Do you own your home "free and clear"

[LeeH]

We had just sold our business prior to moving to Phoenix from Atlanta in 1999. I wanted to put all of the proceeds in the stock market. My wife begged me to use some of the money to pay cash for the house. Good thing I listened to her. That was very early in the housing bubble so the house is still worth more than we paid. Don't know how much we would have lost with the random dot-com stocks I would have picked at the time. Paying lump sum property tax does suck.

[BernieP]

Yes my county and school district taxes are around $5000 per year. I am in Allegheny county PA near Pittsburgh.

Bernie P

[stogie25]

Congrats. 4 1/2 more years for me.

[john70t]

Loan interest increases the actual price paid for a piece of real estate 2-4 times.
Over the span of time, a $100K price tag is actually a $300K pricetag. You can check the math for yourself using a mortgage calculator.

But with higher income/wages, paying this extra interest makes sense because the deduction drops your income tax bracket. Inflation also decreases the value of this interest over time...as long as wages increase accordingly.

[Red Baron]

We own the house we live in, and my retirement house in Georgia is being paid off by our current and future tenants....

[daepp]

Pd off six years ago at 42. Still pay 4k per year in prop taxes tho.

[pwd72s]

Yes, Mortgage paid off. Lump sum property taxes? I wish everybody paid that way. Might not be so many bond measures passing.

[Jim Bremner]

Originally Posted by john70t

Loan interest increases the actual price paid for a piece of real estate 2-4 times.
Over the span of time, a $100K price tag is actually a $300K pricetag. You can check the math for yourself using a mortgage calculator.

But with higher income/wages, paying this extra interest makes sense because the deduction drops your income tax bracket. Inflation also decreases the value of this interest over time...as long as wages increase accordingly.

OR you could GIVE to the charity of YOUR choice the same amount as the interest that you would pay if you were paying interest and get the same tax break. WHY if you could would you make a bank or the .gov rich?

[pwd72s]

Great point, Jim. Plus, it is a great benefit to be debt free as retirement looms...

[VincentVega]

Sounds like I need to live in a cheaper part of the country. I give you guys credit.

[Fishman7]

Not paid of yet, although our carriage house out back is rented and that more than covers our mortgage, we have a 2 unit apartment rental that we own free and clear, our lake house/retirement house is paid for by the summer rentals......so not doing too bad.

[Burkie61]

All paid off just before my 45 birthday - three years ago. Like some of the others on here, going to do some updating in the next year or so. But slowly and always within some sort of budget - Bill Gates' budget, but a budget no less.....

[nostatic]

Sadly (or not), I rent and likely will never own. A combination of choices and timing along with living in an expensive part of the country. In SoCal if you didn't buy in at the right time it makes no sense to "buy" depending on your age. Due to grad school/postdoc I didn't end up earning a remotely viable wage until my mid 30's. If you're older (eg age 50), you'll likely not pay it off and it arguably makes more sense to rent.

[Jrboulder]

I've got a studio condo on the cheap side of Scottsdale. I've got it rented this year and I will live in it the next few years (living in the dorms this year). I should own it outright before I graduate. It beats the hell out of throwing away money every month. Ikea schit FTW!

[1979 930]

Done !!Zero debt all the way turn fifty this next year land ,houses, cars ,boats businesses,just that GD xwife
The jugde give me life time Alimony ! she will not take a payout ,
O well next !

[A930Rocket]

Sold our last house a few years ago for about $1,000,000. No way I was going to be able to pay that off. Made some money on it, but being in construction, it's been tough and had to live on the proceeds until I got a job somewhere else.

Now we start over with our first going to Clemson next year and our other in two years. More tough years ahead...

Congrats to all you guys who've paid of their homes!

[varmint]

15 years living in a los angeles death hole saving my pennies. bought a two bedroom fixer upper for cash. the beach is a ten minute walk out the front door. out the back is six thousand acres of wilderness.

zero debt.
no income tax state.
more work than i can handle.

life is good here if you can hack the seven moths of winter.

[Moses]

Just refinanced. 10 year loan at 3.75%. I don't owe much on the house, but with two kids in college I can't pay it off right now. The new loan saves me $1,000/month.

[billybek]

Mortgage is paid.
Property tax always seems to go up.

When I first bought the house my first mortgage was 16%!

I was thrilled when I had a rate under 10%...

Looking at the cost of university education in the states, I hope that my son can get into a very good Canadian university. Can I pin my hopes on a hockey scholarship? Probably the only way I will stay debt free!

[TimT]

I own my primary residence, and some other properties....

The Bank has more exposure on one of my properties than I