[SeekAndFind]

[TexasFreeper2009]

10 years left on my mortgage

[Baynative]

The way our economy is going and in looking at the people who manage to get reelected; I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in a home with a mortgage. The taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance are enough to make me sweat the end of the quarter rolling around. We downsized to buy a home for cash, but we sleep well.

[FrdmLvr]

PAID IN FULL.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Free and clear, last 20 years. Just taxes and Insurance.

[Chode]

free and clear... had a hell of a note burning party too!

[yarddog]

My parents bought their home and land with a VA loan. The $45 a month was not all that bad back in the early 60s but by the time they paid it off, it was hardly anything.

They got a homestead exemption and later an elderly exemption. Hardly any taxes at all. I think it was something like $60 a year.

[AlaskaErik]

Paid in full because I did not want to start my retirement with a mortgage, or any other debt.

[Parley Baer]

Paid in full here.

[Ken H]

Paid in full =>

Taxes and insurance are killer.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I'M DEBT FREEEEEE!!!!!

A little Dave Ramsey lingo there.

[kevao]

Paid off my mortgage some years ago. But I still don’t “own” my house....

Guess what happens if I lose my job and can’t pay my property taxes. Yep.

On the other hand, if someone slips and breaks his leg on my front porch, the property is mine, all mine.

Home “ownership” is an illusion. But if you can swing it, it’s still cheaper than renting a place.

[yarddog]

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.

[SamAdams76]

I had my Massachusetts house paid off a couple years ago. Then I had to go ahead and sell it and move to southern Connecticut!

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.

[Domandred]

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.

[Lorianne]

A lot of the rental homes don’t have a mortgage on them either. They are not including that in their calculations.

[corbe]

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.

[kjam22]

No mortgage here.

[cloudmountain]

We had our home paid off in NINE years because we worked for Saudi ARAMCO for five years. We bought the home after being there for only TWO years; we stayed there a total of five years but had enough money to pay off the mortgage early.

I remember SO WELL that l-a-s-t payment after only nine years. We savored it!

[Intolerant in NJ]

Paid off years back - sure makes retirement cheaper and lots more enjoyable....