Poll

Regarding your primary residence, do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what is the current principal balance?

No, my family/friends let me live with them without charging a housing expense.
7 (1.1%)
No, I rent my primary residence.
51 (7.9%)
No, I have fully paid off my mortgage.
58 (9%)
Yes, between $1 and $50,000.
39 (6.1%)
Yes, between $50,001 and $100,000.
92 (14.3%)
Yes, between $100,001 and $150,000.
89 (13.8%)
Yes, between $150,001 and $200,000.
85 (13.2%)
Yes, between $200,001 and $300,000.
103 (16%)
Yes, between $300,001 and $400,000.
45 (7%)
Yes, between $400,001 and $500,000.
22 (3.4%)
Yes, more than $500,000.
28 (4.4%)
No, I own, but purchased with cash.
24 (3.7%)

Total Members Voted: 627

Author Topic: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?  (Read 22910 times)

WSUCoug1994

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #50 on: December 16, 2015, 03:38:01 PM »
Bay area resident here. 


We have  ~$443K remaining on our mortgage.  We put about 29% down on a $680K house a few years ago.  We've been lucky to have bought in before the recent run-up in prices here.  Zillow (and recent comps) indicate our house is now worth ~$1.2-1.3M.

We sound like neighbors. 

LeRainDrop

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #51 on: December 16, 2015, 03:53:06 PM »
Just dropped to under $400k on the mortgage -- $399k+ as of last statement.  I enjoyed seeing the balance begin with a 3 instead of a 4.

I feel the same way.  I recently crossed the threshold from a $200k+ balance to $198k.  Amazing how seeing that "1" as a leading digit makes me so happy!

Less

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #52 on: December 16, 2015, 04:06:55 PM »
Looks like I "win" so far. My balance is around 580K. We just bought a house a few months ago with 20% down. Our home budget is quite modest compared to other bay area homes and what we could "afford" based on our income (according to those affordability calculators we should be buying a home for 1.25-1.5M)!

Spud, I am in a similar $$$ position to you. We are setting it up to live in and bring some rental income from room mates (literally just moved). My SO and i had similar projections of what we could "afford" but that is just silly money. Housing (rental and purchase) is expensive where i live, but the income is better to compensate, and intangibles like family, lifestyle etc are there.

Scary to be in the upper numbers on here... but in Auckland, you can't buy a unit for less then 550k. And at that price you would want to spend a bit of money on it to bring it to a comfortable standard.


FireHiker

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #53 on: December 16, 2015, 06:08:28 PM »
Brand new here, this is only my second post after the introduction, working my way through the surveys. >$500k category here. Our principal is $590k. Paid $772k in 2012, 3.375% mortgage 30 year fixed. Current value on trulia/zillow is approx $1.06M. Everywhere we go daily is within 4 miles (and will be 2 miles once the youngest goes to kindergarten in 2017).

DCKatie09

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #54 on: December 16, 2015, 06:16:23 PM »
Some of these CA answers make me feel ever so slightly better about our DC-area ridiculousness. Bought 4 years ago at $420K, worth ~$500K now, owe $360K (just refi'd at 3.25%). And that's for our 900sf duplex (but in such a great neighborhood).

snshijuptr

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #55 on: December 16, 2015, 09:14:17 PM »
Okey, Dokey

We need more of those MMM Californians responding! 

I know the average home value around here is around $800k, worse in CA, unless you choose a condo / apartment / townhome (which is $400k-$500k).   Given the massive incomes reported on other threads, and about half of us preferring to invest instead of paying off mortgage... there must be more people here with high mortgages.

?  anyone?

Californian here who is focused on investing not mortgage payoff. Our balance is around $270k. We live in a 2 bedroom condo. In a couple years we are going to buy a SFH so I expect that our mortgage will be closer to $500k...and that scares the shit out of me. We are going to delay moving as long as we can stand.

Erica

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #56 on: December 16, 2015, 09:36:56 PM »
We paid off our mortgage when we sold our home about 2 years ago.

We also own a small amount of land free and clear- about a half acre in Alta, California. It's very close to the tiny downtown

Petuniajo

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #57 on: December 16, 2015, 09:45:06 PM »
I answered 200-300k, but it's just barely... Around 200,400--we should get below 200k with our next payment. Whoop whoop!

CanuckExpat

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #58 on: December 17, 2015, 02:22:08 PM »
Okey, Dokey

We need more of those MMM Californians responding! 

?  anyone?

Californian here who is focused on investing not mortgage payoff.

Also in this boat with a large mortgage (just dropped under $400,000 owing). We're relatively conservative and we like the mental aspect of paying down our mortgage, but I've been trying to resist the temptation to pay it off too fast.

For fun, I've lately been toying around with the idea that it might be most reasonable to do a cash-out refinance while property values are up and rates are low. A large fixed-rate debt is a great inflation hedge. (we're currently on an ARM)
Also, since mortgages in California are non-recourse, it seems like keeping your home equity as low as possible would be a great hedge against a crash in the housing market (assuming you are willing and able to walk away, moral judgement aside and all that). I'm pretty sure that's what they call a moral hazard. I can be just like an investment banker...
This is just a mental excercise for now, but the reasoning sounds solid.

Guses

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #59 on: December 17, 2015, 02:38:40 PM »
I think we have about 24,800$ left out of a 345,000$ purchase price after 6 years.

Only a few more months :).
 

Melody

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #60 on: December 26, 2015, 01:03:07 AM »
$380k... A few days off making my first payment against this bad boy.

aceyou

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #61 on: December 26, 2015, 08:41:39 PM »
Bought in 2011:

Purchase Price: 225K
Amount down: 45K (20%)
Terms: 15 year loan at 3.125%
Amount of principle remaining on loan: 163K
Current Value of home according to Zillow: 314K
My estimate of current value of home: 280K
Estimated equity in home: 117K

Side note: I highly recommend everyone who can consider a 15 year mortgage over a 30 year.  We pay only a tiny bit more each month, but the additional amount of each payment that goes towards principle is night and day more.  And for people on this site who are often looking to retire early, it seems like a no brainer to me. 

golfreak12

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #62 on: December 26, 2015, 11:20:11 PM »
Main House bought in Sept 2013:

Purchase Price: $175K
Amount down: $35K (20%)
Terms: 5/1 ARM at 2.50%
Amount of principle remaining on loan: $5.8K
Current Value of home according to Zillow: $280K
My estimate of current value of home: $240K
Estimated equity in home: $234K

Would have paid it off sooner but the loan require 3 yrs or else I will have to pay back some of the closing costs.
Will be paid off end of 2016.

JLee

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #63 on: December 28, 2015, 07:49:13 AM »
House bought in Feb 2013:

Purchase Price: $140k
Amount down: $7k (5%)
Terms: 30yr fixed @ 3.75%
Amount of principle remaining on loan: $126k
Current Value of home according to Zillow: $176k
My estimate of current value of home: $160k
Estimated equity in home: $34k

I'm hoping Zillow is accurate, but I'm skeptical of that much growth so quickly.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2015, 10:23:48 AM by JLee »

Scubanewbie

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #64 on: December 28, 2015, 09:55:08 AM »
Bought in 2006:  <----terrible rotten horrible timing :)

Purchase Price: $205k
Amount down: ~$30k (bad that I can't remember, south of 20% but not by much and took out an 2nd mortgage ARM to get to 20% so no PMI and paid off in <1 year -- because, you know, we needed to buy before we were priced out of the market, uggg)
Terms: 30yr fixed refi to 20 yr fixed refi to 12 yr fixed now about 7 years left
Amount of principle remaining on loan: $90k
Current Value of home according to Zillow: $165k  <--fairly accurate and STILL below the high 10+ years ago, uggg

Whatever, we bought at a terrible time at the height of the market but on the plus side we bought a home that worked for not only then, but now that we have 2 kids.  I'd "like" to move based on some factors I know now, but we don't "need" to move and have such a low mortgage relative to income that we're still OK even after making such a horrible mistake in buying during the bubble.

talltexan

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #65 on: January 14, 2016, 02:35:18 PM »
Owe 195k on a 265k purchase in 2013. Zillow is very kind, claims there's 40,000 appreciation, but I don't believe it.


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TheInsuranceMan

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #66 on: January 14, 2016, 02:40:51 PM »
Yes, I have a mortgage
3 years in to a 15 year loan
Balance of $57,129.43
3.75% interest rate
$650 a month with escrow

Chris22

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #67 on: January 14, 2016, 03:10:45 PM »
Still in our first year of the mortgage on our new house, purchased in April.  So we probably owe about $315k of the original $318k balance on a house bought for $335k and currently worth, with improvements done and market appreciation, +/- $350k.  Spent around $15k of cash to get to that point (hence the small down payment).

tobitonic

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #68 on: January 14, 2016, 04:38:02 PM »
I am frugal and great at saving, but I admit to be a financial dummy. I paid my current residence cash, and another rental practically cash, both in Calgary. I'm of a generation of immigrants who fled poverty and in my case a bloody civil war, who were allergic to debt of any kind and firmly believed in putting all their money in something tangible they could see and feel. Most of my peers think this is fantastic but I realize in hindsight that locking my money in illiquid assets was the worst financial mistake of my life. I'm paying for this big mistake now that I am close to retirement, but have half of my assets locked in a crumbling real estate market.

Yeah, that is a fairly common mistake made by immigrants. It's a lot better than blowing your money on consumer goods though. Is Calgary really that bad a real estate market right now?

ykphil might regret it, but I definitely wouldn't see that as a mistake. If not for my wife, I'd have saved until buying in cash. Then again, I'm also by default an ERE / YMOYLtype rather than an MMM type, and my motto before my wife had always been no debt, ever. With her, we took on debt for the mortgage, but that's it (unless she convinces me to invest in an income property).

Regarding the poll, bought with mortgage, paid it off in a few years. I've believed for much of my life that the most basic retirement vehicle is a paid off house, and I love the knowledge that nothing more than a part time min. wage job could keep us in our home for the rest of our lives.

CheapScholar

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #69 on: January 14, 2016, 05:04:55 PM »
Wife and I owe about 120K on a house we purchased for 160K two years ago.  Two years ago I hit what I can only describe as the professional equivalent of me winning the lottery.  New employer doubled my previous salary and I recently got a raise, so I make about 105K, and my wife brings in some money working part time but should be full time very soon.

Our home is nice for our area, we live in very low cost of living part of the country (Indiana).  Question I ask myself everyday is, should I just pay off the mortgage?  We have about 60K in investments that could be sold at any time.  I also max out 18K into my 403B retirement.  I'm 35.  I know I can pay off my mortgage within a few years by making a few smart decisions.  I hate my mortgage, but I find comfort that we only spend 8% of our gross income on housing (mortgage plus property taxes).

onlykelsey

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #70 on: January 14, 2016, 05:12:44 PM »
I bought in 2013 for 480K in Manhattan (it's modest, clearly).  I put 15% down, then had a purchase HELOC for 24K and a mortgage of 384K.

Over the past two years I've paid my standard mortgage payments, and was aggressively paying down my HELOC.  Then I had to come up with 64K for a roof repair, and bridged the gap with more HELOC.  As of this month, my apartment is worth ~615K, I owe 360K on the mortgage, and 39K on the HELOC.

The HELOC has been at 3.25 but is variable and I imagine will be going up soon, so I threw 10K at it last month, and may accelerate that payoff.  Or maybe I should be investing.  I go round and round on this.

Erica

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #71 on: January 14, 2016, 10:15:17 PM »
No, we sold our home and moved to a different town to care for my elderly 90 year old inlaws, renting a house nearby.


We want to buy property after caregiving ceases. In order to start a self sustaining community in an offgrid town about 30 minutes away.
We've been attending church there for years, it's a State Recreation area wonderful for cycling and what not. Cabins will be tiny, unpermitted and we'll charge a little rent to help us stay afloat while saving our earned income.


honeybbq

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #72 on: January 15, 2016, 09:19:16 AM »

Side note: I highly recommend everyone who can consider a 15 year mortgage over a 30 year.  We pay only a tiny bit more each month, but the additional amount of each payment that goes towards principle is night and day more.  And for people on this site who are often looking to retire early, it seems like a no brainer to me.

I have a 30 year mortgage but pay it off like a 15 yr mortgage. The change in interest rate was minimal for me and I have flexibility if something comes up.

MsSindy

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #73 on: January 15, 2016, 10:56:18 AM »
I probably have one of the worse situations:

We started to build our house in 2001, still not finished, so can't refinance (or sell) (don't even get me started!!)
$330k loan @ a whopping 5.75%  (~$650k value, so can't complain too much)
Luckily (well, not really all luck, we made some good decisions), we are high income and have been stashing away for investments.  But just recently, we've made the decision to payoff the mortgage in 4 years and stopping our investments during that time (except 401ks).  We'll throw $240k extra over the 4 years and then free up about $2500/month.

I was always in the invest your extra dollars camp, but now I think I'm going for the guaranteed 5.75% return, plus piece of mind of a paid off mortgage.

Of course, the real winning decision would be to move the fuck out of our house.....sigh, if only I could convince DH.

onlykelsey

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #74 on: January 15, 2016, 11:00:49 AM »
Quote
but now I think I'm going for the guaranteed 5.75% return,

Maybe I'm thinking about the math wrong, but if you're high income and itemize deductions, isn't the mortgage offering a guaranteed return of less?  Say, 4.5%?  That might not sway your decision, but just something to consider.

Roboturner

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #75 on: January 15, 2016, 11:25:08 AM »
Owe 195k on a 265k purchase in 2013. Zillow is very kind, claims there's 40,000 appreciation, but I don't believe it.


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Ha Zillow gave us 100k in appreciation, which is probably 'right' for the current Denver market, but definitely not right when considering the intrinsic value of our little shit-box

Slow&Steady

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #76 on: January 15, 2016, 11:56:40 AM »
House bought in: April 2007 - Not sure it gets a lot worse than that.  We had to move due to jobs and it has been rented (barely breaking even) since Sept 2008.  I did not use this house to answer the poll.

Purchase Price: $135k
Amount down: $7k (~5%) - Stupid I know now
Terms: refinanced to 30yr fixed @ 4.25%
Amount of principle remaining on loan: $115k
Current Value of home according to Zillow: $124k
My estimate of current value of home: $110k
Estimated equity in home: Negative (we put additional money into remodels) - I can't wait until we can unload it.


House bought in: Nov 2011 - Primary residence, I only used this house to answer the poll.

Purchase Price: $95k
Amount down: $5k (~5%) - Stupid I know now
Terms: 15yr fixed @ 3.25%
Amount of principle remaining on loan: $65k
Current Value of home according to Zillow: $202k
My estimate of current value of home: $175k
Estimated equity in home: $55k (we have put money into updates)

PhrugalPhan

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #77 on: January 15, 2016, 12:13:52 PM »
Live in the DC burbs, bought in 1998 for $135k, paid off in 2011.  Comparables last year sold for $350-$375k, though to get it ready for selling would probably cost $20k.  Will continue to enjoy rent/mortgage free living until I retire and move to a LCOL area (probably 2023).

Dicey

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #78 on: January 15, 2016, 05:13:36 PM »
Primary residence owe $280K , paying extra principal every month(2.5% interest rate)
Investment property 1 owe $165K , paying extra principal every month(3.5% interest rate)
Investment property 2 owe $130K , paying extra principal every month(4.125% interest rate)
Investment property 3 owe $80K , used HELOC(current variable rate 2.85%)

Edited to add:

WTF? My part of this post completely disappeared. Oh, now I'll never remember the pearls of wisdom that I imparted. Gaaahhhh!

Basically, it went something like this: Sorry for the slight topic hijack, but I do not see that anyone has called you out on the strategy outlined above. Why are you prepaying the fixed mortgages (IP1 & IP2) but not the variable one (IP3)?

This seems way less than optimal. And here's a facepunch for prepaying the primary residence that's at 2.5%. Unless of course, it's not fixed.

==============================================================================================
Back on topic: No mortgage, but sold two houses with fixed mortgages and lots of equity to buy this one. It's a clown house, but it's what our family needs at this phase of our lives.

Edited (again) to add: Since I'm in the Bay Area, here are some comparative numbers just for grins. Custom-built (not for us) house is ten years old, 2625 sf, 10k sf lot, no pool, three car garage. Paid $928k on a short sale in 2013. It's overbuilt for the neighborhood, but not obnoxiously so. We knew the appreciation would be limited because of this, but it's 3.5 blocks from DH's office. Since his mom and her pal, Al Z. Heimer, live with us, the peace of mind of having him nearby is priceless.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2016, 12:14:28 PM by Diane C »

iwasjustwondering

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #79 on: January 15, 2016, 05:50:52 PM »
I bought for $395K in 2010, with 3.5% down.  The house is now worth $460K, according to Zillow, but I think it's worth $440K, based on recent sales in my area.

I now owe about $320K.  I pay down the principal by one to three extra mortgage payments per year.

Zaga

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #80 on: January 15, 2016, 07:51:24 PM »
Inherited a house with no mortgage on it, voted paid cash.  Close enough!

SwordGuy

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #81 on: January 15, 2016, 10:02:50 PM »
Primary residence owe $280K , paying extra principal every month(2.5% interest rate)
Investment property 1 owe $165K , paying extra principal every month(3.5% interest rate)
Investment property 2 owe $130K , paying extra principal every month(4.125% interest rate)
Investment property 3 owe $80K , used HELOC(current variable rate 2.85%)

If you are going to pay extra principal, why not focus it on either:

1) the highest interest rate (to save the most $ over time), or
2) the lowest balance (to lower the minimum payments the fastest).

Why are you spreading extra principal around instead of concentrating it?

pbkmaine

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #82 on: January 15, 2016, 10:05:39 PM »
Nope. We own the house free and clear.

PaulMaxime

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #83 on: January 16, 2016, 11:59:59 AM »
Okey, Dokey

We need more of those MMM Californians responding! 

I know the average home value around here is around $800k, worse in CA, unless you choose a condo / apartment / townhome (which is $400k-$500k).   Given the massive incomes reported on other threads, and about half of us preferring to invest instead of paying off mortgage... there must be more people here with high mortgages.

?  anyone?

475K left out of 625K mortgage. Put down 30%... It's San Francisco city...

Bought condo in 2012. Currently worth approx 1.9M according to Zillow.

Balance

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #84 on: January 16, 2016, 11:53:06 PM »
Another Bay Area mustachian chiming in. 

Bought our house for $1,000,000
Balance on mortgage $210,000 @ 3.75%

Our mortgage is 1/4 of what we were paying for rent with our old apartment in the same area.

futureman44

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #85 on: January 18, 2016, 08:09:01 AM »
Just bought a couple months ago, purchase price of $900,000, mortgage of $720,000 at 3.75%.

Also just sold our last house that we had for 4 years.  We bought that one for $600,000 and sold for $875,000, though we did put some improvements in.  Had $600K of equity in it, as we sent in a bunch of extra payments.  I don't plan to do that this time around and just pay the minimum payment amount.

flamingo25

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #86 on: January 18, 2016, 11:26:09 AM »
Purchased in 2014

Purchase price: $275k
Amount down: $55k
Terms: originally 30yr at 4.6%, refie'd August 2015 to 15yr at 3.75%
Current balance: $190,688
Appraised value as of August 2015: $345k

GuitarStv

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Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #87 on: January 18, 2016, 11:30:34 AM »
Purchased five years ago for about 400,000 and are sitting at about 8 grand left at this point.

I don't really pay much attention to the supposed value of the house because it's all smoke and mirrors until someone actually hands you the money for it.  Supposedly, our home has appreciated in value quite a bit.

psinguine

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  • Location: Manitoba, Canada
Re: Do you have a mortgage, and, if so, what's the principal balance?
« Reply #88 on: January 18, 2016, 08:41:03 PM »
Well I have two mortgages at the moment.

My first one is the oldest. The principal balance on it about 4 years ago was $28,500 after putting $7000+ down. It was an incredibly fortunate situation. My grandparents were looking to sell, the area was depressed, the house was in poor shape, and all they wanted was that they originally paid for it. I made out like a bandit as far as I'm concerned. At the moment the remaining balance is just over $17,000 (I got a ten year term at 3.7%). I have done extensive renovations at my own cost totalling about $30,000 and according to three independent realtors it would sell quickly at around $140,000. Judging from recent sales in the area I think they're right.

The second is far more recent. My wife and I have only been carrying this mortgage for less than a year. The principal balance was about $49,500 after putting around $2,000 down. We locked in 2.7% but this one is over a 25 year term. We haven't been paying on it very long, so the remaining balance is still up around $47,000. However we are looking to pull the pin on a sale of the first property in the next year, which pretty much renders the second mortgage inconsequential. We'll probably pay it off towards the end of our 5 year refinance period if rates rise too high, or at the very least pay it down.