Do you love your mortgage?

[TBH]

Wachovia has an ad that says "love your mortgage as much as you love your house".

The thing is, I do love my mortgage, even more than I love my house. In this climate of scary rising rates and looming foreclosures, anybody want to trade GOOD mortgage stories?

[Snoopy2645]

I hate my mortgage I am trying to pay my house off early so I dont have a mortgage however yes I guess in some ways I love it. Its cheaper than rent my payment is acually $430 a month which also includes taxes & insurance!! So its not high I am also thankful when I pay it means another month I have somewhere to live!!! Honestly my biggest fear in life is being homeless!!! Think it goes back to being maybe 3 or 4 yrs old & my grandparents would take me downtown to look at the bag ladies!!

[TBH]

My mortgage is a 20 year fixed at 5.25.
Payments are $570/month for everything.
The balance will drop below 50K in another month or two.

The house is okay. I like it. But my favorite thing about it is definitely how affordable it is for us, how much flexibility it gives us to work less and to save money.

I guess I just wondered if anybody else feels happy and grateful to have the mortgage they have.

[DivaJen]

I don't love our mortgage, but I am grateful that we bought when we did and have been able to refinance to a 20-year loan. Our monthly payments are about the same, but we shaved 3-4 years off of our payments in the process. At under $2000 a month, I suspect there are many people in our area looking to buy a home who would LOVE to have that kind of mortgage payment.

[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!

[PauletteGoddard]

I don't love our mortgage, but I am grateful that we bought when we did and have been able to refinance to a 20-year loan. Our monthly payments are about the same, but we shaved 3-4 years off of our payments in the process. At under $2000 a month, I suspect there are many people in our area looking to buy a home who would LOVE to have that kind of mortgage payment.

I suppose, with seventeen more years to go, I should love my mortgage, considering the commitment I made to it. But it doesn't call, it doesn't write, it never sends me flowers...

I too am glad I bought when I did. I am glad we refinanced when we did -- July 2003, the biggest ever month for mortgage refinancing this millennium so far. 5% @ 20 years at a local bank that gives back to our community. We saved a whopping $27/month in payment, but we also shaved six years and $141,000 interest.

Our monthly payment is actually cheaper than it was the year after we bought (1999).

So why, avoidant person that I am, am I trying to get rid of it in seven years? Our mortgage is pretty sweet.

[Ima saver]

My first mortgage cost me $93 dollars a month, can you believe that! But I only made about $60 a week before taxes. I love my mortgage cause it is non existant!

[greedy4chips]

I love my mortgage, 15 yr fixed at 4.95%. We are paying an extra $50/month to help reduce it to a 14 yr mortgage. This is only because it will be gone the year our oldest daughter goes to college. We currently have over $630 going to principal, so I really do not mind the payment since I know it is going someplace good.

Our only dilemma is that next year the interest won't be tax deductible since we won't be able to itemize due to the standard deduction amount being higher than our itemized amount.

We are strongly considering paying it off fast, but at the cost of my wife staying at work for 3 more years vs 1 more year and then back to being a SAHM. Our plan is for me to go back to work in 1 yr (after I am done with school) and her to quit.

Dilemma...2 more yrs of dual income and house is paid for 8 yrs early vs SAHM with 3 kids in school. If she was on first shift and liked her job more then it would be a much simpler choice. Plus she works a 4 on 2 off schedule meaning she has only 1 sat-sun off every 7 weeks.

So we almost have to love our mortgage!

[shadon]

I love the fact that I locked my mortgage into a 3 year fixed rate of 6.74% (which is equivalent to my current standard variable rate at the time). I did this a couple of days before the Australian Federal Reserve Bank lifted it's cash rate from 5.5% to 5.75% back in May. It raised them again to 6% this month and there is strong talk that they will go up .25 again in November. By comparison, I believe the current US cash rate is 5.25%. I have just run a internet search and you can't get a better mortgage interest rate than I have at present. They are all higher. So yes, I guess I do love my mortgage. Plus my house is almost finished with the renovations and won't need a thing done to it in the future other than normal maintenance - it is a 30 year old house that is now brand new inside and out.

[shadon]

For clarification, here the norm is to have a 25 or 30 year mortgage and pay the standard variable rate. We can only fix rates for up to 5 years. Although there is talk (in light of the recent rate rises) of lenders offering 40 and 50 year mortgages I think there will be a lot of people refinancing to that because sooo many people are mortgaged up to the eyeballs to finance their McMansions (bad case of Affluenza among a lot of people here) so they would rather finance for longer rather than risk foreclosure.

[Diolla]

I love my mortgage because rent was $475 and my mortgage is $165.27 not including taxes and insurance (no escrow). Unfortunately my interest rate was a little higher since I borrowed too little. Actually had a hard time finding a bank that would loan it to me. Crummiest house in a good neighborhood but that will change once I have the money saved for the renovations.

[cschin4]

I hated my mortgage, that is why I paid it off in full.

[Ima saver]

I have a mortgage on some land that I purchased. I got the loan for 12 years, but plan to have it paid off in about 3 years! I like to stay "in bank" so I can make extra principal payments whenever I want.

[PrincessPerky]

err saying you love the mortgage cause it is 'only X interest' is like saying you love your husband who 'only hits you a couple times' umm sorry but Ill take a husband who never hurts me and I would prefer no mortgage.....

[TBH]

Wow, extreme example, Princess.

Yeah, sure, paying interest on any loan, even a mortgage, sucks. But it is soooo much better than paying rent. I've been a homeowner for two years. I still feel happy that I'm not feathering my landlady's nest any more. The other side of the spectrum, having a house that's all paid off, seems really distant.

[DivaJen]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

err saying you love the mortgage cause it is 'only X interest' is like saying you love your husband who 'only hits you a couple times' umm sorry but Ill take a husband who never hurts me and I would prefer no mortgage.....

I prefer paying a mortgage to paying rent or going without a home altogether, whereas I would rather be alone than be with someone who hurt me. And hey - BTDT. The mortgage interest I pay in no way compares to the abuse I went through.

[shadon]

Well PP, I'm a "glass half full" kinda person, so I would rather look at the positives of having my mortgage % (lower interest rate then most people here thus saving more $ in interest over the long term) then be depressed about how much $ I have to repay to the banks over the next 1-2 decades.

But hey, that's just me

[TinyFish]

I love my mortgage. I have a low, fixed, rate for 30 years. I would never have been able to afford a house in this crazy market without it. I just wish there was a bit less to love...

Oh well, we are getting there. I'm so glad I refinanced. Through a combination of good luck and good management, we got one of the lowest rates possible.

Whoza sweet liddle mort-gage? OOO-are! Diddums!

-TinyFish

[PRICEPLUS]

I love my mortgage because the darn thing is paid off! I love being able to flip off the bank!

[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.