I had a stray thought about mortgage payoff. One that I do not recall being addressed.
Because I live in the land of 5 year terms, we essentially need to shop for a mortgage every 5 years.
When I was in the USA I was a bit shocked at first, at the upfront costs to get into a mortgage, and "buying points" costs for mortgages. Here, the costs are all back end loaded, so it can be nearly free upfront, but with a huge penalty if you end your mortgage before 5 years are up.
Now for the stray thought -- How does the fact that the average person may move every 7 to 10 years impact the math to "keep your mortgage".? I have owned / lived in 4 different locations, plus a rental location, since I first became a home owner 23 years ago.
If new mortgage origination costs are incurred by selling every 7 years, or 3x over a 30 year investment horizon.... how much of an impact/ drag does it put into the equation.
For someone with a "pay off" mentality:
I would assume that loan origination costs are needed at the start, then are quite small for the first move after 7 years, (e.g., 1/2) because half the mortgage is gone. The next 2 moves would then have zero loan origination costs because there is no loan.
For the person keeping the mortgage to invest, they would have added loan origination costs after 7 years, 17 years, 27 years, for each move.
How big of an impact to the "keep mortgage" math is it to someone moving every 7 to 10 years?
For most, I agree that maximizing one's mortgage and investments typically pays off. -- this is my genuine question, not an attempt to negate the theme of this thread.