Most people who get a mortgage to buy a home will usually go for a 30 year home mortgage which has a lower payment although you will be paying the home mortgage payments for 30 years with lower payments.
Although that 30 year mortgage is a very long time to pay off a mortgage and you'll end up paying more in interest over the life of the 30 year mortgage vs a 20 year mortgage or even a 15 year mortgage.
You can also opt for a 15 year mortgage instead of a 30 year mortgage or a 20 year mortgage and although you'll have higher payments each month you'll be able to pay off the mortgage sooner than 30 years and save money in interest charges.
So yes a 20 year mortgage or even a 15 year mortgage can be a great idea so you can pay off the mortgage sooner but you must be able to make those mortgage payments that will be higher.
You can start out with a 30 year mortgage and then if possible refinance the 30 year mortgage after a few years to a 20 year mortgage or even a 15 year mortgage so you can pay off the loan much sooner.
But even with a 30 year mortgage you can still make extra payments towards the mortgage to get the loan paid down and paid off sooner.
But with the 20 year or 15 year mortgage you'll always have those higher payments that you must always keep up with and you can still pay extra towards the mortgage even with a 20 year or 15 year mortgage.
I would start out with a 30 year mortgage if you cannot afford the higher payments right now but if you're making good money and know you can afford those higher payments each month then going with the 20 year mortgage or 15 year mortgage is a good idea.
You'll own your house much sooner with a shorter term mortgage than with a long 30 year mortgage.
Because lets face it 30 years is a pretty long time to pay off a home and I would not want to continue to have to make payments for 30 years if I didn't have too.
Once you get the mortgage paid off you can place the mortgage payment you would've paid to the bank into your own savings account.
That mortgage payment you're no longer making anymore can sure add up to a lot of money overtime.