Free at last, free at last, thank god almighty, I ...

[Rain Man]

... no longer have a mortgage, as of yesterday.

Yes, that's right, R8ers. I'm just like you but without the big rig skills. I'm debt free in the big One Three. I owe nothing to no man, and the flag planted in my soil is now my own, and my little empire is no longer claimed by foreign banking powers. From now on, I have a roof over my head as long as I keep current on my taxes and the government doesn't decide that they can make a profit by seizing it via the absolutely insane Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London

Yessirree, I'm part of the landed gentry now.

Please pardon me if any of this sounds boastful, but hey, I'm the landed gentry. If this was 1790 I could actually vote in an election, so I hope you'll patiently let me revel in it for a few moments.

As a little back story, I was always a responsible sort, and when I got out of college I had a plan to buy a home as quickly as possible and pay it off as quickly as possible so I could retire as quickly as possible. At the time, you could only get a 30-year mortgage, so I thought I'd buy a humble home and pay it off as quickly as possible, and live humbly to help afford the Delorean that I planned to buy as my splurge. So my goal was to pay the house off at 53 and have 12 good earning years until retirement.

For various reasons, that never worked out. I didn't buy my first property (a condo) until I was 31, and I was almost 33 when we bought this house. It was a fixer-upper, and over 12 years the rehab cost more than 1.5 times what the original house purchase cost. But we paid extra here and there, refinanced a few times as interest rates went down, and either paid cash for the rehab work or hammered the home equity loan payments to keep that debt under control. We got the home equity loan paid off eventually, and this year we hammered the payments pretty hard with extra payments.

So at the end of the day, despite a ten-year life detour, I sit here a month before my 50th birthday with a paid-for home and no debt at all, three years ahead of my original schedule. I am happy. I am smug. I carry within me an air of self-satisfaction that few men can match on this particular day unless they're Atlanta Falcons.

Anyone got a lead on a nice Delorean?

Are those boulders visible on Google Earth?

[TimeForWasp]

Now you can get a reverse mortgage and screw your kids over.

[MoreLemonPledge]

If you're going to quote Martin Luther King, Jr, you're a week too early. Otherwise, congrats!

[Marco Polo]

Congrats! I'm 32 now but hope to have my mortgage paid off when I'm 45.

[Brock]

You still owe the government rent. But congrats anyway.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

As an aside, I hate it when I can't imbed a video. Anyway, here goes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPsI3HI-IPA

The cool thing is that our attached apartment produces rent that will now cover our taxes, insurance, and utilities. I am officially golden.

First, congrats.

Second, on Youtube, under the video there is a tab called "Embed". When you select that a box comes up with some funky stuff, starting with "iframe"

Copy and paste that into your message, and it will embed the video.

[Stewie]

Congrats Rain Man.

I'm getting close to paying off my mortgage. It's getting to the point where there's not enough interest being paid to help with taxes very much. I haven't figured the tipping point exactly, but when it's no longer beneficial I'll pay it off in one lump sum.

[Imon Yourside]

If ya feel guilty for not making a payment you could always help pay my mortgage, just sayin'

[mikeyis4dcats.]

We are on track currently to have our home paid off when I turn 50 due to a refi last year. Hopefully in the intervening years we will be able to speed that up.

[ptlyon]

Congrats Rain Man!

How would I like to have my mortgage go straight into the savings account!

$860 x 12 - $1800 (for taxes) = $8520 free & clear!!!

[kepp]

Nice job. That has to feel good.

[Predarat]

That is just plain awesome, well done!

[notorious]

Congrats. It must be a great feeling.


I am 35, and we are very close. My goal is to pay it off within 2 years (if I stop buying rifles), but 3 years is more realistic.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by ptlyon

Congrats Rain Man!

How would I like to have my mortgage go straight into the savings account!

$860 x 12 - $1800 (for taxes) = $8520 free & clear!!!

The key for us now is to put that extra money into savings, and not say, "Hey, we have extra money." I'll admit that a splurge is tempting.

[Graystoke]

I was within two years of paying off my mortgage when I was 42.
Then my wife gave me the suprise of my life.
She wanted a divorce.
That set me back at least 15 years or more.
Congrats.