On a similar vein, the Better Half and I are on track to have all debt (except for the mortgage and one car) paid off. That's about $1,500 extra to our savings a month (barring getting a kid or other life changing events)
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On a similar vein, the Better Half and I are on track to have all debt (except for the mortgage and one car) paid off. That's about $1,500 extra to our savings a month (barring getting a kid or other life changing events)
That's not quite the way it works in Holland. If I decide to have the mortgage stricken from the register I would need a letter from them declaring the debt has been paid in full. The only thing they could do would ask to the courts to declare me bankrupt if I don't pay anything any longer and then exercise their right to recieve the amount due to them before any other creditor gets a go at my assets. Thing is, the courts never would declare me bankrupt as things stand. For the simple reason you need at least 2 creditors to apply for it, and I don't have any other debts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreadnaught
In the mean time the house is still in my full ownership.
Yay, I found Hazir's thread using advanced search (I don't usually use that function).
I was going to refinance for a lower fixed rate....but now I'm getting cold feet. I'm not really sure what to do now. Morgan Stanley keeps calling me, asking for the final paper work, and I keep stalling. Seems to me they need me more than I need them. I paid off my only credit card, and paid the last installments on my son's orthodontia. Basically, I'm debt free except for this mortgage. I have a lot of equity, and our housing market is only seasonally soft. Big house and big yard, requiring more work than I want to do. One son left at home who loves this place....I could wait three more years....but ageing works faster than we expect, and I'm getting tired.
Any advice out there?
I would say go ahead and refinance at the lower rate. Then, take the difference in payment each month and put it in savings! After while, you will have a nice nest egg for whatever you decide to do next. Of course, that will depend on the difference and whether it is enough to really worry about. If it's not a lot of cash per month or year, maybe just stick with what you have.
Yes, it's hard to move from the familiar to the strange and unknown. Your son shows this in wanting to stay in the place he has grown up. You show it in waffling about the refinancing.
Refinancing is usually a good idea. Just crunch the numbers, compare any associated fees to the amount of interest you'll be saving on, keeping in mind the amount of time you expect to continue living in the house, see if you profit from it. If yes, do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by GGT
Thanks, yeah I know that already. I'm trying to make an emotional decision, not necessarily a financial one. I can save some money by refinancing, but at what cost emotionally and physically? I can even make money by selling, but at what cost emotionally for me and my kids?Quote:
Originally Posted by Wraith
I don't understand why refinancing is an emotional decision.
I can understand how selling would be emotional, but refinancing? Unless there's more to it than you've said, I don't get it.
Because my house is just a couple of miles from my ex-husband's house, and his fiance's house (where he's actually living) is a few doors down from that. Our older son is trying to clean up his dad's house, which is a rat-trap piece of shit. Both kids socialize with friends from that neighborhood, but also friends in my neighborhood.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wraith
Even going to the doctor turns into "oh, you live down the street from us, are you the one with the red bench under dogwood trees?" Small town stuff.
The ex is marrying his fiance in September, at the home they've been expanding (while his house is falling apart just a few doors down). And our previous "family home" is in the triangle.
I've been slowly losing my mind in this bizarre incestuous place. I've had enough "therapy" to sound like a Dr. Phil show....but my sons are old enough now to say "Don't leave us here with him, but don't move us somewhere new!" Younger son wants to complete HS and graduate with his friends. Another three years from now.
:cry:
So the real decision is whether or not to sell and move then, not whether to refinance?
Yes. Choices are---refinance and stay for 3-5 years. Or sell and move away, leaving a child behind with his dad.
So you will re-finance, why bother asking ?
Unless you're willing to sell, I suggest not refinancing for more than you actually owe (IE don't borrow against equity) to at least lower your rates for the time being until you're ready to head out of there.
Refinance normally is for if you're staying their, nothing emotional about it. The decision to sell or not is the emotional one.Quote:
Originally Posted by GGT
The decision to refinance or not is (or ought to be) a purely financial decision?
Oh God, I never considered that (borrowing against equity) was on the table.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreadnaught
Honestly it's not the worst idea if one has a worthwhile purpose for it - say, expanding a business, or paying off higher interest debt. Rates are very low right now, and assuming one is not cutting too deeply into one's equity (say, leaving at least 20% of the house paid for), why not? There's an interest write-off, and there's plenty of higher-yielding options out there for some people.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazir
I wouldn't personally do it unless I had a damned good reason for it, but I don't find it an automatically poor suggestion.
Yeah, to sell or not is the emotional part. If I could decide whether to sell now or wait a few years (and who knows what the real estate market is going to look like then) then refinancing would be an unnecessary step, or putting that cash into getting the house "show-ready". I could sell and rent, but would have to remain in the school district, so my son could stay in the same school. If not, then he'd have to live with his dad and step mom, which he doesn't want to do....Quote:
Originally Posted by RandBlade
I am clearly missing something here, what would be the purpose of refinancing?
Well, it would save me some money every month. The "costs" of refinancing mean I'd have to stay in this home for about five years to recoup the fees and charges added, rolled into the new mortgage. (No, I'm not trying to refinance my equity, just the amount of the remaining mortgage). Refinancing could protect me if the real estate market continues to tank, and I couldn't sell. In that case, I could live here longer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazir
But my goal is to move away from here.....
We just refinanced our mortgage, dropped a point and a half and made it a 15 year loan instead of 30 (we were down to 22-23 years left)
Still saves us a TON of money and paid off by the time I'm 55 instead of 62.
AND our Credit Union is offering to refinance at ANOTHER point less and make it a 10 year loan...we are seriously thinking about it.
How long do you think the mortgage interest deduction will last? If it won't last much longer (and I personally don't think it should), then should I pay off the mortgage, or sell and move?
It would take five years...but that doesn't matter as much if you're not underwater on your home. Are you?Quote:
Originally Posted by GGT
Not underwater, nope. Great deal of equity, at least according to the appraisal and comps. I made sure my mortgage was less than half the purchase price.
In case case, unless the closing costs are monstrous, I'd suggest forgetting about them. The costs will effectively come off your future sale price and, if they aren't a huge proportion of that price, it's not worth worrying about them when the monthly savings could at least make the next few years more comfortable.
Ok so we're really only talking about the how long it will take you to recuperate the closing costs with the monthly lower interest paid?
S'pose that's right, but weighing emotional costs against financial ones complicates the matter. :(
The property taxes are a huge unknown, too. They were proposed to go up another 3% but there was a little tax payer revolt, so 1.5% was the compromise. Been here 9 yrs and they've almost doubled since we moved in....