Credit Score

[David]

In the process of refinancing our house to a 15 year mortgage and was pleased to see a score of 781 on my credit report...assuming that is above average by looking at the scale.

Anybody else check out their score as of late?

 

[Eric]

No, but all big three credit reporting agencies have my employment wrong.

 

[Wasch_24]

The wife and I just refinanced in May.
720s for me and 730s for her.

 

[David]

Vipe...your avatar is a black box. What's wrong with you?

 

[Eric]

Vipe...your avatar is a black box. What's wrong with you?

Nothing.

See: http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php?t=2980

 

[tripp]

The 15 year plan is a great idea.
I am about 4 years into one so when I turn 50 I will have a paid off home.

My goal then is not have to work. I just want to buy, recondition and resale a couple of vehicles a month. Not be tied down to a long day at the office thing.

 

[smokinafuente]

I haven't checked mine in a lone time. Were do you go to get the free reports?

 

[David]

The 15 year plan is a great idea.
I am about 4 years into one so when I turn 50 I will have a paid off home.

My goal then is not have to work. I just want to buy, recondition and resale a couple of vehicles a month. Not be tied down to a long day at the office thing.

My goal was exactly as you stated. Our current loan payoff would have been when I was 57...and that was even with making an extra house payment a year to cut the 30 year mortgage down to a 23ish year mortgage.

With the new mortgage, I will cut it down to about a 12 year mortgage by making an extra payment a year. We take our monthly payment and divide it by 12 and that is how much extra we apply each month. By doing that, 1 extra payment is made by the end of the year.

The new mortgage will be paid off when I am 49 opposed to 57 years old.

 

[David]

For those new home buyers....

1. By making 1 extra payment a year on a 30 year mortgage, you will shave 7-8 years off the life of the loan.
2. By making 1 extra payment a year on a 15 year mortgage, you will shave 3 years off the life of the loan.

A lot of new home buyers think they can't afford an extra payment but if you follow the instructions in my above post, it is not overly difficult to pay the extra. The key is after you establish how much extra you need to make monthly, you need to accept that as your payment. Just because things are tight for a certain month, don't drop it back down to the regular payment.

 

[tripp]

You know if you set it up on 30 but like you say, pay higher payments the end result is the same.

But by setting it up on 15 I got a better rate and terms and am forced to pay the higher payment.

 

[JgButler]

The 15 year plan is a great idea.
I am about 4 years into one so when I turn 50 I will have a paid off home.

My goal then is not have to work. I just want to buy, recondition and resale a couple of vehicles a month. Not be tied down to a long day at the office thing.

I'm with both of you on this. I was 8 years into a 30 mortgage and did a 15 year refinance on our home in '99. Six years into this mortgage with 9 more to go, if we don't pad the principle any at all. Would have our's paid off when I'm 53, with no more house payment ever. That's when life will really start to be enjoyable.

Was a little hesitant about doing it for a while. Our payment went up quite a little bit, but it was worth the extra years shaved off the mortgage.

 

[tripp]

But the fact that I do not need to have a car payment has allowed me to buy a more expensive house and have it paid off quicker.

Just think of how much more house you could have if you did not need to pay a car payment (or two) full coverage insurance, and maintence. :hysterica :hysterica

 

[tripp]

But 2 kids in college is helping to absorb that cushion in a negative way.

 

[David]

No car payments here...for the time being.

Appraisal on the house for the refinance came back at $320,000. Not bad considering we paid $130,000 in 1997. We sit on 6 acres and the price per acre has sky rocketed.

 

[tripp]

I dont think I will see an increase in property value like that around here.

Mine has seen a nice increase in a similar timeframe just my dollar amounts are about 1/2 what yours are. 80k then to now 130k

Regular suburban ranch house in a rural subdivision.

 

[David]

When we bought in 97, the acreage was $5,000 an acre. Now it is appraised at $30,000 an acre.

 

[Eric]

I haven't checked mine in a lone time. Were do you go to get the free reports?

http://www.annualcreditreport.com - This is the official site to get your free credit report once a year with the law the govt. recently passed. They don't give you your score unless you pay but you do get a digital copy of your report from the big three.

 

[cvm4]

Appraisal on the house for the refinance came back at $320,000. Not bad considering we paid $130,000 in 1997. We sit on 6 acres and the price per acre has sky rocketed.

Not bad for a schoooool teacher! :guitar:

Glad I don't have to worry about this shit yet. When I do buy a house though, it's going on a 15 or 20 year mortgage. Same with a car on a 3 year vs. a 5 year note. By having the longer years, this lets people think they can afford more, but in reality they will be spending more on the interest.

 

[Poni]

You can also send in an extra $100 or so each month "towards principle balance only". Which helps cut down you term alot.

 

[Wasch_24]

There is no way we could afford a 15 year mortgage on our house...even if it were interest only at prime.

That's unbelievable that the land has gone up like that out where you are David. I guess you can thank/blame all the ultra-commuters.

When we had our house built in 2003, $85,000 of what we paid covered the 1/5 acre lot our house sits on. A couple months ago while going for a walk we stopped by one of the model homes to see where the prices are now and they said that they are charging $325,000 for the same lots. opeyes:

A 1/4 acre lot in Tyson's Corner goes for $1 million! :cryloud: