As of last night, we had a net worth of circa $2,730,000.
Mortgage balance of ~$145,000.
HELOC balance circa ~15,000.
No other debt.
Equity in current house ~100,000 to $150,000
7 other houses owned free and clear, 5 of which are providing income. Total worth about $1,000,000.
~1,600,000 in stocks, bonds, and cash.
We just found our dream house. Signed a contract on it. Since rates are low it makes sense to get a mortgage.
At this point I'm not convinced I'm going to be able to get one.
I suspect they don't think I have enough income.
This despite the fact that we're paying our bills now, we're almost 2 payments ahead on our mortgage, we bought four houses in the last 2 years (for cash!) and with me going on social security in January, we're getting a $24,000 raise. A $340,000 30 year fixed rate mortgage on this house, including taxes and insurance, will run $24,500 a year. How could anyone not figure out this was a damn good risk!!??
Of course I don't have income! Wealthy people have assets that provide more wealth. The last thing you want is income, they tax that sort of thing!
I had excess cash reserves to spend last year. The last thing I would want is income! I wanted proceeds that are expensed resulting in no income and more assets that produce more wealth.
I should know by Monday. If the lender we're talking to balks as I suspect they will, I'll check with a local bank on Tuesday. (I'm travelling until Monday evening.) Maybe they can just make a common sense loan that they will service themselves instead of sticking to the collateralizable mortgage obligation rules.
So we may end up buying our new home for cash. Our $340,000 new home -- in cash -- that they don't think we make enough to pay a mortgage for.
We'll be putting our old home on the market by mid-March, possibly earlier. It should sell in 6-12 months depending on how aggressive with pricing we are. That should bring in $100,000 to $150,000 from equity. We'll be selling one house to our daughter's adoptive grandmother which will bring in over $60,000. We'll put that money back into the stash.
Plus, of course, we'll have the mortgage expense from our current home off our back, which frees up $22,500. So, sometime in the next year we'll actually get to see that Social Security raise show up for consumption spending (or paying down the mortgage faster).