Holy poo interest rates are low right now...

[Carolina Husker]

where are you located at?

Charlotte.

[Panthro]

Home values seem to be sinking again. Checked zillow yesterday and from december to january my house value dropped 3.5%, and has dropped 8.3% from its 2011 peak.

ive read how wildly inaccurate Zillow is.

[Carolina Husker]

It's off about 10-15% in my neighborhood from what I can tell.

[MadHatter]

I just re-fied my mortgage last week from 4.75% to 3.625%. Saves me $105 on my minimum payment.

Anybody paying ahead on their mortgage? Have a plan to pay it off early? What is it? I have a plan where I increase my monthly payment by $50/year. Seems to be working great so far. My goal is to be mortgage-free by the time my daughter enters college (2028, 19 years from origination).

Home values seem to be sinking again. Checked zillow yesterday and from december to january my house value dropped 3.5%, and has dropped 8.3% from its 2011 peak.

If you have a fixed mortgage at those low rates, you are CRAZY for wanting to pay it off early.

You are paying an effective interest rate of less than 3% (given the tax dedictibility of the interest)

You would be much better served to take the additional amount that you would pay and invest it. Over a 20 year period, the market will return much more than a 3% return.

Jsut a thought.

[Jase]

If you have a fixed mortgage at those low rates, you are CRAZY for wanting to pay it off early.

You are paying an effective interest rate of less than 3% (given the tax dedictibility of the interest)

You would be much better served to take the additional amount that you would pay and invest it. Over a 20 year period, the market will return much more than a 3% return.

Jsut a thought.

It's not as simple as comparing Rate of return, because the size of the mortgage principal greatly eclipses any extra capital I have and the fact that the loan is so early in its life. Over the life of the loan, the money saved from reducing the principal early has a greater impact than just 3.6%.

[Wanderlai]

I bought my house about 16 months ago. I got a 6000sf house built in 2006 for $240k with bank paying closing cost. It was a foreclosure and the build price was $365K. Tax value is still listed at $355. Should I challenge that tax number and have it lowered? Any reason not to?

[Davidson Deac II]

"good debt" i.e. student loans, mortgage, etc.... Is a misconception, there is no such thing as good debt. That is a word made up by credit companies. Screw a credit score. If you are debt free, have no bills, everything you make will goto your pocket (or to hookers and blow)

But there is some debt that is not as bad as other debt. Mortgage debt generally is better than renting.

[pantherfan49]

I bought my house about 16 months ago. I got a 6000sf house built in 2006 for $240k with bank paying closing cost. It was a foreclosure and the build price was $365K. Tax value is still listed at $355. Should I challenge that tax number and have it lowered? Any reason not to?

Depends. How much are the taxes and how long are you going to live in the house?

The only time you don't want to fight the tax value is if you plan on selling soon--- realtors will use the tax rate as a comp for determining the asking/offer price on your home.

[pantherfan49]

Charlotte.

Not in Charlotte but still services your area and the absolute best I have ever worked with

http://www.carolinaequity.com/

[pstall]

is there anything, site wise that's close to knowing what your house might really be worth...I've heard that Zillow blows goats

whoever you bank with should have a very accurate home value calculator if you try to apply for a home equity/refi etc.

just peep their website and use it. it has a very low variance for value.

[pstall]

also, you should NEVER look at % as your reasoning for buying. it can be 0% but if you can't afford the payment you can't afford the payment.

[charlottenian]

Prices have been extremely low.... I have sat on the sideline long enough and finally got into the commercial scene with a couple colleagues at work. This is the current building I am in the midst of acquiring, 6,400 sq ft has a total of 11 offices in it and is in foreclosure. Property sold for 500k in 2007 and I am getting it likely for less than half of that. At this price point and current rates I just can't rationalize why I should not purchase. These investments should hopefully provide a comfortable future.

[pstall]

oh there are deals aplenty. once you buy a foreclosed home you might as well get ready to be a landlord though.

investors and home buyers are not of the same mindset.

[TruCatzFan]

*DISCLAIMER* this will bs a long post, but since this is actually a thread full of people that know way more than I do at 28, I would greatly appreciate any feedback through pm's or this thread.

Okay, first off, I'm very jealous off all of you who have been fortunate enough to purchase a home. As most of you already know I'm in the military and it's quite impossible to purchase a home with as much as I move around. My wife and I have decided to wait until I retire or can get some guarenteed stability before we buy/build our home.

With that said, due to numerous deployments and my wifes dedication to being frugal and saving every penny... We have accumulated what I consider to be a nice nest egg in our savings account. With out giving you an exact # let's just say more than $30,000 but let than $60,000. I am not doing any kind of investments presently other than our savings account interest which gets accrued. I did invest a nice chunk of change a few years back when silver Prices were very low. So I do have that, but likely won't ever sell it unless crazy poo hits the fan.

I don't know much about the stock market and honestly wouldn't feel comfortable investing with our current economic plight. I guess I should do some research and have meant to do so, but for some reason I never get around to it. I know that I could be making this idle money grow but am terrified to lose my life savings. I know IRS not enough to even remotely be rich, but I have been blessed to accumulate in an economic time where most are struggling to make ends meet. I'm not posting this to belittle anyone whatsoever, nor to sound like I know it all. I'm 28, been married for almost 7 years and have an 11 month old son. I know nothing really. Especially compared to a lot of the wisdom that I've read throughout his thread.

I have been a renter my entire life and am tired of paying somebody else's mortgage. We have considered buying a home and possibly renting it out if the military moves us... But ultimately decided that it's really not worth the hassle.

Any wisdom or sound advice would be greatly appreciated. I love to read books, so if there are any good ones out there that you all would recommend me to read, that would bs great. I do extensive research before I make any major purchase, so I would have course research any advice that I'm given.

I honestly feel a little weird opening up to complete strangers on all of this, but you all sound very knowledgeable on this subject and undoubtedly could steer me out of harms way and into more sound decisions.

I'm 10 years away from my military retirement which will put me at 38 yes old when I get out. I have a solid plan for attaining my masters degree before exiting the military and plan to pursue a career in the IT world.

Who knows what will happen between now and then, especially with the way it's looking these days. Ok, I'll stop now. Thanks ahead of time for any pm's or advice that I may receive in this thread.