'Bidness' news channel says the majority is now mortgage free.....

[Budnicks]

Hope your county or state has the 65 or over discount.....have that here and it reduced my taxes on the house nearly 50%!

or like we have Prop 13, 1% of the org. purchase price/fixed
one of the only advantages here/still, in a sea of ****
look it up...

 

[Fran Blacker]

Hope your county or state has the 65 or over discount.....have that here and it reduced my taxes on the house nearly 50%!

Was getting $900 off. This year $300, make to much. They check income every 2 years. Only hope they raise income level. RMD from my IRA is why and interest on CDs.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Second and last leveraged investment in my life. Sold my 1960 Chrysler 300F 23 years ago for the down payment. Now have 95 percent equity with balance at 3.5 percent. Love living in it, and it’s my ticket to the continuing care place if I make it that far.

 

[GetX'd]

Hope your county or state has the 65 or over discount.....have that here and it reduced my taxes on the house nearly 50%!

Hey bro - 65 a d over discount in TX? Never heard that. Could you pls explain how and where it works. Im mostly interested in the outer hill country area - not Austin but still that area where it’s conservative.

 

[GetX'd]

I carried a mortgage and did want the tax deductions when there was some value to them. Paid the place off in exactly 15 yrs on a 30 yr mortgage by doubling every month. I used to declare 8/9 exemptions up until the end of the year then back down to one at tax time. $1m place now, started with taxes at about $2600 per annum. Now they’re all the way up to $2800 after 30yrs of ownership. Other than weather and natural beauty, possibly the only redeeming thing about this God forsaken state is Prop 13 passed in the 70’s. This place has gone up 5x in value with about $300 total increase in taxes.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

I carried a mortgage and did want the tax deductions when there was some value to them. Paid the place off in exactly 15 hrs on a 30 yr mortgage by doubling every month. I used to declare 8/9 exemptions up until the end of the year then back down to one at tax time. $1m place now, started with taxes at about $2600 per annum. Now they’re all the way up to $2800 after 30yrs of ownership. Other than weather and natural beauty, possibly the only redeeming thing about this God forsaken state is Prop 13 passed in the 70’s. This place has gone up 5x in value with about $300 total increase in taxes.

And they keep trying to end it....

 

[1 Wild R/T]

So, while the idea of the majority being mortgage free sounds great & for those of us who own our homes is great..... Part of those mortgage free majority aren't home owners at all.... They are renters without the security home ownership provides...

 

[Richard Cranium]

So, while the idea of the majority being mortgage free sounds great & for those of us who own our homes is great..... Part of those mortgage free majority aren't home owners at all.... They are renters without the security home ownership provides...

And constantly have to pay that monthly rent till they die. Many are happy with that.

 

[GetX'd]

For the alphabet generations that are thumbing their noses at the real world I view it as their problem - could care less. For those of them trying to do their part and want to do the right thing I do have sympathy.

 

[PlymCrazy]

Bought our first house in 1998.
Lost my job at General Motors before we made our 1st mortgage payment. And at that point we had (1) kid and (1) on the way.
I found other income making far less for the next couple of years, but we learned to budget and stick to it quickly because we did not want to lose our home.
I got into the trades in 2000 and that began the game-changer financially for us.
Add to that another part-time job and doing side work for the next several years - that led to that 1st mortgage being paid off on 2/23/2006.
We used the sale of that house as a significant portion of the down payment on the house we're in right now. Bought that in 2007.
We are on track to be mortgage free when I'm eligible to retire in 4(ish) years.
We have been debt free(barring our current mortgage) for many years now.

 

[YY1]

I owe 12K on the 90K loan for a 120K house that is now valued at 330K.

I refinanced once and got the payment reduced by $100 and the principal reduced by 8K while keeping the same term and interest rate of 3.4%
Cost $1400 to do it, but that was paid back in 14 months of the reduced payment.

I've always paid extra towards the principal, enough to make at least one additional payment per year, sometimes two.
This past year I've made more than three extra payments.

Doesn't really make sense to pay that off as the payments are 90% towards principal, and we are waiting on the housing market to crash, so we can buy another rental.
At the rate I'm going, it will be paid off in just over a year and a half, and I'll still have that 12K available.
Of course, then we'll get a monthly service charge on our account since we're not paying them interest.
The payment is only $350 a month (plus that extra), but it will be like getting a 350 plus dollar raise.

When we buy a house, we put down enough so we don't have to escrow for taxes. I want control of that.

Our rentals have been paying for all of our expenses save that primary residence house payment.
With the skyrocketing cost of housing, and both of our rentals turning over this past summer, we are now able to use that for the primary payment plus each drag some cash from that account.
...well we actually have one more month of that income paying us back for the somewhat extensive remodel we had to do on the one that had an 8 year tenant.

It's great to be on the other side of "passing it on to the consumer".

In order to claim mortgage interest, you have to itemize. I've only ever been able to itemize twice in my life, and that was the first two years after I bought my house, when the interest was 80% of the payment. After that, it was a better deal to take the standard deduction.

 

[icetech]

Who all is? I've been that way since 98 and glad of that. Been here since 84 and started on the trek to paying it off in 15 years even though I had a 30 year loan. My original mortgage company sold it to another and that one sold to another and another with all of them raising my monthly payment saying I was behind paying escrow etc etc etc. I threatened the last one with fraud when I found out they were not paying the taxes on time and passing the penalties to me when my credit union said 'you are next' and went with them when they said I could carry my own escrow and then told me how to pay off the mortgage faster by paying twice monthly....then I threw in another 100 bucks or so per payment. Then my dad loaned me enough to pay it off in 95 and then was paying him back and intended to pay him back so long as he was still living.....and then he decided to quit the earth in 98..... Hard to believe this place has survived two divorces! Been here 40 years this coming April and wish my dad was still around.

I am down to $48k.. hoping to pay it off by the end of 2024, i had my last house paid off and it was awesome.. can't wait for that again My payment is so low now though that i don't worry much bout it

 

[terrywalker]

Mine has been paid off for several years now. It's a 4 bedroom, 2 bath home. We've had several people very close to us tell us we should get a bigger home. This one is already too big for us as empty nesters and we don't want another mortgage payment. We're good. Our cabin on 20 acres up in the woods is payment free also. So, we're good.
Terry W.

 

[Don Frelier]

Lost my job at General Motors before we made our 1st mortgage payment

And you still drive a GM?
Now that's brand loyalty.

When we got married my wife had 2 city rental properties, a double and a triple (illegal 4 family actually).
Her Dad has real estate rental property for a business so this was mostly at his urging.
While we were looking for a place outside the city and our 1st child was maybe 6 months I started running low on work.
I actually recieved my first unemployment check the day we closed on our house.
So I had three mortgages totalling close to 300K and no work.

Somehow it didn't worry me much.
Can't imagine being in that position today.

 

[PlymCrazy]

And you still drive a GM?
Now that's brand loyalty.

Grandma, grandpa and mom all retired from GM. And dad was a Chevy man. I see it more as family loyalty LOL. We have (1) Pontiac, (1) Oldsmobile, and (4) Chevys.

When we got married my wife had 2 city rental properties, a double and a triple (illegal 4 family actually).
Her Dad has real estate rental property for a business so this was mostly at his urging.
While we were looking for a place outside the city and our 1st child was maybe 6 months I started running low on work.
I actually recieved my first unemployment check the day we closed on our house.
So I had three mortgages totalling close to 300K and no work.

Sounds like you had some overcoming to do yourself back then, wow.
Hammering away early on sure does make me appreciate things that much more today.
My wife was a stay-at-home mom for most of the kids' early years. That lit the fire under me immediately once I lost that job in the beginning, to say the least.

 

[YY1]

Yeah, whenever either one of us talks with anyone in the financial line of work (bank, car dealer, etc) they are never prepared for our financial situation.

I particularly enjoyed watching my wife present her finances to the credit union and title company when she bought the last house, and the dealer when she tried to pay cash for a new car.

You make 22K a year at your job, but you have no house payment and no car payment?
...and no balance on your credit card.
...and you have how much in the bank?
...but you have a house payment on a house you don't live in?

EDIT-

...and you show your expenses as "zero".
...and your credit score is 824?

 

[68BabyBlue]

Bought our first house in 1998.
Lost my job at General Motors before we made our 1st mortgage payment. And at that point we had (1) kid and (1) on the way.
I found other income making far less for the next couple of years, but we learned to budget and stick to it quickly because we did not want to lose our home.
I got into the trades in 2000 and that began the game-changer financially for us.
Add to that another part-time job and doing side work for the next several years - that led to that 1st mortgage being paid off on 2/23/2006.
We used the sale of that house as a significant portion of the down payment on the house we're in right now. Bought that in 2007.
We are on track to be mortgage free when I'm eligible to retire in 4(ish) years.
We have been debt free(barring our current mortgage) for many years now.

We bought the current home in 2000, with a 5% down payment. This was the only time in my life after law school that I went out on a financial limb. Previous owner had just been promoted to a bank presidency, and the relocation company was tired of sitting on the property. We bought it way below market. Then three years later, I lost my corporate job. First words out of my wife when I gave her the news were "we'll sell the house." I said no way, and I got hired for a truck driving job the next morning, when I walked through the door of the place where I worked for the next 19 years.

Fear can be a great motivator. I don't know if I would have pushed myself as hard as I did, if I hadn't had the mortgage hanging over my head. In the end, I made a serious amount of money on the deal, and don't regret it for a moment.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Yeah, whenever either one of us talks with anyone in the financial line of work (bank, car dealer, etc) they are never prepared for our financial situation.

I particularly enjoyed watching my wife present her finances to the credit union and title company when she bought the last house, and the dealer when she tried to pay cash for a new car.

You make 22K a year at your job, but you have no house payment and no car payment?
...and you have how much in the bank?
...and you have a house payment on a house you don't live in?

The difference between wealth and income. Most people don't get it.

 

[YY1]

The difference between wealth and income. Most people don't get it.

Yes, we have had to work "outside the box" on a LOT of fronts to be where we are.

 

[lyndondb]

Hey the snubber will not fit my Dana 60 rear end. Too narrow. It appears to be for a 8 3/4 rear instead of a Dana.