A relative who makes a nice income recently bought a house and took out a 30 year mortgage. I asked why he didn’t get a 15 year one. Yeah, he wouldn’t listen to the reasoning. He travels with his job so gets a ton of free miles which he could flip over into Walmart cards or other “cash-like” options. What’s so hard to understand? Using the miles as income frees up a couple of paychecks to pay down the mortgage. But, no. He’d rather waste those miles to fly everyone and their dog all over. Tried to explain he needs to consider his kids first and that if he died tomorrow they would owe more than the house is worth. Of course, you know how that conversation ended.
BTW, I took 18-21 hours each semester of college and went in the summers to finish up in 3 years so I wouldn’t be a burden on my parents’ wallet or have an outstanding loan. I also didn’t take underwater basket weaving or womens studies but stuck to the degree plan. I also had a part time job and lived in the dorms. And, ...drum roll..., still had plenty of time to play. There is no excuse for all the foolishness from these facebook losers.
At current rates, the monthly payment on a $300,000 mortgage for a 15-year term is about $700 more than the monthly payment for a 30-year term. If your intention is to pay off the mortgage in 15 years, you might be better off getting a 30-year mortgage and then investing the "extra" $700 every month in some relatively safe, diversified investments. If you do it this way, you build in a margin of safety that gives you the flexibility to do something else with the $700/month you save (including paying the 30-year mortgage off ahead of time after the end of 15 years).
This is an important consideration because a home is a very illiquid asset, and it may not be a good idea to sink more money into it than you need to.