1.Oppenheimer Bank is offering a 30-year mortgage with an APR of 5.25%. With this mortgage your monthly payments would be $2000 per month. In addition, Oppenheimer Bank offers you the following deal: Instead of making the monthly payment of $2000 every month, you can make half the payment every two weeks (so that you will make 52 ⁄ 2 = 26 payments per year). With this plan, how long will it take to pay off the mortgage of $150,000 if the EAR of the loan is unchanged?
2.Your friend tells you he has a very simple trick for shortening the time it takes to repay your mortgage by one-third: Use your holiday bonus to make an extra payment on January 1 of each year (that is, pay your monthly payment due on that day twice). If you take out your mortgage on July 1, so your first monthly payment is due August 1, and you make an extra payment every January 1, how long will it take to pay off the mortgage? Assume that the mortgage has an original term of 30 years and an APR of 12%.
3.You need a new car and the dealer has offered you a price of $20,000, with the following payment options: (a) pay cash and receive a $2000 rebate, or (b) pay a $5000 down payment and finance the rest with a 0% APR loan over 30 months. But having just quit your job and started an MBA program, you are in debt and you expect to be in debt for at least the next 2 1/2 years. You plan to use credit cards to pay your expenses; luckily you have one with a low (fixed) rate of 15% APR (monthly). Which payment option is best for you?