, and going back to, you know my parents, the house I grew up in, my dad was paying 16 1/2 %.
GDW Wait, say that again?!
CY 16 1/2%
GDW So of course, 3% and 4% is low!
CY Correct
GDW So, now is a good time. What do we need to do to get started?
HOW DO I GET STARTED WITH A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE?
CY First thing you have to do is watch the show.
GDW Haha. Mortgage Monday with Chong Yi!
CY Best show on TV. And if I’m not on the show I’m watching every morning. I think it’s great.
GDW Thanks for watching.
CY You’re welcome. Other than that, you really need to call a mortgage professional. You can actually call me! That would be nice. Love to be able to help.
GDW Well, we talked so much about how important the teams are. And you’re working with realtors all the time. So you are constantly in conversation and know what’s happening in the market.
CY Yeah, we have relationships with a lot of different realtors out there. So we know what maybe coming on the market before it actually hits the market.
GDW Well, Chong, thank you so much! We’re going to have you back. You can get more great information. To inquire now about financing a home or other information about mortgages, contact Chong Yi at Chong@theyiteam.com
xxx
Tune in every month for Mortgage Monday to get your mortgage questions answered. AND, if you have a question, post it on the Facebook page and have it answered LIVE!
Are you a real estate agent, title company or financial advisor? Want to join Chong on the show? Send us an email or post it on Facebook!
Chong Yi, NMLS #198732
Producing Branch Manager
The Yi Team at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.
301-332-1810
chong@theyiteam.com
If you liked this clip about 15 or 30 year mortgage, you might also like this video, Sell First Or Buy First and Millennial Real Estate Tips.
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MORTGAGE ON A MISSION
Starting in 2020, The Yi Team is donating 1% of monthly net sales to a select charity. Enter your favorite cause into the monthly drawing and know that every loan enables us to invest in charities who are working to create positive change.