Do you love your mortgage?

[TBH]

Originally Posted by safari

I love my mortgage and not in a hurry to pay it off because with 5.375% fixed for 30 years I am getting better return on my money invested elsewhere.

Yeah, I know I SHOULDN'T prepay mine, but I do prepay by about one extra payment a year.

[bjl584]

I can't complain. 15 year fixed at 5.25%. I pay an extra 100 a month toward principal, so I should have it paid off in about another 10 years or so.

yes, i love my mortgage,i have 30 years 5.25 fixed mortgage.
my house is ok,now iam happy.
cheers....

[tinapbeana]

i love my mortgage for the simple fact that i'm paying $150 less per month for twice the footage in my rental house (even at a crappy interest rate). i'll love it even better once i can refinance next year and cut my interest rate in half!

[SuzeOFan]

Is 6.50% 30yr fixed an 'ok' rate?

At what percentage difference is it worth refinancing?

[tinapbeana]

Originally Posted by SuzeOFan

Is 6.50% 30yr fixed an 'ok' rate?

At what percentage difference is it worth refinancing?

suzeofan: i can't really say what is an OK rate or not for other folks, b/c it really depends on your credit score, when you got the loan, yadda yadda yadda. all i know is the rate i got was as good as i could expect, but in the grand scheme of rates mine is *really*junky.

as for when it's worth refinancing, my personal feeling is it's worth if if the amount you would save in interest over the expected ownership of the home is greater than the amount of fees it will cost you for the refi. so, for instance, if you're planning on owning your house another 5 years and refinancing will save you $1200 in interest over those 5 years, it's only worthwhile if the fees for the refi are less than the $1200 savings.

of course, this really only works if you are refinancing the same amount you owe on the house not when you're cashing out some equity. and, as always, YMMV.

[SuzeOFan]

Did you get one of those ARMs?

Is there an actual magic percentage point (like 1 or 2%) when it makes sense to refi? 6.50% was the best rate at the time when we got it.

I wonder though if we'll ever again see 5.35% again!

[tinapbeana]

Originally Posted by SuzeOFan

Did you get one of those ARMs?

Is there an actual magic percentage point (like 1 or 2%) when it makes sense to refi? 6.50% was the best rate at the time when we got it.

I wonder though if we'll ever again see 5.35% again!

yeah, we got an arm fixed for the first 3 yrs... we knew going in we would refinance before 3 yrs, so the adjustable part wasn't too much of a biggie for us...

as for a magical percentage, well, i guess it depends on how much principal you have financed. for instance, i only have 59k financed, so 1-2% difference in interest will likely not save me too much money. if i had 100k financed, 1-2% could be a rather large chunk each month.

my plan is to refi through my credit union: as long as i've had the house over a year, they will refi for the appraised value with only a $50 filing fee. we bought a fixer-upper at 15% below appraised value and 40% below comparable sales value for our house; a refi with a lower interest rate that cashes in some equity next year will allow us to make some wise improvements to the property while maintaining our current payment level.

if you are interested in a refi, you might want to speak with a local credit union: their rates may be much more competitive than a bank's.

[brightfuture]

Mortgage is 25000 a month 30 years fixed. In this area that is considered good.

[vishenda]

The best mortgage is no mortgage therefore pay it back ASAP and you will get rid of big millstone. The older you become, the less the loan and the more money you have alllows you to pay it off - DO IT

[Jacklad]

Originally Posted by vishenda

The best mortgage is no mortgage therefore pay it back ASAP and you will get rid of big millstone. The older you become, the less the loan and the more money you have alllows you to pay it off - DO IT

Well, yes and no. It doesn't make sense to prepay your mortgage if you're servicing debt at higher interest rates, or if your money is making more for you in your investments than you're paying in mortgage interest.

Right now I have enough in investments to collapse my mortgage - but my ytd gain on those funds is over 15%. I'd be foolish to do that just to be free of a mortgage at 4.19%.

Jackie

[SuzeOFan]

Shoot - that's the best rate i ever hoid of!

[Jacklad]

Originally Posted by SuzeOFan

Shoot - that's the best rate i ever hoid of!

The mortgage? It's Canadian - our mortgage rates are lower than in the US. We also have our mortgages calculated semi-annually, rather than monthly.

So $100,000 mortgage amortized for 25 years at 5% would result in payments of $584.59 monthly in the US, but only $581.60 in Canada. Total paid would be $175,377.02 in the US, but $174,482.96 up here.

In addition, accelerated biweekly is pretty much the standard here, as are built-in prepayment options (my mortgages - both my home and rental properties - allow double up of the principal portion every two weeks plus 10% annual prepayment with no penalties). We have it fairly good in the mortgage department.

On the flip side, our savings account rates are lower. Best is currently 4% - what we lose on the swings, we gain on the roundabouts.

Or were you referring to my investments? We're currently in a very aggresive portfolio mix - it won't last, but we're enjoying the ride so far.

Jackie

[HalMd]

Originally Posted by pearlieq

I'm pretty darn happy with mine. 30 year fixed at 5.5%, no prepayment penalty, no escrow account.

It could be much worse!

Same here. I just wrote the mortgage company asking to waive the escrow requirement.

[Tree0164]

Hmmm interesting questions I guess I'm "in like" with my mortgage rather than in love. We got a decent rate and will be trying to pay it off sooner rather than later.

[SuzeOFan]

Originally Posted by HalMd

Same here. I just wrote the mortgage company asking to waive the escrow requirement.

You know, that is so important! Few people realize that they can do that.
But I guess even fewer would have the discipline to be able to put that money away in a savings account - as if they were paying it to the mortgage company.

Proactively making interest on money you owe someone else... can't think of a better way!


Jacklad: it's that mortgage at 4.19% that has me marveling!

[BCHGRL]

My mortgage is well . . . my mortgage. 30 yr fixed with a good rate and no PMI, but I still think it is too high ($1616).

Now my car payment, that is my pride and joy because it is NON-EXISTENT (paid off May 05)!!! The best kind!

I'd much rather have a mortgage an appreciating investment than a payment on a depreciating vehicle.

[nanamom]

I hope to love my mortgage. After 4 years of not owning our own house we are really ready to do so. Home inspection today and appraisal was done (results not in yet) so we hope to be in love with one in 30 days or so. I've owned before but DH hasn't. I know the difference between me and paying someone else. At this point anything is better than paying someone else, assuming we can afford the payments. OUr interest rate will be high but at least we will be paying ourselves again.