Pay it. You will never get turned down for a home equity loan if you need it later and your home is free and clear. Side note....$100k houses? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Where do you live? Detroit? 1.25 Mil average in Vancouver. House prices continue to soar in Vancouver to $1.27 million average price
You could use the money to pay off your mortgage but what if you need a new roof, waste or water lines. What if you need to pay utilities and food. What if you need to make major repairs to your auto. What if a loved one is sick. Before you pay off that note talk to a fee-based only financial planner. Most cases paying off the mortgage is bad financial planning. Not many lenders would grant a home equity loan if you have no stream of income, it is not enough just to have the collateral to back up the loan, you must also show that you have the means to make the monthly payments.
MG, you are out of the loop. In Detroit you can get a 'Starter house in need of TLC' at auction for probably less than 5K
Nice move. Humiliate someone because of your perceived misconception of their home. Go back and re-read the OP, Mr. Millionaire. Good way to chase new folks off the forum. Plenty of 100K & under livable homes everywhere (even in "good" neighborhoods) if one knows where to look.
No "intent" to humiliate....in fact, I count ya'll lucky that the bubble burst and a single person can still afford a home state side. It should have burst here long ago but keeps getting propped up.
Perhaps it's different state side. Here, if you own your home outright you can get approved for up to 50% of it's current market value without even having a job.
Pay it off. First of all, it ticks off the bank and mortgage companies because they no longer have their hooks into you. Second, you OWN the place....yes, you'll have to pay property taxes and utilities, but you won't have to worry about monthly payments. Third, remember that for the first 15 years or so of a mortgage, you're paying mostly interest and NOT gaining very much equity. Third, even refinancing still leaves you owing on the place. Fourth and finally, figure out a use for the $$ that used to go toward the mortgage that will increase your wealth faster or increase your security via preps, other acquisitions that generate income or via investments.. Good luck and you're in great position. Kajun PS We paid off our mortgage several years ago and haven't looked back.
Agreed, pay it off. It means a fallback position, a nest egg, and a large bill that doesn't ever have to be made on time again. It means much more flexibility with your income. You could sink that monthly payment into coins, foodstuffs, ammo, better healthcare, upgrades to home, more land, back up vehicle, the list goes on and on. And Grinder, there is NOTHING wrong with living within your means. (If Congress could do it, we would ALL be better off). I'm paying the mortgage on an $86,000.00 cape cod. And I know at least 4 personally, who have lost their houses to the bank, because they bought more house than they could sustain payments on. A good friend lost his house, when his company got bought out, and job cuts took out his job. He had just reroofed, new double pane windows, extra insulation and new siding! Then within a month, he was looking for a new job. Pay it off, if you have the means to do so.
When did I say anything aboot it being wrong to "live withing your means". I agree - PAY IT OFF. We're under 3 years and it's taken all 4 brothers pitching big every month for 10 years to make it happen. When it's DONE...IT'S DONE.
Oh, it has to do with this comment: "Pay it. You will never get turned down for a home equity loan if you need it later and your home is free and clear. Side note....$100k houses? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Where do you live? Detroit? 1.25 Mil average in Vancouver" There are rich neighborhoods here, and quite a few millionaires. The family that own White Castle is one of my customers. The Wolfe family that owns a few dozen papers, and radio stations, live here, and there are communities where I have to be on the guest list to enter to work. So judging a neighborhood by the price of one house is foolish. I was approved for much more than I bought. But when my wife could no longer work, I was quite glad I had not gone the max, or I would have lost it all.
I think you guys are cracking on @Mindgrinder a little much, in regards to him quoting the Vancouver median home value. He was not suggesting that his home was worth that IMO. You also have to remember he is talking in Canadian dollars which at the moment is $1 CDN to $.83 U.S. dollars. For you math wizards that is just over $1M U.S. for that house median (see the link below and he is not full of B.S (note the link is last data from spring of 2014). Canadian House Prices The NW U.S. is much like the NE in home values, with wide swings in cost, be it in the city vs rural. To touch a house here in the Seattle area for $75 to $100K you will be living in the sticks and have a lot of remodeling to do.... I have been on the hunt for second property for a while now and have a good pulse on what you will get for your dollars. What I consider even workable, has been in the starting range of $130 or so with a couple of acres. And that is about 2 hours away from my office.... nowhere near a a town with full services. Here in my area the median price is around $550K.... but I do not have a house valued like that either. It is all about what part of the country you live in and the local market. I know my first house I bought back in N.C. many years ago cost me $53K... today I would be overjoyed at that monthly payment vs what I pay today.... Just a thought or two, YMMV YD
 "Game Ends Monkey If you have the money, say $100,0000, and you mortgage is $75,000 should you pay it off? Should you refinance and put $50,000 toward the new loan?" No sir, you did not. (And you had an extra zero, but that was assumed to.be a typo. You said "if you have the money" should you pay it off. YES.
If you pay it off you could always turn it into rental property for income. Out here rents are as much as mortgage payments in some areas even more. If I rented my home I could make double in rent then what my mortgage payment is.
And you would spend more on repairs while rented, than you would gain in rent money. Renters are hell on your property (at least locally) best rental properties are the duplex houses. Renters KNOW you have an eye on them, the rent is NOT in the mail, and they are NOT parking on the front porch! (Seen it after a party)
Renting property can be a good experience. If you properly vet the renters, you may not have such issues. I rented my N.C. house for 13 years and only had one tenant that bailed after 3 months. I lost 1 months rent but that was it... thankfully. I utilized a property management firm to take care of the vetting, rent collection, repairs and such..... worth the 10% in monthly rent as a fee. Eventually, one of my long term renters bought the house off of me, at a tidy profit I might add.
My house was a rental for three years, prior to my purchase. In that three years, renters destroyed the furnace, by never once changing or even cleaning an air filter. Damaged the floors by leaving the windows open during blowing rain. Destroyed the carpet with pets, and badly closed off a doorway without even telling the landlord. (That modification was not legal because you can't feed a bedroom from a bedroom. Fire code violation) I've seen kids using a screen door as a riding toy, and garden hoses running continuously, because their blowup pool leaked. (Water included in the rent). I'm glad you got a real human being for a tenant. Some folks are not that lucky, and once they are in, eviction is all most impossible.
Evictions are really difficult legally..... scarring the hell out of a tenant is easy.... giving them reason to vacate sooner than later just takes finesse....