2.875% home mortgage

[Frankie]

That's how to do it guys. As long as the closing costs don't negate your savings, have at it. The rate is fantastic!

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

No. These are personal houses. I own two in Florida (one in St Augustine and one in Bradenton, about an hour south of Tampa on the gulf coast), one here in Georgia, and one in Italy (our retirement home).

My reasons are purely personal. I have 3 kids, and I always wanted to be able to leave a house to each of my children when I kick. I will now be able to do that. The three houses I presently have, I own. They are paid off. The newest the one, in Bradenton, is on a 10 years note. So, I hope to live to pay that one off before I kick, too. lol

Recently I sold the house in New Jersey. My sister was living there rent free, but, she was covering the expenses of the house. I recently sold it to her.




Yes, most people don't recognize the costs of owning rental properties. It isn't for wimps. We owned a few rentals when we lived in Jersey. When we moved to Georgia, the supply line from Georgia to NJ was too long, so I sold them off, except for one, which was the one we lived it. It was a 3500 square foot Dutch Colonial, with an attached 2 car garage, and a detached 2 car garage (carriage house) with a 4 room apartment above.

When we moved south, my sister her husband and their 5 kids moved into our house. I didn't charge them any rent, and in turn they covered the costs, taxes, and up keep of the house, and did great job. I sold that house to them a little over a year ago, for about 1/4 fair market value, and agreed to hold the mortgage for them. Essentially they are getting a Half million dollar house in Clifton, NJ, for $135,000 with no interest, and 10 years to pay for it.

They can even rent out the 4 room apartment above the second garage. It's 2 bedroom, 1 3/4 bath, with a large kitchen, and a good size living room. Realtor says the can pull down about $1200 a month for the apartment, more if they included the garages beneath.

That is cool to plan on leaving each of your kids a house. Just stay ahead of the 5 year government law and don't end up where the government makes your family sell them to cover nursing home expenses. A friend of mine had a stroke out of the blue at 63 and ended up in a nursing home. He was a commericial bus driver that had just had his CDL physical 3 weeks before the stroke and they found no problems. His wife took care of him for three years and couldn't do it any longer so she had to put him in a nursing home. They had two properties so the one that wasn't the homestead had to be sold. Anyway his 80 acres and everything on the property has been sold and his kids will see none of the family property. That property has been in the family for 4 generations until now. The kids tried to buy the property at the auction but it went just a few thousand over the value the bank had agreed to loan. The kids tried to pay the nursing home bills but they were just too much for them to handle each month. I doubt he makes it 6 months because health is failing rapidly.

 

[Frankie]

What a shame! Yes, our oh so benevolent Government will get theirs, between the death tax and the health care "reforms", I believe that the government will always get a larger piece of our personal pie than our families will.

 

[YY1]

I'm also going from a 6.2% 30 year to 3.4% 20y.

I was at 20 and 4 months by the bank, but because I was making an extra $50 per month towards the principal for the past 2 years, I had actually knocked 9 payments off the end, bringing it to 19 years and 7 months.

My payments will go down $110 per month, and if I put that $50 extra in, I'll turn the 15 year note into about a 17.5 year note, all while getting a $100+ a month "raise".

I was not aware, but as a kind of a "TARP" related program, if you have an "FM" backed mortgage (which I was not aware that I had), you are not required to verify income or get a survey (and I think an apparisal) to refinance, if you are not terribly upsaide down. That took care of about 1/3 of the closing costs.

 

[crackedback]

I am doing the same thing going from 6.20% down to 3.75%,30 year to a 20 year.I have thought of doing the bi-weekly payments also if my bank allows me to.

Instead of the bi-weekly, which basically allows you to make 13 payments in a 12 month period, take your mortgage payment, divide by 12 and add it to your normal monthly. Same basic deal.

IIRC, the bank can't deny you from making additional principle pay downs over the life of your loan. Just make sure they are applying the additional payments when you make them. Long ago they would not apply the additional payments promptly... Online access to the loan info/balance is real helpful.

Run an amortization schedule under different scenarios to see what it will do for you.

 

[cjh]

My house loan is at 6.9%.....haven't a real clue as to when it will be paid off....maybe in 15 years time....???

 

[BrianT]

My house loan is at 6.9%.....haven't a real clue as to when it will be paid off....maybe in 15 years time....???

You really ought to look into a refinance. Rates have been half of what you're paying for quite some time. The longer you wait, the more it costs you. Get a lower rate and a shorter term, payment stays the same.

 

[Chao1]

It is a good rate especially if you are refinancing your house. How many years will it be?