You're risk though is only the difference between your return and the low mortgage rate, you can be conservative and have a very low exposure but still have access to that capital. We did 30yr so we could use the savings for an income property, even if it tanks our realistic bottom still isn't that huge of an exposure.

1/19/2018 8:48:23 PM

Liquidity gives you more options. Not a good idea to tie up funds in equity at low interest rates

I'd rather have $110k in the bank and a $100k mortgage than to have a paid off house and $10k bank.

1/19/2018 9:42:04 PM

I prefer to have no monthly mortgage payment and the options and liquidity that come with that.

If I needed access to "money tied up in equity", I could always take out a loan. But in 15 years of owning a house, that has never happened. I don't follow your example, if you have 110k in the bank and a 100k mortgage, you are 100% losing money since you mortgage interest rate is higher than your savings account interest rate.

Would you cash out all your equity in your house to invest in the stock market today?

1/19/2018 10:35:56 PM

Quote :

"Good for you if you think you can make up the ~$120k difference (or w/e it was for you) in the market over those 30 years"

All that takes is a return of 5% or better. Not that it matters, but I think the worst 30 year period ever was a little under 8%

1/21/2018 9:17:18 PM

5% seems like its do-able as of now. I hope that continues to be the case.

I am at 3.25% on a 30 year. A mortgage broker friend did a hard-sell to me on a 7-1Arm, I did a hard-pass.

15yr would have been 2.75% if I had gone that route.


The key is being consistent and actually investing what you don't put into the equity. How many people have the self discipline to do so?

Also, If you start with basically zero, where is the break even point? I put as much as I could into the downpayment, but decided to go for the lower monthly and higher interest vs the shorter term, assuming I could invest the difference and make it even out. But in the beginning, if I make average (8%), I am making 4.5% on 0, where the bank is taking in 3.5% on much more than zero. Every month those numbers converge though, and I suppose at some point I will reach the point where I have enough in the investment account to make a payoff.

1/21/2018 9:55:14 PM

Quote :

"I invested in UNH and AMZN and am up around 60-70% over the last 12-18 months. This likley already offsets the delta between a 15 and 30 year mortgage."

I've seen this one before.

Quote :

""Consider a turkey that is fed every day, Every single feeding will firm up the bird's belief that it is the general rule of life to be fed every day by friendly members of the human race 'looking out for its best interests,' as a politician would say. "On the afternoon of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, something unexpected will happen to the turkey. It will incur a revision of belief.""

1/21/2018 11:01:35 PM

Hah, yeah, not the best examples on his part.....

1/21/2018 11:33:17 PM

I believe both have plenty of room to run. That said, only about 20% of my assets are in these two stocks, so I'm not overly concerned if there is a 5-10% correction. The bulk of my liquidity is often tied up in real estate flips, where I know there is substantial risk, being that I am in the real estate industry for a living.

1/22/2018 10:14:55 AM

I'm not arguing over the quality of said stocks, but I could easily say "oh if you invested in bitcoin you would have destroyed your mortgage rate" and although correct, not really applicable...

1/22/2018 9:31:07 PM

I fall into the aggressive category, so I’m willing to pick stocks I believe in as opposed to mutual funds. I don’t worry about the what ifs, but monitor my portfolio daily.

1/22/2018 10:48:38 PM

Yeah, but that's not what we're discussing here.

1/22/2018 11:07:49 PM

So i'm wanting to get pre-approved for a Mortgage. Realistically how many applications should I submit? I was going to try a couple local lenders/brokers and then one of the online avenues. Is there anything I should take into consideration regarding pre-approval?

1/30/2018 11:48:16 AM

just get all of your documents together (drivers license, bank statements, W2s, previous 2 tax returns) and do your free credit check and it's worth paying for your credit score to know the real number

1/30/2018 11:53:41 AM

To get a decent loan, I took advantage of Navy Federal's match promotion. I got an offer from navy federal and then found the best interest rate online using Zillow. Took that offer back to Navy Federal and they beat it. Ended up with 3.25% 30 year loan, No PMI with 10% down, and no points. This was in July 2016 though. Things have probably changed a lot since then. I'd definitely recommend having the banks compete for your business, especially if you have good credit. Good luck!

1/30/2018 12:54:16 PM

Pre approval is chill. The part that gets to be kinda crappy is doing the next stage Mortgage Estimate, which is an official offer. That's what you share with each lending bureau for rate competition. They're not gonna like it though.

2/2/2018 10:06:32 PM

Anyone have current recommendations for refinancing lender/broker?

3/23/2018 3:12:42 PM

I went with cheapest quote on https://www.bankrate.com/ and vetted them. Process was smooth.

[Edited on March 23, 2018 at 3:28 PM. Reason : American Federal Mortgage or something along those lines]

3/23/2018 3:25:46 PM

Quote :

"The part that gets to be kinda crappy is doing the next stage Mortgage Estimate, which is an official offer. "

create a new email address just for this and setup a new number with google voice (easy to screen or ignore) then you don't have to deal with annoying sales people and can just email quotes back and forth to shop the best deal then abandon the email address

3/27/2018 10:44:22 AM

wish i had thought of that. still having to block calls from lenders that won't take a hint

3/27/2018 4:50:27 PM