A 15-year pays the home off in half the time and usually carries a lower rate, often around half a percent as a rule of thumb. The tradeoff is a meaningfully higher monthly payment. The lender takes on rate risk for a shorter period, so it charges less for it. Meanwhile you are amortizing the same balance over half as many years, which is what pushes the payment up. The size of that payment gap depends on the rate environment. When rates are very low, so little of an early 30-year payment goes to interest that the 15-year payment feels proportionally much larger. When rates are higher, the 15-year saves relatively more in total interest, though the monthly payment is still the hurdle. If you plan to refinance in three to five years, choose based on the payment you can comfortably carry now, since where rates sit later is a bet nobody can promise you will win. For most first-time buyers we lean toward the 30-year: it qualifies you more easily and keeps you flexible. You can always pay extra toward principal to mimic a faster payoff, but you cannot make a 15-year payment smaller in a tight month. The 15-year tends to fit move-up buyers with a large down payment, or owners further along who want to shorten the time left on an existing loan. Either way, the call is yours to make with the tradeoffs in front of you.