29 May 2019

Being Responsible

First off, it sucks.

We have to watch all the grasshoppers play.

In February we hit the halfway mark on our mortgage.

Fifteen years down, fifteen to go.

In some ways it's depressing to see that after making half the payments, we're just barely one third paid off.  It's encouraging to know (because maths) the percentage paid off accelerates from here.

We didn't have a lot to put down.  Just 5% and spotty credit.

We are the beneficiaries of the skullduggery going on in the early aughts with home lending.

We could have gotten a much "better" loan...  Except it would not have been better.

Prime was 4% when we got our loan at 7.375%.  But it was a fixed rate without balloon payments and we could afford the payments (nearly identical to what we were paying to rent it).

Mom actually congratulated us for doing something smart (for a change).

When we complained about it she mentioned that her perfect credit was only good for a 20.5% rate in 1981 and 9% in 1989.  It's all relative.

The life of an ant, though, has its benefits.  Our mortgage, plus taxes and escrow is about 60% what the identical house next door is renting for.  In 15 short years, we get to stop paying 2/3 of that... the renters will be paying more.  Double what they're paying now if the past 15 years are a guide.
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2 comments:

  1. Beans29 May, 2019 19:41

    And any extra you can pay to the principal, in a separate check marked 'to principal only,' will radically shorten the end time.

    Of course, if you're like me, having spare money is a nebulous, maybe, almost never thing...

    My parents mortgage back in 1973 was at 18% and rates got worse under the tender hands of the 2nd worst president of the 20th Century only to slide back down starting during the tenure of Ronald Reagan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sanders30 May, 2019 17:00

    I would only have 10 years left if I hadn't refinanced for lower interest rates/payments. The mortgage company keeps trying to get me to refinance and cash out equity, as well. That's how they keep you enslaved in perpetuity if you fall for it.

    But still, I can't rent a 2 bedroom apartment in town for what I am making in payments for my house on 1 acre of land.

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