Reading the above msg about buying a home with cash v. using at least a partial mortgage reminded me of another factor to be considered. When you close, almost all of your closing costs are mortgage related. If you pay cash, you eliminate much of that expense. 040
In retrospect, I'm glad I banked a portion of the profits from my old home and financed about 1/2 the cost of this one. Dollar-wise, it's close to break even since I got a 6% fixed rate and have the extra money in savings and CDs ranging from 4% to 5%. There's a bit in Mutuals that have had their ups and downs. The aspect that made me most happy that I'd followed this procedure was the need for "unexpected"
cash outlays. I had some massive dental expense :yikes: for which I was able to pay cash -- got a small discount for that. I spent a lot more on landscaping than I'd planned. Who the heck needs a putting green in his backyard? Seemed logical at that time. :hot: Put gutters all around the house. Tiled most of the house :bigthumbsup: (sans bedrooms). Painted the garage, drive, walks, and lanai and added a bit of siding to the lanai. :2cool: Had I paid cash for the house, I'd not have had the funds on hand to do most of this stuff, some of which was actually important.
An alternative, of course, is to pay cash for the house, save on closing costs, and get an equity loan or line-of-credit for those unexpected items. If I were better organized and self-disciplined, that likely would have been a better alternative. Ah well, mox nix.