|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 6,958
Campfire Tracker
|
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 6,958 |
Bought my first house in 1977 for $80,000. Upgraded to a bigger house with a bigger mortgage in 1984. Paid off the mortgage in 1993. No debt since then. Bought two houses since then. Both were fixer-uppers. Paid cash and remodeled them using earned income, then sold for a profit.
All major purchases are done with cash. No house payments. No car payment. Pay off the credit card every month. Mostly use the credit card because it's convenient and to get air miles.
My son is 45 and was paying double house payments for about ten years. Paid off his mortgage last year.
Wind in my hair, Sun on my face, I gazed at the wide open spaces, And I was at home.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 10,689
Campfire Outfitter
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 10,689 |
Daughter is stationed out in San Antonio and says many of her coworkers are buying homes with a 50 year mortgage! Insane!!
Says their plan is to rent home out when they get stationed elsewhere.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 2,795
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 2,795 |
Bought my first house in 1977 for $80,000. Upgraded to a bigger house with a bigger mortgage in 1984. Paid off the mortgage in 1993. No debt since then. Bought two houses since then. Both were fixer-uppers. Paid cash and remodeled them using earned income, then sold for a profit.
All major purchases are done with cash. No house payments. No car payment. Pay off the credit card every month. Mostly use the credit card because it's convenient and to get air miles.
My son is 45 and was paying double house payments for about ten years. Paid off his mortgage last year.
Anarchy like that is going to get you cancelled! You must be in debit to be free. The interest paid is the measure of your freedom.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,324
Campfire Outfitter
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,324 |
My grandfather died in 1965. His house was worth $8.5k, per when we sold it.
That house is now worth $450k in 2021 per Zillow
2021- 1965 = 56 years 56th root of [$450/$8.5] = 1.073 -> = 7.3% return compounded annually over 56 years
My grandfather built that house with cash, so that is realistic. But if the had a 20% down 3% interest 30 year loan, his return would have been more like 20%.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. -Ernest Hemingway The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.-- Edward John Phelps
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 8,929
Campfire Outfitter
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 8,929 |
Neighbor offered me way to much money for my house a few months ago. About 25% more than a reasonable market could bear. He swore he was dead serious. The wife and I laughed about it but didn't consider it very long because the replacement cost for our home would probably be 25% more than he offered.
Waiting for this real estate bubble to burst.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,166
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,166 |
I’d depends -
1. do you or your wife like cleaning .... if not don’t buy a bigger house.
2. Does your wife buy so much crap (Hoarder) until you are pilling stuff on top of each other ... smaller is better.
3. Big open spaces = more comfort inside, but high heating & Air Conditioning bills
We have up sized and down sized a couple times, I like the bigger open spaces but things can bite you in the arse.
Spotshooter, good points but it depends on where you live regarding heating and cooling costs. My dad and step mom retired and moved to Ecuador several years ago. They built a 5700 square foot house, all on one level and have no heating or cooling costs since the house is 100 yards south of the equator and at 8900 feet elevation.
|
|
|
539 members (10gaugeman, 222Sako, 1badf350, 1lessdog, 160user, 17CalFan, 48 invisible),
2,564
guests, and
1,153
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
Forums81
Topics1,187,733
Posts18,401,021
Members73,822
|
Most Online11,491 Jul 7th, 2023
|
|
|
|