[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by gsovas

I personally took a very large mortgage when I moved here even though I had the moany to pay for this home. I did it for two reasons:1. as we get older, many find it is necessary to do a reverse mortgage because they are running out of cash (this is very costly) 2. It allowed me to have a substantial amount of cash if I wanted to travel, buy a new car or whatever. So using these excuses above, it allowed me to invest the money which allowed me to make between 10 & 25% in the market while my interest rate on the mortgage was only 3.25%. Also as one person said, why do I want to leave the value of this home to someone else when I can be enjoying the money while I am still alive?
So if you can refinance at a very low rate and avoid the big costs by shopping on line, I would do it!

Agree with all of this. When I retired and moved here, I put down just enough of a down payment to avoid insurance on the loan. 3.3% loan is just too good to pass up.

[Skunky1]

Would you be my financial advisor? Amazing 10 to 25% wow!

[Craig Vernon]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

I don't know how long you have had your current mortgage but if you re-finance you'll be starting all over paying mostly interest and very little on your principal.

In my humble opinion age doesn't matter. The lower your overall debt the better for whatever may come your way. Good Luck and Stay Healthy.

[Joeint]

Originally Posted by John41

We looked into refinancing but would have to pay $4000 in closing costs plus all the paperwork. Decided to pass it up.

Check with VyStar CU there is no closing cost if you keep the loan for 3 years.

[Juliebythesea]

Some lenders will forgo closing costs
Probably better to talk to a mortgage broker who can explain the options available
A broker will usually have lower costs than walking into a bank

[Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

I don't know how long you have had your current mortgage but if you re-finance you'll be starting all over paying mostly interest and very little on your principal.

This is not correct if you refinance the remaining term. In other words, if you have 15 years to go on your current loan, refinance for 15 years and you will immediately be paying more to principal and less to interest.

Any lender who delivers to Fannie Mae can refinance any term. It doesn't have to be a traditional 15 or 30-year debt. It can be any number of years you can qualify for.

As to closing costs, if you save $300 a month and pay $5,000 in closing costs, you will break even after 17 months then be ahead from that point forward.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by capecoralbill

I'm thinking of doing this too, and I'm going to use "Citizens First" Bank, i believe it is owned by the Developer. Then when my house gets swallowed up by a SINKHOLE, I'll just be able to walk away.

You would probably need a very large ladder

[jacRI]

Check out the rates with Fairwinds CU in Leesburg if you are looking to refi. Great rates and easy to work with.

[joseppe]

Originally Posted by Skunky1

Would you be my financial advisor? Amazing 10 to 25% wow!

Yep, not that hard to do before COVID, but you gotta know what you're doing or have a good financial advisor.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Your both right , I’ve had 5 new homes in the villages . I’ve never put more then 20% down , with the low interest rates we’ve had for so long it’s a smart thing to do frees up a lot of money to do whatever you want. I got my last mortgage at 78 and I’ll be getting my next one at 82 lol . FYI and I never pay the bond off most buyers don’t care

[merrymini]

Wow, 10 and 25 percent gain in the market? Which market is that?

[rphil11ort]

I bought my house using a reverse mortgage. Put a little less than half down and will never have a principal and interest payment again. Will lose equity every month but have other things to leave.my son. Plus I have the other.half in the bank

[rphil11ort]

I am in the mortgage business and did a mortgage for.a 90 year old man with a 30 year mortgage. Guy was totally with it and the banks can not discriminate.

[bpascani]

I don't know what this HELOC (I think it is you typed) is, but, we just bought our home last Nov, over age 70, and had no problem securing a 30yr fixed. We wanted the "more than necessary down, for lower monthy note" route, as you are considering. We also went with First Citizen (I think it's called...the one here in TV), and got an extra discount on interest at veteran. Also some sort of savings for opening a checking account with them.

[NavyVet]

It all depends on one's individual circumstances. Personally, we liked the peace of mind of not owing anyone anything. We're on our third home here; we did 2 with bridge loans, 1 with traditional 15 year mortgage, paid off all 3 within a year of when previous house sold. Also, we pay off cc balance in full every month, never had a car loan more than 3 years. I guess we just really hate paying interest. For us, living debt free and finally not worrying about money all the time is a comforting feeling. We have what we need.
Have always followed basic principles of budgeting, saving/investing:
Pay yourself first.
Live beneath your means.
Dollar cost averaging.
Don't take on more than you can afford.