Paying off Mortgage

[jollystomper]

Was playing around on the Mortgage Payoff feature on the Wells Fargo online banking site, thinking I could just pay the $170,000 by transferring the $ from my bank account to the mortgage account, but the payoff instructions seems more formal and complicated.

When you want a payoff statement, you pick your payoff date, then you press a button on the screen that generates a formal payoff letter in an old-timey courier typeface (which you can print off with a payment voucher) with very specific instructions and disclaimers, including:

WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE - PAYOFF TRANSMITTAL FORM
Please send the funds by wire. This is the fastest way to complete the
payoff. If a wire transfer is not an option, we prefer a cashier's
check or certified funds.

I learned that I am paying $14.60 of interest per day. And that's at 3.25%. I can only imagine what our parents had to pay in the 70s when their mortgage interest was 18% per annum!!!

They suggest a wire transfer because the payoff amount is only good for a few days. Interest accrued daily, so if a mailed payment is delayed, more interest accrues and there’s an existing balance still.

Interesting. When we paid off our mortgage, the formal payoff letter gave us an amount that was good for 3 weeks into the future. They also accepted a personal check. They received our payment about 2 weeks before the payoff amount expiration date, and we received a refund on the interest.

Also, though the payoff amount included a $50 "document processing fee", they refunded that as well.

 

[Finance Dave]

We paid ours off about 10 years ago. Make sure to get a payoff notification and/or deed for the property. Also, although it may be to your disadvantage, wait awhile and make sure your local assessor has updated info. In Indiana you actually get a slight reduction in assessed value (an exemption) if you have a mortgage...so your taxes may go up slightly.

Other than that, Congrats!

 

[INTJ10]

We paid ours off about 10 years ago. Make sure to get a payoff notification and/or deed for the property. Also, although it may be to your disadvantage, wait awhile and make sure your local assessor has updated info. In Indiana you actually get a slight reduction in assessed value (an exemption) if you have a mortgage...so your taxes may go up slightly.



Other than that, Congrats!

We paid off our mortgage so we wouldn’t have to carry worthless flood insurance. We live on the coast but our house is on 13 foot stilts. We still carry homeowners/hurricane insurance. We just pay the taxes and insurance in lump sums.

 

[pb4uski]

I paid ours off last December. Arranged for payoff quote by a phone call from my cellphone in an airport. Prepared wire transfer for payoff and secure emailed to bank... they later called me to confirm the details. Easy peasy.