Poll - This is a simple Poll - Is your primary residence fully paid off? AKA no Mortgage, Line of Credit or other Lien.

[finnski1]

Built our current home in 1998 and paid off the mortgage in 2006. Rates were around 6.5 % then so it felt good to pay it off. Mortgage free for the last 20 years and still in same house.

 

[akck]

Originally planned to pay off mortgage with retirement funds a few years after retirement. Got a low interest loan a couple of years before retiring and opted to keep it. We just paid it off last October, 11 years later.

 

[Dtail]

Bought current home for cash.
Last mortgage was in 2008.

 

[tulak]

2.75%, 25.5 years left to go.

I doubt that I will live here that long.

 

[old medic]

Both houses paid cash, no liens or lines of credit.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

No mortgages since 1998.

 

[audreyh1]

Paid off my first house in 1997. I think my rate was 7% at the time. Been paying cash for houses ever since.

 

[street]

Wife and I built our home in 1984 in 1986 we paid it off. Never had a lien or line of credit.

 

[Surewhitey]

You mean because you could close quickly? Seller is always receiving cash.

The first one we got in before the showings started and he didn't want to always be leaving the house for every showing. We offered $10k under what he was asking & he took it (in 2015). He was moving to an assisted living place after his wife passed. Our having cash didn't require contingencies other than simple inspections.

The next one we were told that we weren't the highest bid, but less friction to close... This was mid 2018 & was a seller's market in a (still) popular neighborhood. We even got ~$5k off after inspection... This one was going to charity so maybe had something to do with it.

Plus no closing costs for a loan...

 

[Midpack]

Our last mortgage payment was Nov 2007. There was no way I was retiring with a mortgage...

 

[racy]

Had two goals (which I met) before I retired at 60: pay off mortgage and get both kids through college.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

No Mortgage for US since 1995. Paid Cash for our homes since then. We have only had 2 homes since then.

 

[frayne]

Haven't had a mortgage payment since mid 1990s, bought my last two homes with cash.

 

[FD1000]

In 2012, our remaining mortgage balance was relatively small.
At the time, PenFed Credit Union offered a home equity loan at just 1.99% for five years, with zero fees.
I took advantage of that opportunity by replacing the existing mortgage with a new loan, covering the remaining balance plus an additional $150K, because the rate was so attractive. We fully paid off the loan by 2017.
During that period, my investments in the market generated returns significantly higher than the cost of borrowing.
All of our furniture was financed at 0% for 3–5 years.
Anytime I could get a vehicle loan at 2% or less for 4–5 years, I took it.

 

[Gremlin]

No mortgage. 1 1/2 years to go until retirement.

 

[old medic]

Both houses paid cash, no liens or lines of credit.

To correct... Sold our home and paid off the debt 7/17... Paid cash for the 2 we have now.

 

[Pointby2]

Bought our socal home in 1999. Paid 50% down and then paid it off in 2005. Having no mortgage allowed us to save like crazy for the next 15 years and ensure a secure retirement.

 

[flyingaway]

Yes. Paid off our mortgage as soon as possible, in about 4 years after purchasing our new house. I would not even bother for a 0% interest rate credit card. It is just too much work to send a payment every month.

 

[BizzyC]

Like others here, I have a mortgage rate that I'll hold till the end-- 2.625%. I'm happy they bumped up the SALT limits, too.

 

[pjigar]

I bought my first home in 2000, kept rolling the equity into the next 3 homes and finally everything paid off in 2021. So about 21 years of mortgage payments. Upgraded to a more expansive home every time so the latest primary homestead is over 10 times the price of the first one! A lot bigger lifestyle expansion than what inflation would suggest.

 

[Dash man]

We bought our home in 2001 and paid it off in 2010. We have five properties total with no mortgages. Two will go directly to our sons. Two beach properties they will have to work out between them. Our primary home will be sold.

 

[dobig]

Sold our last place in 2022 to a real estate developer. Log cabin back in the woods on large acreage. Wasn't for sale but he wanted it and kept making offers. Bought our current place which is a better log cabin back in the woods with much more valuable land in 2023 for cash. And for 1/3 less the price.

I still talk with the guy who bought our place as he always has questions. It sort of amuses me he still thinks he got the better of me and which I'm more than willing to let him think.

 

[TickTock]

Impressive numbers so far. 70% of respondents have a fully paid of primary residence. honestly, I was expecting a high percentage from this crowd.

Wonder what the % is when adding low-rate mortgages? We're paid off (2019), but if we had a ~3% mortgage I'd surely keep it!

 

[HighFlight]

Paid off our Oklahoma home (about 20 yrs early) around 2010. 2017- Paid cash for a home in Nebraska, then paid cash for a home in Tennessee. Getting ready to move to South Carolina and will pay cash there. Personally we like being mortgage free. I know there's lots of discussion about opportunity cost, etc for mortgage dollars, but not having a house payment works for us. And yes, it seems like we move a lot.

 

[engineernerd]

Had two bad experiences with mortgage lenders over the years that convinced us going mortgage-free had health benefits that probably outweighed any wealth-building advantages of a possible low rate.

Anger is bad for your health, or so I read somewhere...