You are my kind of FReeper. Preach it! :)
A couple of things have been really shocking to me when I ask simple questions.
I ask people, did you ever wonder why Banks have the biggest, nicest buildings in most cities, no clue and don’t care.
Have you ever wondered why they’re so many people are advertising mortgages and other services related to mortgages, no clue and don’t care.
On a 30-year mortgage have you ever wondered how much you would actually pay if you stayed in the house for 30 years, no clue and don’t care.
Over those 30 years given you have a fixed rate loan, have you ever wondered why your mortgage payment might vary slightly from year to year, no clue and don’t care.
I’ve had people try to convince me that a 15-year mortgage is much worse than a 30-year mortgage because the payments are lower, when I asked them have you ever run an amortization scheduled and compared the numbers, most have no idea what an amortization schedule is or what it’s used for.
Many home owners don’t know they are paying property taxes because the taxes are collected and paid by their mortgage holder.