Poll:Do you Own your home outright?

[PERSonalTime]

We own this house outright, and had the previous house paid off about a year and a half before retirement. Quite a change from when I bought it, fresh out of a divorce and I was very definitely "house poor". And dating DW-to-be, although I didn't know it then, and she was okay with a Saturday night date being renting a movie for the VHS player, sending out for pizza and a bottle of, well, let's just say it wasn't a sought-after wine.

Somewhere we have a photo of her after we were married sitting on the floor in the living room reading a book. She's sitting on the floor because there wasn't a stick of furniture in the living room. Today is our 35th anniversary so I think it's gonna work!

Great story!!! We're retired, house paid off, and it feels great.

 

[sailaway]

Paid off in the United States
Rent with one yearly payment on a small island in Belize

 

[Andre1969]

I'm 53, still working for possibly a few more years (I like to call it "one more month syndrome"). Bought my current home about 5 years ago, but refinanced when rates dropped. It won't be paid off until I'm 80, but the rate's only 2 7/8%, so I'm not planning on messing with it.

 

[DrRoy]

RE, own, paid off.

 

[wrigley]

Both of us are still working (from home) 63 and 61.

House paid off in 2021.


Mike

 

[rk911]

We started out with a conventional 30-yr fixed, re-fi'ed that to a conventional 15-yr fixed a few years later which we paid off early a few years before we retired.

 

[Ronsbusa3]

Retired at 50 Dw at 48 and paid it off right before we Retired. Now 52 and 50. Living our Best Life!!!

 

[jgman]

Sold my home, paid off mortgage, and paid cash for a smaller home. This allowed me to retire early and become free and happy.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We paid off our home in 1999 and never looked back. We had some very good years in the 90s that allowed us to do that in SoCAL. It was wise to pay it off then as it has never happened since. That home sale allowed us to pay cash for subsequent homes.

 

[eytonxav]

Been retired for over 10 years, but paid off mortgage probably 10 years before retiring.

 

[FI_RElater]

Paid off in the United States
Rent with one yearly payment on a small island in Belize

I'm guessing that you get a lot of Greif living there


(John Greif is the name of the airport there)



As for us.... you need an answer :
Paid cash for house, retired

 

[CaptTom]

So far, almost 90% own their home outright. Surprising result, considering how much we hear about that being the foolish choice.

I won't bother posting my opinion. We're all comfortable with our decision and won't be changing any minds by discussing it further.

 

[statsman]

So far, almost 90% own their home outright. Surprising result, considering how much we hear about that being the foolish choice.

Foolish? That's an interesting opinion on the subject. Far too many variables for it to be a black & white decision. We've done it both ways in retirement, and I can see the merits with either choice.

 

[Andre1969]

My guess is that with many of the members on this site, they've essentially "won the game" to the point it really doesn't matter if the mortgage is paid off or not. It basically comes down to "do you want to win by more?"

Even in my situation, I don't think it really matters whether I pay off the mortgage or let it play out til the end. The principal/interest portion of it is about $1941/mo, and I owe about $438,000. I can either keep paying the $1941/mo, and let that $438,000 keep working for me. Or cash out the $438,000, to get rid of the $1941/mo payment.

My mortgage is only 2.875% though, so financially it's probably worth it to keep it, at that low of a rate. I also itemize on my taxes, and at this point in my life, that mortgage is giving me over $1,000/mo to write off. I also don't have $438K just lying around in petty cash, so it would involve selling some stocks/mutual funds, which in turn would trigger taxes.

Still, even if I decided to pay off the mortgage, to get that peace-of-mind tranquility of a paid-in-full house, it wouldn't ruin my chances of financial success. For me, and I'd presume many others, it's not like one decision is the clear winner, and the other is destined to make you fail.

 

[skyking1]

Our mortgage was both tiny and 6% so it was not a difficult decision.
If we had any foolishness it was staying in this house after DFIL and DMIL left us in 2000.
At that point the game to play was climbing a real estate ladder and chasing the ballooning prices, and inertia carried the day.

 

[scrabbler1]

For those of you with low mortgage rates, I can't fathom having them so low. When I bought my apartment in 1989, I was paying nearly 11% for a 5-year ARM. In 1992, I refinanced it down to 6% for a 1-year ARM. That rate crept up to about 8% by the time I paid off the loan in 1998, still well below what it was before I refinanced it.

My (snake-bit) friend bought his co-op apartment in 2011. His mortgage principal was nearly exactly double mine. However, because his interest rate was around 3%, his monthly payment was nearly exactly mine (before I refinanced it). I understand the math, of course, but I still found that mind-boggling. And a far greater part of his monthly payment went toward principal (about 4% of mine went toward principal in those early years, the rest was interest), so he was building up equity. He paid it off a year later after he received a large inheritance.

 

[dmpi]

Right after my wife and I got married we pooled what savings we had and paid off our $65,000 mortgage. Not because it was a 10.25% mortgage but more because it felt like we were starting brand new. After we paid it off we only had about $2000 cash. It encouraged us to live thrifty and focused on saving money. In retrospect one of the smartest thing we ever did.

 

[target2019]

Home mortgage was paid off about 10 years before retirement.

 

[MarieIG]

We bought our home in 1994 (9% 30 year mortgage); refinanced w/n one year (7 % 15 year mortgage) and paid it off in June of 2001. We sold in 2021 and are currently living in the home which I inherited from my parents (which does not have a mortgage).

IIRC I did not have access to a 401k until 1996, at which point I began contributions while pre-paying the mortgage. After the mortgage was paid off, the funds from the mortgage did not go into additional savings, but towards tuition and tutors. Sooooo, a different type of "investment."

 

[Kings over Queens]

Retired.

Have a mortgage.

Keeping a mortgage.

2.49% rate.

Arbitrage investing.

I think the old saw of paying off your mortgage makes a lot more sense with mortgages at 5,6,7,8% . Or even 12% like my first mortgage.

But some get psychic benefits from paying it off. And doing so is a major goal of some folks. I know it was for me early in home ownership when I made extra payments, etc.

So can make sense outside of the financial piece

That's me. Always pre-paid and paid off at age 48. Hated having a mortgage.

The smart play from the financial angle is like how you do it however, assuming you can turn a positive arbitrage. but the brain doesn't always want whats smart.

 

[Gumby]

If we had had a 2% mortgage all along, then our actions may have been different, but we didn't. Our mortgage trajectory was:

1993 -- 8.375% 30 yr
2001 -- 6.75% 15 yr (refinanced with same lender, no costs)
2002 -- 5.875% 15 yr (ditto)
2003 -- 5.00% 15 yr (ditto)
2010 -- 3.75% 10 yr (ditto)
2012 -- 1.99% 5 yr (new lender)

Except for the last mortgage, we always made extra principal payments. I suppose we could have remortgaged the house to invest at the most recent low point for rates, but I'm happy enough with what we have in the investment portfolio, so I saw no need.

 

[corn18]

I have 28 years left on a 2.25% fixed rate mortgage. Never gonna pay it off.

 

[Plantman]

Paid cash for the house we've now live in for 23 1/2 years.

 

[bloom2708]

The mortgage has been paid of since 2007 summer.

With Property Taxes of $6,000 and Home Insurance of$1,500, is it every owned outright?

Over$600 to own your home outright. Many other costs to factor in.

But, I have not wished at any point I still had a mortgage since 2007.

 

[pacergal]

15 year mortgage at 2.6%, no reason to pay off early.