Posted on 12/11/2014 7:21:10 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Dear Mona,
It seems like homeownership is a common data filter in the social sciences. But nearly everyone I know who “owns a home” is paying a mortgage. How many “homeowners” have actually paid off their houses?
John, 34, Mount Vernon, Washington
Dear John,
Your question is an important one, not only because home ownership can have big consequences for the economy, but because 56 percent of all the housing units in America (that includes trailers, apartments and houses) are owned by the people who live in them.
According to last year’s American Community Survey, one in three of those owner-occupied housing units doesn’t have any mortgage left to pay.
You and I are talking about slightly different things here, though, John: You’re asking about homeowners and I’m providing data on owner-occupied housing units. That’s because the American Community Survey summarizes data about the country’s 132.8 million housing units, not the individuals who own them.
If these different types of housing tend to have different numbers of people living in them (that seems pretty plausible to me) then these percentages about housing units don’t exactly translate to percentages about people. In other words, this data doesn’t show that 20 percent of Americans are homeowners who’ve paid off their mortgage debt, only that 20 percent of housing units are owner occupied with no mortgage left to pay.
(Excerpt) Read more at fivethirtyeight.com ...
heck, I am sure AC and water are a killer too :)
Around 1980, Daddy sold timber off his land, specifying that only pines be cut, leaving all the hardwood. I was a little surprised how much he got considering the land was mostly hardwood.
It was three times what he originally paid for the land and house.
Now I'm back with a mortgage and living in an area that has some of the highest cost of living in the country. The equivalent of a $500,000 home where I came from is over a million dollars here.
I will say this though, Fairfield County is a much nicer place to live than Massachusetts. Pretty much zero crime, better restaurants and friendly people.
Traffic...about the same.
Exactly! Good Ret. planning Alaska.
Tell me about it. I’m mortgage free too, but my property taxes have effectively taken the place of my mortgage.
House and all three cars paid off.
Just have this stupid student loan that wasn’t worth the money, and wifes medical expenses as debt now.
A lot of the rental homes don’t have a mortgage on them either. They are not including that in their calculations.
In my county, there are 75% of the populous that have home values off 50 to 70% since the 2007 peak. Out in the country, rural areas, all we ever saw was about a 20% drop. Year after year those living on acreage are carrying twice the load then those in the tightly packed developments do.
Just damn. Same living space can be $3000 a year vs. $1100.
This is Pasco County, Florida, 33523
8 more payments. Taxes and Insurance average @ $150.00 a month. House has doubled in price during 15 year loan-Texas Hill Country. Be 59, retired, very, very soon.
No mortgage here.
I remember SO WELL that l-a-s-t payment after only nine years. We savored it!
Paid off years back - sure makes retirement cheaper and lots more enjoyable....
5 kids now all gone. Just getting ready to sell it and capture some equity.
but own several other residential, commercial and industrial properties free and clear. owe some on other properties but all cash flow very well
Always used the house to borrow against and sold / traded investments to to pay off others.
Moving to an investment farm property with natural springs, good soil and an old private cemetery....the end
Our home is owned free and clear of any mortgage debt. But the sum of county property taxes and homeowners fire insurance premiums run about $300 a month. Nothing is free.
You only pay $3600.00 per year in property taxes?
Lucky you.
.
Paid off the house, paid off the ranch that has two more houses, still have to pay taxes to the real owner.
.
Paid off my 30-year mortgage in 20 years-to-the-day on August 15 this year in Redding, CT.
Agree with you about the locale! House has doubled in value since we moved in here in 1994.
FReegards!
Dittos!
Same here. It was a good feeling that I was able to pay cash for my house. No mortgage, period. It was a reward for years of living below my means and makes for a pleasant retirement.
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