# I've just paid off the outstanding balance of my mortgage **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 26, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228 "2006-04-26T00:46:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/1 "2006-04-26T00:46:21Z")
Hooray! šŸ˜ƒ The bankā€™s equity in my home is now **ZERO!** Once I get the certificate of title back from the bank Iā€™ll really feel that itā€™s all mine. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/2 "2006-04-26T00:47:26Z")
Wow! Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/3 "2006-04-26T00:54:37Z")
Cool! Weā€™re looking forward to doing the same this year. ---
**Author:** ![Adoptamom\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Adoptamom\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adoptamom_II)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/4 "2006-04-26T01:00:08Z")
Thatā€™s our goal in the next two years - congrats and good job! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/5 "2006-04-26T01:11:47Z")
Congrats!!! Next February will be my last mortgage payment. But Iā€™m thinking of getting a home loan to pay for some needed improvements, so if I do it I wonā€™t be completely off the hook for a while yet. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/6 "2006-04-26T01:46:46Z")
Congratulations! Yay! Paying off debt rocks! ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/7 "2006-04-26T02:49:21Z")
Not quite the same, but we recently refinanced our house to pay off the credit cards. The first mortgage was nearly paid off (wasnā€™t much to start with; cheap property and we already owned half), and the house had nearly tripled in value according to the Fair Market Value on our property tax statements. Got it appraised and it turned out that the value was actually about quadrupled. (Sweet!) We borrowed only about 30% of that and plan to make extra payments. Dropped about 10 percentage points in interest, and cut our monthly payments to about 30% of what they were previously. Niiiice. Good to have that monkey off our backs. Weā€™re committed to paying the remaining card off monthly if we do use it, and that sparingly. Plus Mr. S is happy about the increased value, cause heā€™s been busting his hump building and fixing up the place for about 20 years. A lot of that credit card debt was lumber & stuff. We didnā€™t get rid of our debt, but at least now itā€™s ā€œgoodā€ debt. And weā€™ve changed our spots so we donā€™t get into that mess again. Feels pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/8 "2006-04-26T04:06:36Z")
Congratulations **Cunctator**! Now, if I can be so rude, would you mind sharing with us how long it took you to pay it off? Any tips etc? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/9 "2006-04-26T04:12:17Z")
Nice. _Very_ nice. šŸ˜ƒ _pops the champagne_ ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/10 "2006-04-26T04:51:42Z")
Good for you! It must feel _great!_ ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/11 "2006-04-26T05:27:26Z")
> [@TastesLikeBurning](#): > > Now, if I can be so rude, would you mind sharing with us how long it took you to pay it off? Any tips etc? I bought my current place in January 2001. So Iā€™ve had this mortgage for a bit over five years. Any tips? Just a few obvious ones: - whenever you build up a some spare cash surplus, throw it at the mortgage; - if you get a pay rise, make sure you increase your mortgage repayments at the same time; - if interest rates fall (as they did several times during my mortgage) and the bank tells you that your repayments have fallen too, \*\*donā€™t \*\* accept it. Continue to pay what youā€™re currently paying. ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/12 "2006-04-26T08:00:03Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I bought my current place in January 2001. So Iā€™ve had this mortgage for a bit over five years. > > Any tips? Just a few obvious ones: > > - whenever you build up a some spare cash surplus, throw it at the mortgage; > - if you get a pay rise, make sure you increase your mortgage repayments at the same time; > - if interest rates fall (as they did several times during my mortgage) and the bank tells you that your repayments have fallen too, \*\*donā€™t \*\* accept it. Continue to pay what youā€™re currently paying. Thanks for the tips and again, well done. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/13 "2006-04-26T08:17:06Z")
Hey itā€™s just like being a teenager again right? I mean come on, whenā€™s the last time you had FREE rent!! Only except THIS time itā€™s better cuzā€™ you donā€™t have the hassle of Mom & Pops bringing you down man!! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/14 "2006-04-26T09:09:57Z")
One tip for you. Donā€™t finalise the loan or get a clearance certificate. By keeping the mortgage open you are able to borrow the full value again without paying Stamp Duty. An investment advisor pointed that out to me after I had cleared mine and was investing in rental properties. Having your name on title is only important when you want to sell the property and you can lodge a form to do it whenever you like. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/15 "2006-04-26T11:37:10Z")
YAY for you! We never plan on paying off ours as the tax deduction is really nice. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/16 "2006-04-26T11:53:27Z")
Woohoo! That is huge. Congratulations. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/17 "2006-04-26T13:50:46Z")
Wow, thatā€™s a pretty quick paydown ā€“ four years? My understanding is that the property market in Sydney has skyrocketed, so youā€™re sitting in the catbird seat, as we say here. Must be great, even accounting for that weird feeling at the end of the month when you feel like you ought to be sending a check someplace. Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/18 "2006-04-26T13:53:41Z")
Iā€™m thinking of maybe doubling my mortgage payments. Under $74,000 to goā€¦ Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/19 "2006-04-26T14:34:57Z")
Congratulations! Weā€™re just about to take on a mortgage for the first time (together). ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228/20 "2006-04-26T15:06:40Z")
Congrats! My parents are about finishing with the mortgage on our house, also bought in 2001. Its value has shot up some 60% while they were paying it off :eek: Good thing we got in in time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-just-paid-off-the-outstanding-balance-of-my-mortgage/354228.md?page=2)