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you could make a decent profit and purchase another house outright? If you could sell the house you're living in now and find one comparable to pay off with the equity and profit? Not that you don't like your exisitng home, but it would be nice to have $0 mortgage. I know ppl would say to invest the money in the stock market. I never do well with that.
We know this is fantasy, right? Knowing tha, I'll play. Sure. If I could find a comparable house that I could buy outright even after paying off the mortgage on my current house, of course I'd do it. What reason would I have to NOT do it? It matters not what I would do with the money. It's mine.
Now, if only I could find a house just like mine, in my neighborhood, that's selling for so much less than mine would.
I'm being serious. I'm not saying necessarily in the same neighborhood or even state. I know I'm going to hear about this, but even a foreclosure or short sale. I know they can be hit or miss. Some can be fine, others trashed. Short sales can take forever to be accepted and foreclosures can need alot of repairs. Like I said, though it can be a resale. My main goal is to have a paid off house. They say you should be able to do that on your third house, but it would be my fourth.
I'm being serious. I'm not saying necessarily in the same neighborhood or even state. I know I'm going to hear about this, but even a foreclosure or short sale. I know they can be hit or miss. Some can be fine, others trashed. Short sales can take forever to be accepted and foreclosures can need alot of repairs. Like I said, though it can be a resale. My main goal is to have a paid off house. They say you should be able to do that on your third house, but it would be my fourth.
Ahh. Sorry, you said in your first post, " you could find a comparable one." To me, comparable has to include neighborhood, not even just town or county. That changes things. I like the town in which I live. I wouldn't move someplace else JUST for the house, even if it were so cheap I wouldn't need to finance it. Part of that is because of my kids, schools, friends that sort of thing. If we were older, if the kids were out of the house, then I might think differently.
Whose "they" that are saying you should be able to pay off fourth house????
Quote:
Originally Posted by PotterGeek
All things being equal, yes, I would...
I've never heard that before...LOL, I'm on my third and not even close....
Never heard that either. I've been involved in real estate for almost 4 decades and have not heard that. In fact, though I have been fortunate to substantially increase my equity with each of the 4 or so houses that I have lived in, I don't know that I would ever deliberately pay all cash for a place and own it free & clear from day one.
I can imagine that if I had a whole pile of money and real estate seemed like an asset-class that would NEVER decline from where I bought in AND there were no other good alternatives AND I would still have substantial liquid reserves I might consider the "all cash" deal.
Right now I think there are still better alternatives.
In some ways the mindset that "the only good house is a paid off house" might lead people to discipline, but it could also lead to people stuck with an illiquid asset that is subject to decline...
I sold my first house and bought my second one outright. I sold that house and bought this one outright. I will never consider having a mortgage again.
you could make a decent profit and purchase another house outright? If you could sell the house you're living in now and find one comparable to pay off with the equity and profit? Not that you don't like your exisitng home, but it would be nice to have $0 mortgage. I know ppl would say to invest the money in the stock market. I never do well with that.
You really should be asking this question of financial advisors, not real estate professionals. IMO, it depends on your age and your assets. It is generally not a good idea for most people to have a very large percentage of their assets tied up in their home. Most financial advisors will tell you that diversity is important, but there are a lot of things to take into consideration. I would talk to someone not connected with real estate to give you an unbiased answer.
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