Nice job Craig.

Wowzer on that 22%.

We finished ours up at age 35 after just under 6 years and were paying around 9% then. I had a goal of doing it when I was that age and managed to do it about one week before my 36th birthday. That was my third house (and my wifes's first) and the one before this one. We moved up to this one seven years later and had to mortgage again because we had also bought a lakefront building lot at the same time. 10 months later I sold that for a nice profit and ditched the mortgage again.

 

Eliminating debt brings a smile to my face...

 

That was in '89, it was still very high then. Might have actually been about 13.5-14% as I recall now.

 

I have a different perspective. I'm on a variable right now for .8 below prime (woohoo!). I know this isn't going to last forever so I'm paying off as much principle as I can before interest rates start going up again.

 

I was lucky to get .75 less than prime due to relatations my parents have with the bank...correct me if i'm wrong, I think now days the banks are giving out Primie PLUS 1.
only reason i bought a condo was because i seem to be wasting a lot of the money i make..so i figured this way atlease it will be an investment. I'm doing it bi weekly. Hopefully i can put in sume money end of the year.



back to watching the borring leafs game....

 

hey guys, since i also do mortgages , i can throw my 2 cents.

if you have variable open mortgage right now, i suggest "PAY PAY PAY MORE"

As for fixed mortgages, people have mentioned before me, there is always 10% anniversary lump sums every year, double up payments and increase your payments 10% are other ways to help you pay your mortgage early, accelerated bi weekly actually helps you pay-off your mortgage almost 3 years quicker if you have a mortgage for 25 years and if you are paying monthly.

the prime rate would not go less than this, maybe another 0.5 max which is only possibility, as soon as the market recovers which they are expecting this to happen no earlier than mid summer, the rates are going to be increasing again.

but whats also happening is all banks are starting to increase their lending rates by min 1% , make sure you know how much you are paying on those credit lines you have.

the credit rating criterias are also being tightened right now, you might be a A scored acandidate before the crisis but you may end up being a B or C now, as banks are really cautious about the whole market downturn.

 

Great plan!

 

Ah, ya that makes a lot of sense.

You have to take the average of mine and my wife's age.

 

LOL, now I remember that. Fair enough!

 

I don't know how these young guys (I'm also in the 20-25 agea group) can settle down so quick with such a big financially decision. Personally, I have no idea where I'll be living in a years time, let alone even considering sticking to a mortgage for 10+ years, especially considering the economic situation.

 

I always encourage anyone I know that is thinking about buying a house to go for it. I've been a bit lucky, the equity increase in our homes has always been greater than interest paid. My brother-in-law bought at an early age and it set him up nicely for when he got married with kids, no starter home for his family. It's always a balance I find between saving and paying off, putting into RRSP definitely helps with the income tax if one works for a corporation (if you have your own business, different story). Trick is to buy into the market at the right time, this could very well be the right time.