zoobie Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 For those of you who have a 30 year mortgage do you feel you had no choice? Was it the least expensive home you could (reasonably) stand to live in? Or did you go 30 year because you wanted a more expensive house? A little of both. We lost money on our house sale and we're moving into an area with higher housing costs. We've taken extra and upgraded the house. We can pay ahead on the principal or not, but with a 15 year, there's no flexibility. Our income ebbs and flows, and flexibility was more important. Plus interest rates were (are) so low! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 We started with a 30 year, but when interest rates dropped, we changed to a 10 yr. Our payments stayed the same. We will pay it off next year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 We had a 30-year mortgage, but paid it off early. Something around 10 years. (I had to pay off my $85K student loans + interest first.) It has been a long time since we had a house payment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 I don't know anyone out here who has a 15 year mortgage unless they bought decades ago and already paid it off. Many people now are going with 40 year mortgages in order to buy. ETA: I just checked and going to a 15 yr mortgage on our house would add around $1100/mo. to our payment. Going to a 40 year would drop our payments by around $300/mo. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 We live in a rectory (so no fee there) but we own another home. I think we had a 15 year mortgage, but I'm not honestly sure! Off to ask hubby. Now I feel really un-adult. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 We rent because we weren't planning on staying here this long. We're still not planning on staying here long enough to buy a house now. Previously, we had a 10 year mortgage (private, not through a bank, 8% interest) on our house that we bought when I was 22yo and we were both in college (the tearer-downer that we bought for $13,500 and sold for $20k, which was the initial amount the mortgage was for anyway). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Ivy Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 We live in a rectory (so no fee there) but we own another home. I think we had a 15 year mortgage, but I'm not honestly sure! Off to ask hubby. Now I feel really un-adult. This is how I feel often. :) I have no idea what our other two houses were; pretty sure one was 30 and one was 15, but no real idea. I only know that we'd do a 15 year mortgage because we've had the discussion recently. We do cash envelopes, so I know what I have to spend. However, the rest of the finances? I have no idea. I can access it all via our apps, but I often feel very un-adult because I don't know exactly what we spend where. I know I should, but I don't. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 11, 2015 Author Share Posted November 11, 2015 I don't know anyone out here who has a 15 year mortgage unless they bought decades ago and already paid it off. Many people now are going with 40 year mortgages in order to buy. ETA: I just checked and going to a 15 yr mortgage on our house would add around $1100/mo. to our payment. Going to a 40 year would drop our payments by around $300/mo. Interesting. I've only had one 30 and it was our first mortgage. We were 23 and the loan officer strong armed us into it. We wanted a 15 even then and refinanced within 5 years. I have three sets of friends who have bought in the last month...all of them went 15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 We have a 30. We have a great interest rate, and we pay extra each month. But if life intervenes and we can't afford to pay more, we have the option of just paying the mortgage. We moved from a tiny, tiny house to a moderate sized house which fits our needs much better. Our area has a very high COL, sadly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 For those of you who have a 30 year mortgage do you feel you had no choice? Was it the least expensive home you could (reasonably) stand to live in? Or did you go 30 year because you wanted a more expensive house? We chose 30 as a safety measure in case of lay off or some other financial crises. We are actually making payments to be done in 15 years. We bought our house when DS was 3. He just turned 15. We plan to be done by the time he reaches college age. And we planned that intentionally. We way underbought. We could have qualified for a much higher mortgage. I think banks mislead people with allowing them to overbuy what they can really comfortably afford. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 11, 2015 Author Share Posted November 11, 2015 We had a 30-year mortgage, but paid it off early. Something around 10 years. (I had to pay off my $85K student loans + interest first.) It has been a long time since we had a house payment. Who is we? I thought you were single. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermama Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Interesting. I've only had one 30 and it was our first mortgage. We were 23 and the loan officer strong armed us into it. We wanted a 15 even then and refinanced within 5 years. I have three sets of friends who have bought in the last month...all of them went 15. IIRC, CW lives in the same general HCOL area as me. The median sale price in my county is $879,000, and there are areas around me where over a million is completely normal. We bought here last spring for less than that, thank goodness, but it means that DH has an hour long commute on the train. The down payment was more than the entire purchase price of the last home we owned. An equivalent house near where DH works would probably list for around $2.2 million and actually sell for another $200-300k over that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 12, 2015 Author Share Posted November 12, 2015 IIRC, CW lives in the same general HCOL area as me. The median sale price in my county is $879,000, and there are areas around me where over a million is completely normal. We bought here last spring for less than that, thank goodness, but it means that DH has an hour long commute on the train. The down payment was more than the entire purchase price of the last home we owned. An equivalent house near where DH works would probably list for around $2.2 million and actually sell for another $200-300k over that. Wow. I can't even imagine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Interesting. I've only had one 30 and it was our first mortgage. We were 23 and the loan officer strong armed us into it. We wanted a 15 even then and refinanced within 5 years. I have three sets of friends who have bought in the last month...all of them went 15. But you live in a really low COL area don't you? The median home price in our area is around 898k and I'm not even looking in the expensive areas. That's taking out the really high-price areas. That's for a three bedroom, just within a one mile radius of the "poor" area where we live. The average household income is high but it's still under $100k for a family on average. The reason that people can afford to live here is either (a) rent or (b) quite commonly, they will have sold in a higher COL area like California, and used the profit to buy up here, which drives up prices. And of course there are a lot of people who earn way way more. We are buying well under the median but it's still a stretch for us to hope to afford other things like lessons for the kids. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebcoola Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I voted other we have 30yr VA mortgage on one and own the other outright. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 We have a 30 year, but it wasn't our only option. We only financed less than half what the house and land appraises for (inheritance). We went with the 30 year because we wanted low payments, just in case dh had to stop working. We try to pay extra towards the principal each month. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 12, 2015 Author Share Posted November 12, 2015 But you live in a really low COL area don't you? The median home price in our area is around 898k and I'm not even looking in the expensive areas. That's taking out the really high-price areas. That's for a three bedroom, just within a one mile radius of the "poor" area where we live. The average household income is high but it's still under $100k for a family on average. The reason that people can afford to live here is either (a) rent or (b) quite commonly, they will have sold in a higher COL area like California, and used the profit to buy up here, which drives up prices. And of course there are a lot of people who earn way way more. We are buying well under the median but it's still a stretch for us to hope to afford other things like lessons for the kids. Yes very low COL. Where did you get your figure for average household income? I'd like to see what this area is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILiveInFlipFlops Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I guess I didn't read her comment like everyone else, because it seemed like she felt the debt was 'no big deal'. Well, I guess it's no big deal if you're weighing it against other, higher priorities. That $28K is less than $1,000 per year over the life of the 30-year loan. WRT my groceries example, I spend maybe $300 a month extra on organic/natural/local products. I have a friend who can't bring herself to spend that money on organics, even though she thinks they're probably better in the long run. But she pays extra on her mortgage every month. I think not paying extra on my mortgage every month is less important than avoiding feeding my kids the chemicals and pesticides in conventionally grown food. I can't agonize over every penny or I'll go crazy (and I'm more than halfway there already!). If investments go well. And this point illustrates to me that I am on the emotional side of home ownership. We also own some stock. We could have put that money into the mortgage last year, I guess, but in the ensuing year, we've had a 40% return on that investment (and it's now money that's still available to us to get us through the end of this crazy, crazy year and into next year, which should be a better one). DH's employer matches his 401K contribution at 50 cents on the dollar. Even my old 401K from a job I no longer have has inrceased at nearly 8% per year, and I didn't even remember I had it until two years ago :lol: It's not hard to beat 3.75% per year. Actually, not paying off your mortgage in lieu of other financial priorities is a commonly recommended financial strategy. You can also deduct your mortgage interest on your federal taxes. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 12, 2015 Author Share Posted November 12, 2015 Well, I guess it's no big deal if you're weighing it against other, higher priorities. That $28K is less than $1,000 per year over the life of the 30-year loan. WRT my groceries example, I spend maybe $300 a month extra on organic/natural/local products. I have a friend who can't bring herself to spend that money on organics, even though she thinks they're probably better in the long run. But she pays extra on her mortgage every month. I think not paying extra on my mortgage every month is less important than avoiding feeding my kids the chemicals and pesticides in conventionally grown food. I can't agonize over every penny or I'll go crazy (and I'm more than halfway there already!). We also own some stock. We could have put that money into the mortgage last year, I guess, but in the ensuing year, we've had a 40% return on that investment. DH's employer matches his 401K contribution at 50 cents on the dollar. Even my old 401K from a job I no longer have has inrceased at nearly 8% per year, and I didn't even remember I had it until two years ago :lol: It's not hard to beat 3.75% per year. Actually, not paying off your mortgage in lieu of other financial priorities is a commonly recommended financial strategy. You can also deduct your mortgage interest on your federal taxes. Yes some think it is smart to keep a mortgage. Not everyone though. And standard deduction is so high I would never have enough interest to itemize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Yes very low COL. Where did you get your figure for average household income? I'd like to see what this area is. It's from the Census Bureau: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 We rent and have for the past 10+ years(before that we had a 15 yr. mtg). We move a lot (6 states in 10 years) so buying would not work for us. The plan is once DH gets to the level of employment (his next promotion might do it) we will consider settling down but he'd have to be in the job with the same company for at least 5 years before we felt it was a lifelong position, even then companies layoff or shut down plants all the time. If you can't tell we've been burned by layoffs and home-ownership in the past. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Who is we? I thought you were single. Three single women bought the house. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 We rent because we move every couple of years. When we returned stateside, when the market was so crazy and a total buyers market, we would have bought and used it as an rental investment had we been in a military community. But it was a residency program in a civilan hospital with no base near so we continued to rent. We probably will keep doing that till he retires, especially as he comes up on Colonel soon. Once you are in the Colonel's group, you move every two years. I am not sure where we are retiring, still 10-15ish years. But when we do will probably buy for cash if we can or get do mortgage and just pay it off almost immediately. However we don't carry any debt (CC payed off every month, cars paid off, school loans paid off) and because of that we've noticed since we carry none, our credit scores have actually been dropping the last few years. I sure it will go back up when we buy a new car in a few years, but again, we'll get the car loan, and then pay it all off within a year or so. But it is sort of frustrating and feels like punishment for not paying into the "interest" system of loans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syllieann Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 For those of you who have a 30 year mortgage do you feel you had no choice? Was it the least expensive home you could (reasonably) stand to live in? Or did you go 30 year because you wanted a more expensive house? We had a 15 yr on our last home. Our new home (we moved over the summer) is about twice the value of the old one. We went with 30 yr on this, making the monthly payment similar to the last one. We wanted something bigger for our child-raising years, but plan to majorly downsize when kids are off to college. It would be absurd to live in a house this size as empty-nesters. We do make extra payments as if it was a 15 yr note, but we like having the ability to make the lower monthly payment, and it allows more flexibility if dh were to be laid off or become disabled, etc. yes, the interest is slightly more, but I consider it a form of insurance for that peace of mind. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 12, 2015 Author Share Posted November 12, 2015 It's from the Census Bureau: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html Ty. Our county is 45k. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 12, 2015 Author Share Posted November 12, 2015 It's from the Census Bureau: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html Oh wow. And median housing value is 112k. So income is double but housing is 8 times? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Interesting. I've only had one 30 and it was our first mortgage. We were 23 and the loan officer strong armed us into it. We wanted a 15 even then and refinanced within 5 years. I have three sets of friends who have bought in the last month...all of them went 15. We were paying extra on our mortgage for a while so it's not going to take us 30 years unless we choose to stretch it out until the end. But it'll definitely be more than 15, probably more than 20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 IIRC, CW lives in the same general HCOL area as me. The median sale price in my county is $879,000, and there are areas around me where over a million is completely normal. We bought here last spring for less than that, thank goodness, but it means that DH has an hour long commute on the train. The down payment was more than the entire purchase price of the last home we owned. An equivalent house near where DH works would probably list for around $2.2 million and actually sell for another $200-300k over that. Yep, $879k would buy just a normal middle-class house in my town at the current values and the more chi-chi towns around us are now over $1M. Fortunately we were able to buy during the recession or we never could've afforded to purchase a home here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Oh wow. And median housing value is 112k. So income is double but housing is 8 times? Yes, because we have really good schools and facilities. You don't pay for the building but to live in the community. Critically, we have top schools but no charters meaning no matter what, if you buy a home your kid WILL go to a neighborhood school that is one of the top in the state and a high school that is in the top 300 nationally--no matter what. They distribute resources equally. So people pay a premium to live there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 We originally purchased a 30 year mortgage. We had no choice. Two years later we refinanced to a 15 year mortgage when rates were better. We will be selling that home next year and buying a new one. It will be a 15 year. We did something similar: started with a 30, housing prices then jumped so we refinanced a year later to get rid of PMI, then a couple of years after that rates dropped and we refinanced again to a 15 year. It's almost paid off, just in time for the monthly payment amount to go toward college tuition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Btervet Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 30 year mortgage. We could never have afforded a 15 year when we bought. Our mortgage payment(including taxes and insurance) was slightly over 50% of our net income when we first bought the house - so it was a huge stretch even for the 30 year mortgage. However, we wanted to buy a house we knew we wouldn't have to move out of as our family grew. We are also in a very HCOL area, and our house is still small. Small enough that we can't have more than 1-2 friends over - no hosting playdates or coops here. It has worked out well for us. We invested another 80k into the house, and it's value has increased ~125k. The mortgage is now down to <30% of our net income, so not so painful anymore. The only people I know with a 15 year mortgage in this area are DINKs who bought a small house and are planning on upgrading later in life. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I guess I don't understand this mindset. Take a look at the interest you will have paid out after 30 years. Not to mention the principle payment.The amount we pay in interest on the mortgage doesn't come close to what our investments make. We could cash out some investments and pay off the mortgage but we don't believe that would be the best use of our money. We also keep the mortgage because of the tax write off. We invest 25-30% of our income and don't have any other debt. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cottonwood Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 The only people I know with a 15 year mortgage in this area are DINKs who bought a small house and are planning on upgrading later in life. We always do 15 yr. Our current house is closing Nov 25 and it's the biggest house I've ever owned. It' needs no improvements at all and has a ton of upgrades I never thought I'd ever have. I'm not sure what a DINK is, but I am thinking I'm not one LOL We've just always done 15 yr loans because it made more sense to use and we could swing it. This time, our house will likely be paid off in 10, when DH is 50, which sounds great to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I just don't get how people pay 9K a year in taxes. Ours are less than 800. Just blows my mind. Some states do not have income tax, so the property tax is much higher. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Happily in a rental. Having now owned two money pit houses, I have no desire to own again. Renting has been far, far cheaper. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 For those of you who have a 30 year mortgage do you feel you had no choice? Was it the least expensive home you could (reasonably) stand to live in? Or did you go 30 year because you wanted a more expensive house? Neither. We bought well within our budget, planned to pay off quickly but wanted the lower required monthly payment in case we fell on hard times. At the current rate we will have the house paid off in a couple more years (much less than thirty) though there is a good chance we will be moving to a bigger house before then; our family has grown since buying this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BooksandBoys Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 For those of you who have a 30 year mortgage do you feel you had no choice? Was it the least expensive home you could (reasonably) stand to live in? Or did you go 30 year because you wanted a more expensive house? We live in a very high COL area. We were quickly becoming price out of the rental market, not to mention that landlords kept selling our rental houses out from under us. We have a 30 year because we absolutely could not afford a 15. I have plans to pay it off in 20-22 years...here's hoping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 San Diego is too expensive for us to buy anywhere we would actually want to live. My husband hates commuting, so we rent a few miles from the water (he works on boats). The larger issue is that my husband has an insatiable wanderlust, so it is hard for us to lay down roots anywhere. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 1st home - 15 years loan, paid in 7, parents staying 2nd home - 30 years loan, can pay off now (after 9 years) if we empty out our emergency fund. We bought smaller than we could afford both times so we won't be stressed out if income drops. Also a smaller home is easier for me to upkeep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemiSweet Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 We are in the process of buying our first house, we went with a 30 year VA loan. Our options were decent house, decent neighborhood, beautiful house, bad neighborhood, or junky house in an amazing area. We chose the decent/decent option. It's not the most we could reasonably afford, and we will likely pay an extra few hundred most months. I love he house and it's also close to dh's work, which the other two options were not, and one even included an extra $2k per year in toll fees. This will probably not be our forever house, but it's perfect for raising kids. I fancy myself in a lovely old but updated cape cod in 10-15 years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 We're renting a duplex right now, with friends of dh's in the other unit. We live in an area with a lot of affordable rentals, so it's a great option while we pay off our mountain of medical bills. Plus the utilities are included in the rent, so it makes it really easy to budget because we don't have to worry about our costs spiking unpredictably in the winter. And it's a lovely place with a big yard and a neighborhood full of kids the same age as dd. Dh is planning for us to buy a house in a couple years, but honestly, I'm happy here. Money stresses me out, and not having to worry about replacing a furnace or a roof or something is nice. If we do buy, I'm guessing we'll have to go with the 30 year mortgage. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 30 year mortgage on a tiny house in a high COL area. Right now with the way prices came down our mortgage is the same as our appraisals. A few years ago our appraisals were $200,000 over our mortgage. The past couple of years have been rough in a lot of ways and we would have been in trouble if our mortgage payments were any more than they are. Our house needs a lot of work as well. My county has a median income of $96,000 with a median home value of $435,000. That probably gets you 3 bedrooms/1500 square feet in my town. My town isn't listed in that quickfacts and neither is the one where our kids would go to high school (we have a K-8 school) but both would be higher than the county. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyS Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 We're renting a duplex right now, with friends of dh's in the other unit. We live in an area with a lot of affordable rentals, Must be lots of fun, having friends right in the same unit! Affordable rentals make a big difference in one's decision to rent/buy. Where we live it's basically the inverse. Rents are really high. I'll just put it out there that our mortgage is about $650/mth. A comparable rental house would cost approximately double that. Move toward the city where my dh works (about 30 miles away) and you can double it again. My mother lives in that city and pays $1200/mth for a 900sqft apartment (reasonably nice, with community pool and fitness center), no utilities included. So, for us, it makes more sense to own right now. But I could definitely see it going the other way in a different area. Costs of upkeep are not insubstantial (which is why I encouraged my mother to rent, after she let a house she inherited go to pot, at least now when something goes wrong she can just "call the guy"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 30 yr mortgage in a very high COL area. We did not get the biggest or most expensive house that we "could" have according to the bank. I wouldn't say it was no choice. We could have done a 15 yr mortgage but it would have been very tight on our budget and not really given us any wiggle room if we had a financial crisis or anything for extras. We elected to pay more overtime but have the ability to invest, save in other ways (for college) and have the freedom to do other things with the money. We do make extra payments on the principal, usually about one or two a year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 We have a home equity line of credit that serves us as a mortgage. We did this by using our own savings plus family money to buy the house for the full price -- so we own it outright. Then we got a HELOC against it and used that to pay back the family money source. (We were only 'using' the family money for a few weeks as a tool to buy/sell/etc. We don't owe any family debt.) Now we are paying back the HELOC. So that's pretty much like having a mortgage, conceptually, but not technically. It doesn't have an exact 'term' right now, but it should be less than 10 years... Maybe less than 5. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joules Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 For those of you who have a 30 year mortgage do you feel you had no choice? Was it the least expensive home you could (reasonably) stand to live in? Or did you go 30 year because you wanted a more expensive house? We went from a 15 to a 30 when we moved because we were moving my parents in with us. To get a house with a big enough in-law apartment we couldn't afford the 15 year. We have refinanced since and might have been able to swing a 15, but it would have been really tight, and with frequent lay-offs in dh's industry through those years, we felt best to leave it as-is. I do pay extra each month; though that is hard at the rate taxes and insurance are increasing, whenever I up the payment the escrow rises to match me! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I didn't vote. We are currently renting while in the process of buying free and clear. However, we may need to take out a line of credit against the house to complete repairs before we can move in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Our first home was a 30-year mortgage. When we bought this house, we brought a significant amount of equity into the sale so we could afford the payments for a 15-year mortgage (which ended up being less than what we were paying on the 30-year due to better finance rates.) We have 4 years left on this house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Married 22 years and always renting. Dh ruins his/our credit on a regular basis just enough to keep us renting. Love it. ( <<-- Sarcasm. ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Other. ~We bought our house on a 30 year. ~We refied down to a 15year after 5 years. ~When we owed less than 5 years, we refied it again and pulled a very small amount of money out. We had just started a business and wanted our household bills as small as possible during the first year. Interest rates were low and we paid zero to refi, so it was a good decision. ~We now owe 10 more years, but our mortgage is tiny and our interest rates is very, very low. We could pay off our house if we wanted to, so it could be free and clear, but it doesn't make any sense to do that right now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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