Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

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Raymond
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Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Raymond »

I bit the bullet and paid off the mortgage two days ago.

$35,000 principal. 5.25% fixed 15-year VA loan from 2003, so I cut 5 years off the note.

I've held off doing this for a while, but realized that earning 0.35% in a savings account wasn't going anywhere :oops:
"Ritter, Tod und Teufel"
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JDaniels
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by JDaniels »

That deserves a congratulations :sharebeer
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Blues
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Blues »

Congrats! :sharebeer

I also recently (last month) paid off my mortgage from 2003...30 years @ 5% fixed. Paid it off in just a hair over 9 years.

Figured that there was no reason to keep it since I wasn't getting 5% on my fixed income investments these days and since I only had about $32,000 outstanding, it was time to heave it overboard.

It is a great feeling to be rid of it even if aggressively prepaying over the years wasn't a burden financially.
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BTDT
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by BTDT »

I certainly enjoyed the feeling of actual ownership

Good work! :sharebeer
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Call_Me_Op
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Call_Me_Op »

Congratulations! I did it a couple of years ago, knocking about 23 years off of my mortgage. There are several advantages:

1.) The home equity is a protected asset (via homestead)
2.) Expenses are much lower
3.) General increase in feeling of security
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travellight
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by travellight »

Congratulations!
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Raymond
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Raymond »

Many thanks for the kind replies!

I'm very glad to have found this site, with the great *impartial* advice (both financial and personal) from the excellent people here.
"Ritter, Tod und Teufel"
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stevewolfe
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by stevewolfe »

Congrats! :sharebeer

It's a great feeling.
ddunca1944
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by ddunca1944 »

Congratulations and welcome to the "no mortgage" club.

We paid ours off on Feb 11 (barely two weeks ago) and I still walk around the house saying to myself, 'OUR livingroom"... "OUR house".... "OUR yard"... It IS a great feeling.
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Toons
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Toons »

Cheers ,Excellent financial move :happy
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am
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by am »

Congrats paid mine off earlier this month.

Is there anything that has to be done after paying the mortgage legally? Any documents that need to be requested or submitted somewhere?
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by texasred »

It's a great club to be part of.
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Raymond
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Raymond »

am wrote:Congrats paid mine off earlier this month.

Is there anything that has to be done after paying the mortgage legally? Any documents that need to be requested or submitted somewhere?
Oh, good point! :sharebeer

In Texas (where I live), I believe the lender will send a lien release to me along with a check for the remaining funds in the escrow account (home insurance and property taxes). The lender will also notify the county clerk to record the lien release.

I understand that should I keep the lien release with the deed of trust (given to me when my wife and I bought the house in the late 1990s) to show clear title.

In other words, there is no "house title" (like a car title) that needs to be "signed over" by the lender, correct?
"Ritter, Tod und Teufel"
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ruralavalon
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by ruralavalon »

Congratulations :) .

Good move.
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Default User BR
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Default User BR »

I paid mine last June, then immediately[1] took out a home-equity loan to invest. With a 1.99% rate on a five-year loan it was hard to pass up. I get no emotional involvement in mortgages one way or the other.


1. Well, it was PenFed, so "immediately" ended up being early November.

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Watty
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Watty »

Raymond wrote:
am wrote:Congrats paid mine off earlier this month.

Is there anything that has to be done after paying the mortgage legally? Any documents that need to be requested or submitted somewhere?
Oh, good point! :sharebeer

In Texas (where I live), I believe the lender will send a lien release to me along with a check for the remaining funds in the escrow account (home insurance and property taxes). The lender will also notify the county clerk to record the lien release.

I understand that should I keep the lien release with the deed of trust (given to me when my wife and I bought the house in the late 1990s) to show clear title.

In other words, there is no "house title" (like a car title) that needs to be "signed over" by the lender, correct?


First of all congratulations!!!!

I'm sure that this varies by state. I may not be using the right terminology but in my state there is a mortgage lien recorded on the house title that is recorded at the county office. The lender should send the county recording office the correct paperwork to remove the lien.

Even before I saw this response I was going to mention that it is a good idea to check back with your county in a few months to make sure that the lien had actually been removed. If you find an error now it should not be hard to get it corrected. Even if you get a letter saying it has been removed I would still double check.

On another board I once saw a positing about someone that was settling their parent's estate and selling their house but there was still a lien recorded on the title for a mortgage that had been paid off 30+ years ago. The bank that had the mortgage had been merged with another bank, and then that bank had gone through a series of mergers and it was not clear just who could actually sign off on taking the mortgage lien off the property. They got very lucky and found a letter from the lender from when the mortgage was paid off so they were able to hire a lawyer to handle getting a judge to order that the lien be removed. As I recall this cost them a fair amount in legal fees and delayed putting the house on the market for maybe four or five months.

You should also contact your home insurance company how to have the mortgage company taken off the policy. This is important since if there is a claim the insurance company may make out any checks payable to both you and the mortgage company so you both need to sign it to cash the check.
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Watty
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Watty »

I thought of two more things.;

Be sure to cancel any automatic mortgage payments.

If you had an escrow account with the mortgage then be sure that anything that was paid out of that gets paid, but not paid twice.
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EternalOptimist
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by EternalOptimist »

Congrats, I did likewise 2 yrs ago and happy I did---8 yrs left on 15 year 4.6% fixed. I sleep better and know that this is my place. Congrats again :beer
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mildred66
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by mildred66 »

Congrats! :beer
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Don Christy
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Don Christy »

Congrats!

I'm paying off in 5 years... Just about to close on PenFed 1.99 home equity loan.

Don
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by reggiesimpson »

Priceless!
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Taylor Larimore
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A wonderful feeling and other benefits.

Post by Taylor Larimore »

Raymond:
Paid off the mortgage on Friday!
Owning a home free and clear is a wonderful feeling. You will have fall-back equity and also enjoy the benefit of having more income to spend or save.

Congratulations and best wishes.
Taylor
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LiveSimple
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by LiveSimple »

Congratulations, great move. :sharebeer
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by SpaceCommander »

Even before I saw this response I was going to mention that it is a good idea to check back with your county in a few months to make sure that the lien had actually been removed. If you find an error now it should not be hard to get it corrected. Even if you get a letter saying it has been removed I would still double check.
I went through something similar when I paid my house off. The bank sent me a letter saying that I had satisfied the loan and they were going to release the lien. Three months went by and I received no confirmation of that lien release. So I went down to my county courthouse and paid 3 bucks to pull a copy of the actual lien release. It was indeed recorded and everything was good. To me, 3 bucks was a small price to pay to get a certified copy of that lien release that I could have in my possession. Indeed, I'm free & clear and can prove it!

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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by BudgetForWealth »

Congratulations! Must feel nice!
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Sam I Am »

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Blues
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Blues »

I just called the county office to see if our mortgage was shown as satisfied and removed from the property records.

Thankfully, it was. Interestingly, when I asked if I'd be receiving a copy of the document they explained that the county sends the documents back to the "sender" and that I would receive it from them. (She also admitted that sometimes folks have complained they don't get them.)

In any case, it's right in town and 25 cents a page for a certified copy of the document if the mortgage holder fails to forward it on to me...but it does seem an odd practice. I guess I should know better after working for the gov't for 26+ years. :oops:
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Jason Hull
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Jason Hull »

Congratulations! We went through two steps of post-mortgage life:

1. "Whoo!!!! No mortgage this month!" <flipping bird at imaginary mortgage company> This lasted about 3 months. Then, we quickly morphed into...
2. "How do people live with a mortgage payment?"

Hedonic adaptation is an amazing thing.

Congratulations again! You will never regret it, and if you do, for some odd reason, find yourself regretting it, there's always a bank ready to help you out!

:sharebeer
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by NOLA »

Congratulations, must be a great feeling. Can't wait to start my own thread in 14 years.
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by moneywise3 »

Congrats!!
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by ThirteenEleven »

Congratulations! :beer
You give those who are still paying their mortgage hope.
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Blues
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Blues »

Stopped by the county title office while in town for a haircut today.
(I was the only one in there, one of the benefits of living in a small town.)

Got myself a copy of the paperwork releasing me from bondage and they didn't even ask me for the twenty-five cent charge! 8-)
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dratkinson
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by dratkinson »

Congratulations!

Since your budget is use to making mortgage payments, you could keep them, but divert the money toward a goal that only benefits you.
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Sunny Sarkar »

Congratulations!

I'm dreaming of this day.
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Watty
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Watty »

Congradulations!

There was another thread on this a couple of weeks ago with some pointers;

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... st=1625796
hsfan92
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by hsfan92 »

Watty wrote:Congradulations!

There was another thread on this a couple of weeks ago with some pointers;

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... st=1625796

Just experienced deja vu.
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by msj16 »

Congratulations.

This is a great milestone to reach.
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by mikep »

I refinanced last year.. not exactly payoff but also need to keep track of lien release.
USbank sent me a lien release from the county .. but NOT the original deed of trust stamped "paid in full" which is what I usually get from the old lender. I called and they said it is usually sent with the lien release, and if I didn't get it they don't have it either and nothing can be done.
Should I be concerned, or is the lien release from the county good enough without the note?
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Re: Paid off the mortgage on Friday!

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

mikep wrote:I refinanced last year.. not exactly payoff but also need to keep track of lien release.
USbank sent me a lien release from the county .. but NOT the original deed of trust stamped "paid in full" which is what I usually get from the old lender. I called and they said it is usually sent with the lien release, and if I didn't get it they don't have it either and nothing can be done.
Should I be concerned, or is the lien release from the county good enough without the note?
I would call them back up - ask to speak to a supervisor. You want the note - stamped "paid in full" or a copy of it saying "paid in full".
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