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A 15-year fixed-rate mortgage offers borrowers the same (fixed) interest rate and monthly payments throughout the life of the loan.

Over the long term, you’ll save significantly with a 15-year mortgage compared to other mortgage options. On the other hand, you’ll have a higher monthly payment than you would on a loan with a longer repayment term, like a traditional 30-year mortgage.

There can be more stringent requirements for a 15-year versus a 30-year mortgage. For the former, your lender has to make sure you can afford the larger monthly payments, and usually that means having a higher income and a lower debt-to-income (DTI) ratio. If your DTI ratio is on the higher side, you can work to increase your income or pay down your debt. Some ways you can pay down debt include:

• Pay down your most expensive balance first. Prioritize paying down debt with the highest interest rate first, such as your credit card bills.
• Utilize the snowball method. With the snowball method, you pay off your debt starting with the smallest balance and working up to the largest. The idea is that if you wipe out smaller debt quickly, you’ll have more motivation to tackle larger debt.
• Consider a zero-percent balance transfer card. A zero-percent balance transfer card allows you to transfer your current balance to a new credit card with zero-percent APR, usually for 12 months to 21 months. During this period, you might be able to pay down the debt more easily.

Mortgage lenders set 15-year interest rates based on a number of factors, but it ultimately comes down to the individual borrower. The lender will take into account your credit score, income, debt and savings. The better your credit and financials, the better rate you’ll be offered.

While you can control these qualifying factors, mortgage rates are also influenced by outside forces, including economic conditions and inflation and the lender’s overhead.

Overall, rates change frequently, so when you get a rate you’re comfortable with, consider a rate lock so you won’t have to worry about it changing before you close on your loan.

With a 15-year mortgage, you pay less interest, so you also have less opportunity to take advantage of the mortgage interest deduction.

There’s a caveat: The mortgage interest deduction no longer is of much use to most homeowners, no matter the length of the loan. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which is in effect from 2018 to 2025, allows most homeowners to deduct all of their mortgage interest payments for the year on home loans up to $750,000, but that deduction won’t do much for you unless you have other deductions to push you above the standard deduction. That’s because the standard deduction rose. For 2022, a married couple filing jointly gets a standard deduction of $25,100. At that level, even a large mortgage with a long term and a relatively higher rate might not generate enough interest to take the tax break.