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 ...
I paid of my mortgage in 1990 and we bought ur condos for cash.
We have never paid interest for anything but our first home.
I was raised to never buy anything you don’t have the money for except a first home and i’ve lived by those rules for 77 years.
BUMP! Dave is the man.
but they drive nicer cars right?
Taxes and insurance are killer.
From the Wikipedia:
The Estate
Set in the centre of 58 acres (230,000 m2) of gardens and mature woodland, Updown Court is entered by a £2 million (3 million USD) heated marble driveway, has 103 rooms. 24 of these are bedrooms, each with its own marble en-suite bathroom. Among other features, it has a fully automated two-lane bowling alley, five swimming pools including an Infinity pool, a squash court, a floodlit tennis court, a wine cellar with a capacity for 3,000 bottles and a panic room. There are 5 acres (20,000 m2) of more than 30 different types of imported Italian marble, expansive terraces, and a customizable cinema with a 50 seat capacity. It also features an underground garage, with granite flooring, that has enough room for eight cars or limousines. The first floor is the main residential area, featuring eight generous bedroom suites, all en-suite. The penthouse floor contains two separate penthouse apartments, each with two bedrooms, reception area, bathroom, kitchen and occupies an entire wing of the property.
Good for you on getting out of RI. That entire place is a cesspool.
As far as mortgages go for Freepers, Just buy homes and rent them out.
This coming October is my last payment... :)
My mortgage will be paid off when I turn 100 years old. I don’t think I’ll make it.
I’ve come to think lately that homeownership is over rated. If you need the tax deduction it’s better than renting. Otherwise, the upkeep can get pretty costly. And, you never know who’s going to move in next door. If drug dealers or multiple families of Mexicans move in I can’t up and move because I own the damn place. And if that happens it’s doubtful I’d be able to sell.
On the other hand, if I sell I’ll just have to buy someplace else or pay more rent than my current mortgage. I guess I’ll stay until the hoards move out from the city and get too close.
We’ve considered renting. We should be able to net about $700 a month. The mortgage is $950. We could sure use the extra monthly cash flow. What concerns me is getting renters who tear the place up then leave in the middle of the night.
My other option is sell it and move to Mexico.
bkmk
Paid ours off about 8 years ago - one of the rare debt-free folks who can pay off the credit cards every month as they are only used as a convenience. Great way to head into retirement.
You know what is the most shocking, how little response there is to the post. I have posted it twice and you are the first response.
Nope and don’t care. Refi back to 30 years a few months back. Now $880 a month with tax and Ins and putting $250 a month into savings vs previous loan. We won’t retire in this house, as I don’t want to be climbing stairs in my old age, let alone stay in So. Cal. We will sell it and have plenty of equity to buy our last house with 100% cash.
and lose it and all your monies too?
From Wikiquotes:
“Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.”
Reportedly said by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in a speech in 1904.
Alternately phrased as “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society, including the chance to insure”, Compania General De Tabacos De Filipinas v. Collector of Internal Revenue, 275 U.S. 87, 100, dissenting; opinion (21 November 1927).
The first variation is quoted by the IRS above the entrance to their headquarters at 1111 Constitution Avenue.
IOW, you don’t get the infrastructure of a civilized society without making some mandatory arrangement to pay for it.
That said, I am glad to pay my country property taxes because I can at least pretty easily correlate them with the services the county provides and it is pretty easy to expose abuses and abusers.
My feeling toward state taxes is generally the same but there is less transparency and a corresponding lack of accountability.
However, I strongly dislike the notions of obligatory wealth transfer between one segment of society and another that animates tax policy at the Federal level. Talk about undeserved unearned priviledge!
As for the fact that the “man” can come and take it, you are right.
Traced back to its ultimate source, title to the land was originally granted by the state as a sort of perpetual contract between it and the “owner.” Possession and conditional use was granted on stipulation that you obey its laws and pay the taxes and fees levied by it in return. In addition, this requirement is an inseperable and unseverable part of any future transfer of ownership.
In order to guard against forfiture due to unpaid taxes, escrow accounts are a part of nearly every mortgage. Keeping the house insured is another. However, in that case, the lender is just requiring the borrower to protect the value of the collateral. I recently paid my mortgage off and now have to make arrangements to ensure I pay my property taxes (semiannually, in my case). Technically, I don’t have to keep the house insured but, reflecting on the liability arising in the accident situation you mention, the low annual cost of the insurance is more than worth it to offset the risk.
Currently, we intend to sell our present house when I retire and build a retirement home with the proceeds. No mortgage. At that time, I’m thinking about funding a separate trust/account to automatically accumulate and pay the insurance and property taxes as they come due. Something like a mortgage escrow account without the mortgage. Properly funded, it should keep the property taxes paid and the homeowner’s insurance in force until we pass and it becomes the turn of somebody else to “own” the property.
Unfortunately, my credit union doesn’t offer this service, so I need to work with a financial advisor to get one established.
We also own 25 acres surrounding the house which are zoned agricultural and the taxes on it are very low as long as we use the acreage for some agricultural purpose. So we decided to raise beef cattle. We also own the family cemetery (1 acre) across the highway from us and the taxes on it are zero.
I'm not sure if I would call it "lucky" or just the different circumstances.
I’m probably the exception here, my house has been paid for, for several years (that’s not the exception part)
Here ‘tis:
My real estate tax is $27 per year higher than it was 22 years ago when we moved in, yet its market price has more than tripled.
shhhh, mums the word.
3 Homes, PAID in Full, but Taxes.....
Paid off in 2011. I now only owe the government.
Paid off several years ago but the endless tax is still there.
“To me, that number is large because the house I own in Arizona with the same square footage in the city has annual taxes of only $1800 a month. “
$1800.00 a MONTH??
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