I was just talking about mortgages last night with my mother. She mentioned that she and my stepdad going to refinance their house here in Maryland, and use the money to pay off their second home in Florida. They're going to take out a 30 year mortgage, but then try to pay it down ahead of schedule.
I told her that, as low as rates are, she might as well just let it go the 30 year route. There's a good chance that mortgage will outlive them, as she's 63 and my stepdad's 59. The monthly payment is only going to be around $750-800 per month (plus property taxes, as they pay that separately rather than from an escrow account).
She's been whining a bit lately about being bored and lonely in retirement, so I told her that she and my stepdad need to get out there and live, have fun, and enjoy the retirement. They don't need to save anything for me, and when they pass on, it makes no difference whether I inherit a house with a mortgage, a house free-and-clear, or no house at all!
As for me, I keep thinking about paying my mortgage off early, but with the interest rate so low, at 3.5%, it's hard to do. Mine is adjustable, as it's a HELOC, so it can go up. I should be taking advantage of the low rates and pay it down now, but I've just been finding better things to do with the money. If rates start to rise too much though, I'll try to pay it down enough so that the monthly payment stays about the same.
I had thought about refinancing to a 30 year fixed back in late 2010, but the credit union wanted something like $8,000 in closing costs. Which I thought was just too much for a $160,000 (at the time) mortgage. I figured that I'd be better served just taking that $8,000 and paying down the existing HELOC, which is what I ended up doing. Between that and other extra payments, I've managed to get it down to around $147,800, which ain't bad for a year and a half, I guess. So, despite my thoughts against paying it down early, looks like I've been managing to do that, anyway!