Writing a mortgage check each month hardly qualifies as a joyful experience for most homeowners, and no doubt many yearn for the day when their homes are paid in full.

While many people agree that having such a large debt for so many years can seem daunting, there are advantages to having a mortgage payment. Still, there are others who feel more comfortable about doing something to pay down the debt earlier than required.

Making one extra monthly payment a year on a $200,000 mortgage could save more than $65,000 in interest charges, by some estimates, and shave off about four years from a 30-year mortgage.

Who benefits the most from making extra payments? Homeowners who don't qualify for a tax deduction on the mortgage interest are prime candidates for paying down their debt earlier. Without that tax break, it makes sense to pay off the mortgage earlier to save money on the interest, financial experts say. Older homeowners who are retired and whose mortgage payments are relatively small, tend to benefit the most.

Those who pay private mortgage insurance (usually required for people who put down less than 20 percent to purchase their home) also would benefit from paying more towards their mortgage each month. Making extra payments could help bring these homeowners up to the 20 percent equity mark, thus eliminating the need and expense for the PMI.

One fairly easy way to accelerate the mortgage payoff process is to make biweekly payments instead of monthly payments, said mortgage broker Harlan Green at ComUnity Lending in Santa Barbara. Mr. Green suggests splitting the monthly mortgage in half and making two payments a month, instead of just one. Since there are 26 biweekly payments, a homeowner ends up making 13 monthly payments for the year rather than 12.

"You end up paying the mortgage off in about 26 years instead of 30 years," Mr. Green said. Some mortgage companies charge a fee to set up a biweekly payment process, but homeowners can easily do the same thing on their own.

Another suggestion to pay off a mortgage even faster is to make an extra principal payment each month, Mr. Green added. The mortgage payment coupon shows the amount of the total payment that goes towards the principal.

"You add on this extra that usually goes toward the principal only, not the interest. That's around $170 a month on average," Mr. Green explained.

"If you do this for one year, you leap over one year's worth of interest," he said. "If you do it for a 30 year mortgage, you can have it paid off in 15 years."

Paying off a mortgage in half the time, however, may not be such a good thing for younger people who are still working, Mr. Green said. Those in the higher income tax brackets usually benefit the most from taking the tax deduction on the mortgage interest.

"Higher income people will usually put less money down when they buy a home. This gives them a higher mortgage payment to get as much of a write-off as possible," he said. "The tax advantage lets them keep more of their income."

Other financial professionals advise that homeowners should make sure they are paying off other higher interest debt, such as credit cards and other loans, before putting the cash toward a mortgage that averages about 6 percent interest these days.

Financial consultant Larry Rollins at A.G. Edwards & Sons in Santa Barbara said homeowners who put a priority on paying off their mortgage early could be missing out on more lucrative investment options. "When you use extra money to pay towards your mortgage, that's money you no longer have to invest elsewhere," he said. "That's a lost opportunity to invest in something that could be earning you more than what you're paying in interest. You want to make sure your money is working harder for you."

e-mail: mzate@newspress.com