An interest-only mortgage loan may be an option if you are looking for a way to afford more of a home with smaller payments. An interest-only mortgage loan is very simple: for a set period of time (generally the early years of a mortgage when most of the payment goes toward interest, approximately 5-10 years) your monthly payment will only include the interest due for that month. No portion of the payment will go toward the principal balance. At the end of the interest-only period your loan reverts to its original terms and the monthly payments increase to reflect full amortization over the remaining years of the loan.