What age did you pay off home mortgage?

[nunzia]

The one big bonus about living where we do is that we were able to buy the house we're in now for 60K (about 1,800 sq ft) and will have it paid off in January..I'll be 56. Taxes and insurance together total less than $1,200 a YEAR. So, I guess I can do without cool stores (much easier since the internet),and be in dorky southern NM and live fairly cheap so we can travel more..works for us.

 

[dhardawa]

I'm a single mom with two kids, so only one income that has to support everyone. I bought my house in 2005. I have refinanced down to a 15 year loan and pay extra every month. I hope to have it paid off in about another 8 years. I'll be 46.

 

[Minnesota!]

We should have it paid off when we are about 50 - 51. Another 16 years. I am cool with that!

 

[punkin]

I do not think I will have my mortgage paid off before we move out of this house (I hope in 5 years). DH keeps refinancing to lower rates but extending the term. I bought this house 10 years ago, but am currently only 1 month into the term of a brand new 30 year loan.

 

[pigletto]

The one big bonus about living where we do is that we were able to buy the house we're in now for 60K (about 1,800 sq ft) and will have it paid off in January..I'll be 56. Taxes and insurance together total less than $1,200 a YEAR. So, I guess I can do without cool stores (much easier since the internet),and be in dorky southern NM and live fairly cheap so we can travel more..works for us.

My eyes bug out when I see what some of you are paying for homes!
I suppose it's just different everywhere and it's hard to compare.
I know we'll be looking to downsize soon. We live in a small town and compared to the larger cities in our area the home prices are much better. My husband will be looking at 2 hours a day of commuting to stay in this area though.
Downsizing will mean 250,000 to 275,000 home cost. We'll lose space and be leaving a new build (7 years old when we want to move) but we have one going off to University so we don't need the space for 3 of us.

I suppose it's all relative but wow.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

As you suggested. My primary goal was an emergency saving. Then pay more towards the mortgage. Be I will be 57 when it is paid. Not sure how others did it at 30 or so. We seldom ate out also.

 

[Colleen27]

My eyes bug out when I see what some of you are paying for homes!
I suppose it's just different everywhere and it's hard to compare.
I know we'll be looking to downsize soon. We live in a small town and compared to the larger cities in our area the home prices are much better. My husband will be looking at 2 hours a day of commuting to stay in this area though.
Downsizing will mean 250,000 to 275,000 home cost. We'll lose space and be leaving a new build (7 years old when we want to move) but we have one going off to University so we don't need the space for 3 of us.

I suppose it's all relative but wow.

Mine do too but in the other direction. We too live in a small town with more affordable housing than communities more centrally located, but for us that's 50K homes instead of 150K homes.

I can't imagine how a family like mine - one blue collar income, a couple-few kids - can afford to live in places with some of the housing prices I see posted here. I know salaries are generally higher in higher cost-of-living areas but I doubt many tradesmen are making the six-figure income it would take to afford a 250K+ home!

 

[ORMom2Four]

There are sooo many different factors to each and every household that it's hard to compare yourself to someone else. Family A may make over 100K a year and have bought a house for $75K. Family B may make 75K and have bought a house that cost $250K.

We make well under 100K a year and bought a house that was $220K in 2002. Took out a 30 year mortgage. We received an inheritance that allowed us to pay our mortgage down to 100K. When we paid the large lump sum, we refinanced to a 10 year mortgage.

We have 9 more years on that. Dh will be 49, I will be 47, when it is paid off.

We will still have $6000 a year in taxes plus insurance to pay, so it's not as if we are home free once the mortgage is gone

 

[GAN]

I must say that it is impressive to see how many people have already paid off their mortgage or are at least fairly close, for the ages they are. It seems most have done by making extra payments.

Am I the only one that feels that paying off a 4%(or less) mortgage with money that could earn you possibly 5-10% is actually a LOSS? We have around 8 years left at a rate of 3.6% and I'm in no hurry to pay it off. ....the extra $500-1000 goes towards retirement(and some to our daughters' college), which so far has netted me close to 20% this year so far. Of course, that could be a negative next year but in general over a 5 year period it's not a stretch to expect a minimum average return of at least 5%. To me 3-4% is almost like free money. Not criticizing those that are doing that -just another perspective.

 

[Colleen27]

I must say that it is impressive to see how many people have already paid off their mortgage or are at least fairly close, for the ages they are. It seems most have done by making extra payments.

Am I the only one that feels that paying off a 4%(or less) mortgage with money that could earn you possibly 5-10% is actually a LOSS? We have around 8 years left at a rate of 3.6% and I'm in no hurry to pay it off. ....the extra $500-1000 goes towards retirement(and some to our daughters' college), which so far has netted me close to 20% this year so far. Of course, that could be a negative next year but in general over a 5 year period it's not a stretch to expect a minimum average return of at least 5%. To me 3-4% is almost like free money. Not criticizing those that are doing that -just another perspective.

For us, there were two things that went into that calculation. First and foremost, our mortgage rate was higher than yours but not so high that we'd have realized significant savings from a re-fi (5.5%). So for us, interest saved on the mortgage vs interest earned on investments was pretty much a wash. Second, when we were paying extra toward the mortgage principle and when we paid cash for our new home the funds we used came out of the general savings pot, not retirement or college. That money would have been parked in low-risk, low-return liquid or semi-liquid savings, not in a long-term investment like college or retirement (we'd actually been saving for a newer minivan and a DVC purchase but drained that account to buy this house instead), so the rate of return was low.

There is also the non-monetary side of the equation - having a paid-for home is a lot of piece of mind, especially in a difficult economy. That was really our most powerful motivator and we felt it was worth the opportunity cost.

 

[Gamegrl1]

What a great thread...it's great to hear so many people are on top of their finances instead of not handling them well.

Well, as a single gal in CA with a home a bit over $200k, one income, no kids...the amortization table is currently saying I'll be 56 when I pay it off. (Bought at age 35). But since I'm putting extra towards it every month that figure should change. My first goal is to get to where I won't be paying PMI anymore...what a waste of $1,000 a year...and then do something better with that money (ie. put a smidge more on the principal). Would be interested in refinancing when I'm able but that's a couple years away as the initial down payment was small. Will be looking into a 15-year mortgage instead of another 30 year since at that point the payment will probably be equal to what I'm paying now + kicking in extra. Lord willing, I'll be able to retire before I'm too old and then travel even more and have fun.

Proud of you guys...keep it up! Haha...if we're smart with our money, we have more to spend at Disney! P.S. I bought Disney stock this year so thanks for the support!

 

[disykat]

For us, paying down our mortgage early was just part of our plan. There were a few years when the money we had invested hasn't kept up with the expected curve. During those years, we have really appreciated the savings on interest, especially since our kids are in college NOW and their investments haven't kept up.

For us, we are doing retirement funding through dh's work and IRAs for both of us. College funding is coming through a combo of investments, pre-paid college funds, and paying off the mortgage early to free up cash flow.

IMO, it's all about diversifying AND taking into consideration what works for your situation. My parents were in a higher income bracket than us and were doing a lot of their investing in a more stable market. They relied more on investments and didn't pay off their mortgage before the 30 yr mark even though they could have done so easily. (They lived beneath their means, never left their starter home.)

 

[Nanu57v]

We were married at 22 and bought our townhouse. We paid it off in a few years. Our banker was impressed. We then sold that house and moved into a much larger house at 27. We are currently 33 and are on target to have it paid off when we are 45...but who knows what will happen between now and then! We are at a 4.5% interest rate, but we don't want to refi in case we have to move. We look at the savings to refi, and they aren't really that much better than just paying extra each month.

 

[Evi]

I think this is a great thread. But I think that it all depends on home prices in your area. I'm in Boston in the city limits and we own a single family home. If we lived in another city even just out side the city we probably would have most of our mortgage paid but because of where we live we have a much higher mortgage. It really is apples and oranges for what we paid of a single family home I could have a mansion in other parts of the country. I think its more a numbers of income/mortgage/interest rate/age. We probably won't be paid off for about 15 years by then we will be early 50's. I could skip dinners and not go out but that won't pay off our mortgage. Let me add your not finding a house for under 400k that doesn't require tons of work in the city limits even 400k is going to be a fixer upper and if you want a multi family in a decent neighborhood your looking upwards of 600k.

 

[punkin]

Mine do too but in the other direction. We too live in a small town with more affordable housing than communities more centrally located, but for us that's 50K homes instead of 150K homes.

I can't imagine how a family like mine - one blue collar income, a couple-few kids - can afford to live in places with some of the housing prices I see posted here. I know salaries are generally higher in higher cost-of-living areas but I doubt many tradesmen are making the six-figure income it would take to afford a 250K+ home!

I think a $250k home is affordable on $80K or so annual. That is really not a whole lot of money around here and $250 would get you something pretty low end. Prices around here are astronomical.

 

[abcboys]

30 year loan on our house (65K) Payments which include taxes and insurance are $520/month. Bought 9 years ago when DH was 30 and I was 27 and we have no plans of moving. Paid on schedule we will be 57 & 60. We try to pay a little extra each month, usually just rounding up to the nearest $10 or so sometimes more so we may get it paid off a year or so early hopefully.

 

[sophie832]

We bought our house at the end of 2009 for $350k w/3% down using an FHA loan (30 years, 5%). That means we financed $343k. With PMI our payments are $2,450/mo. I think our gross household income is now $85k, but that has only changed in the past year. Through the end of last year, we were a 1-income household, which was around $60k per year. Making the payments was super-tight with one income...now it's a bit better, but we still aren't making any extra payments. So, at this point we would be 59/58 when the mortgage is paid off. However, the greater likelihood is that we'll sell and move to a bigger house (this one is only 2/1, 880 sq. ft.). My hope is that we can make a 20% downpayment on that house, so no PMI, and do a 15-yr loan instead of a 30-yr. Real estate in L.A. is expensive!

 

[Sheaboys]

I can't imagine how a family like mine - one blue collar income, a couple-few kids - can afford to live in places with some of the housing prices I see posted here. I know salaries are generally higher in higher cost-of-living areas but I doubt many tradesmen are making the six-figure income it would take to afford a 250K+ home![/QUOTE]

We paid off our first home in January, but that is because it was hit by the Tornado in Massachusetts in June last year. We could afford to buy another home, on the other side of town. Many people could not just up and leave, they had to rebuild because they owed too much. We still own it, we still pay taxes for the house/property. Once we are completely settled, we will sell the land, and pay down this mortgage. Our first mortage we only owed $90,000, now we are into this for $261,000.

We are a blue collar one income family, have been since 2002, we have 5 boys. The only debt we have is the house. We pay cash for all renovations, we save for that. I could careless when it is paid off, we live the way we live, while we save, because of winter layoffs and dh having on average 2 months off, we need that live, I am pretty frugal, but we also don't want for anything. Kids to sports, camps, etc. Will we pay it off early, yes, as for when probably around yr 15-17.
So it will happen when it happens.

 

[GAN]

P.S. I bought Disney stock this year so thanks for the support!

Brilliant move. I had some extra money lying around about 8 years ago and decided to invest it for both of my daughters -so I said what the heck throw it on Disney. It split, then didn't do too much for the last 6 years -but this year has been incredible. The kids don't know about it yet -when the time is right I'll let them know and hand it over to them. I'm sitting on it to see what happens in the next 6-months, kind of hoping for another split.

 

[TEK224]

Gosh, I wish I was doing as good as some of you. Sometimes I don't think I'll ever get it paid off. I didn't buy my first house until I was 40. Then refinanced a few years ago and added money to pay down some cc's (DUMB MOVE! -take my advice and don't do that!) It made my monthly payment higher for the next 30 years.
I now have a refinanced 30 yr. fixed that I am 2 years into. I try to pay an extra $50 on the prinicpal each month. I'm single, no kids, but still have some other stupid debt that I'm trying to pay off and build up my emergency fund. Once I pay off that debt, I'll add more to the mortgage. But I'll probably be 65 before it's paid off. Luckily, I have a good job (not six figures, but still good) with good benefits and will get a pension.

Some months it can be really tight. I'm looking at possibly re-financing again, which if I can get without large fees attached, could lower my monthly payment by $300. Then I can still put some of that as additional principle, and it would also give me a little bit of a cushion, if needed.

Glad to see those of you who getting it paid off early. Wish I had been more financially responsible in my younger years.