I still cringe (here is a thread I started 6 years ago on mortgages) when I see daily articles about getting a 10 yr mortgage or 15 yr mortgage and making extra principal payments. The media and talking heads (IMHO in collusion with the Government and Banks) keep telling people to own their homes because it should be the goal of every American. While I agree you should own your home (meaning your could write a check at anytime to pay off your mortgage), but the $$$ should be safe and not tired up in a House w/ strings attached on it. The next step will be messing with the required minimum distribution age on qualified accounts while dealing with Social Security reform. Seems the goal is to have people Max fund their Qualified accounts and get to retirement with no deductions...perfect taxpayer strategy!

Give the money to a bank ASAP so they can make money off your money and force you to play by their rules. Give the money to your Qualified plans so the Government can force your to play by their rules...anybody excited to sign up for a new MyRA?


Smart mortgage option that yields huge savings

For the right borrower, a 10-year mortgage could save you thousands of dollars and have you debt-free much sooner than a traditional 30-year fixed mortgage. Is it right for you?

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/short-term-l...14614.html

Should you refinance, or pay more toward your mortgage?

Want to pay your mortgage off faster, but don't know if you should refinance to a shorter-term mortgage or make extra payments? We talked to some experts for their advice.

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/refinance-or...24928.html

The little-known mortgage that could save you big

10-year, fixed-rate mortgages may be little known, but here are four money-saving reasons you may want to learn about them.

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/why-the-10-y...42746.html

I went back and read that thread - some good stuff! And some funny stuff!

Cat Litter was in rare form.

One point you made that I ran headlong into soon after: the bank WILL cut off your home equity line of credit. Because you aren't using it or, in my case, for no because they simply deem it a poor portfolio investment.

My wife and I went the 10 year mortgage route when we built our home some 24 years ago.

Prior to building, we were living in a home financed with a 30 year fixed loan.

It required a ton of discipline, but we stayed in Westwood until we had enough money to pay cash for the lot, the house, & all the furnishings.

You cannot imagine our elation when we made our last payment.

(02-25-2014 03:30 PM)OneUChoopsfan Wrote:  My wife and I went the 10 year mortgage route when we built our home some 24 years ago.

Prior to building, we were living in a home financed with a 30 year fixed loan.

It required a ton of discipline, but we stayed in Westwood until we had enough money to pay cash for the lot, the house, & all the furnishings.

You cannot imagine our elation when we made our last payment.

That's awesome!!! I agree with the goal of owning a home, I just personally employ a different strategy towards achieving that goal (I have been raised from a school of thought that access to capital is King). If everybody in this country was serious about their money and saved with the discipline of you and your better half, things would be much better in this country. The problem is, there are generations now of people buying things because they can afford the monthly payment, not because they have the capital.

I met last week with a physician who paid cash for the house he built 17 years ago (sold his old house and put the $$$ down plus some money from savings). The picture below is the return on his house over the last 17 years (the 185K for Improvements/Expenses includes the taxes paid over 17 years).



This second picture is trying to capture the spread of this decision...I'm using a 5% rate of return based on the Actual S&P 500 the last 17 years less inflation for the same time period. The doctor knows he cannot sell his house for 1.6 million 17 years later...

I've always held the belief that a house is a lifestyle choice -- not an investment vehicle. That principle has served me well.

As I said in that original thread, Q is one smart MoFo

(02-25-2014 05:56 PM)QSECOFR Wrote:  I've always held the belief that a house is a lifestyle choice -- not an investment vehicle. That principle has served me well.

Great point! Three types of money for individuals in their personal lives...Accumulated $$$, Lifestyle $$$ and Transferred $$$. I have always classified a house as a lifestyle decision, but I believe that your house is a place to grow your family, not your money. My most valuable asset is my HOME, the place memories are formed while raising a family. Huge difference between a house and a home in my book.

A major problem today (probably always has been) is that Lifestyle is an appetite that is rarely satisfied. I have never met anyone who, after receiving a raise, needed time and practice to try and figure out how to spend that extra money. I do wish that people did not allow their “style” of life to OWN their life. Plenty of people out there in pursuit of accumulating things that find themselves imprisoned by the cost of financing them.

(02-25-2014 06:30 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  As I said in that original thread, Q is one smart MoFo

No doubt about it...Q comes across in his posts as the *** laude or summa *** laude type. One liners that are direct and to the point or well thought out responses. That's why I said in that original thread why I thought this was the best online community for the Bearcats. It's refreshing how many people from different walks of life post on here with different opinions.

I think my wife would disagree with some of the posters here re: my ability to think.

Anyways....

One of the downsides to a house....

Principle -- THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS NEW CARPET

Repeat that yourself several times. This has been my experience...

Wife says the carpet in one of the rooms is looking old and needs to be replaced. Husband reluctantly agrees and new carpet is purchased and installed.

Then, wife points out that the walls look dingy when compared with the new carpet. "We really need to paint the walls.

Husband once again agrees and new paint is purchaed and applied.

Then, wife points out that the furniture now looks out of place with the new carpet and the fresh paint.

Husband, feeling beat down, agrees once again and more money is spent.

Wife then points out that the "window treatments" now look completely out of place with the new carpet, fresh paint, and brand spanking new furniture.

What are "window treatments" you ask???????

They are the same as curtains or drapes, they just cost a whole lot more simply because they are "window treatments".

So, in the end....



THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS NEW CARPET!!!!

A house will ALWAYS be more expensive than you think. Doubt me???? Ask any of the older, married guys around here.

(02-27-2014 12:18 PM)QSECOFR Wrote:  A house will ALWAYS be more expensive than you think. Doubt me???? Ask any of the older, married guys around here.

Or a 35 year old divorced guy. :)

That being said, I love the fact that I can watch TV or listen to music as loud as I want without bothering neighbors... do any changes to the house that I want, etc., without having to deal with a landlord.

My wife and I live in our first house currently. We bought a foreclosure and I've done all the home improving myself. Looking forward to getting a nice chunk of Change out of it in a year or so. Having a wife that is ok with renovation knowing it'll make us some money been great.

(02-27-2014 03:53 PM)BeerCat Wrote:  My wife and I live in our first house currently. We bought a foreclosure and I've done all the home improving myself. Looking forward to getting a nice chunk of Change out of it in a year or so. Having a wife that is ok with renovation knowing it'll make us some money been great.

Our first home was a "fixer upper". We did a lot of work on the house ourselves and made some bucks from it.

The oercentage of people who make more on their house as an investment as opposed to using traditional investment vehicles is probably small. I bet Senior could weigh in on that.

(02-27-2014 12:18 PM)QSECOFR Wrote:  I think my wife would disagree with some of the posters here re: my ability to think.

Anyways....

One of the downsides to a house....

Principle -- THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS NEW CARPET

Repeat that yourself several times. This has been my experience...

Wife says the carpet in one of the rooms is looking old and needs to be replaced. Husband reluctantly agrees and new carpet is purchased and installed.

Then, wife points out that the walls look dingy when compared with the new carpet. "We really need to paint the walls.

Husband once again agrees and new paint is purchaed and applied.

Then, wife points out that the furniture now looks out of place with the new carpet and the fresh paint.

Husband, feeling beat down, agrees once again and more money is spent.

Wife then points out that the "window treatments" now look completely out of place with the new carpet, fresh paint, and brand spanking new furniture.

What are "window treatments" you ask???????

They are the same as curtains or drapes, they just cost a whole lot more simply because they are "window treatments".

So, in the end....



THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS NEW CARPET!!!!

A house will ALWAYS be more expensive than you think. Doubt me???? Ask any of the older, married guys around here.

LMAO .... I just had deja vu ...