Mortgage/Credit Score

Im sure you are right. But IIRC, the interest on my house is something like 4%. While I know the market could easily beat that, I am looking at the overall number. Like the $2ooK or some shit that I would pay in interest if I keep it the whole 30 years.

But like I said, my main reason for doing so isn’t financial; it is for simplicity.

Our next move will be to likely downsize, and it will be somewhere else. We haven’t decided yet. Nashville, Dallas, Copenhagen, or maybe Cebu (Philippines).

So I want the mortgage gone. If I decide to unass that house, I can do so at any time. Or if I want to buy something else, I don’t have to worry about 2 mortgages.

Or, if everything goes to shit, at least know I won’t get wet when it rains.

So my decision to do that wasn’t as much financial, as it was peace of mind.

 

Totally fair - I refi’d into a 15 year for similar considerations even though it wasn’t “rational” to do so.

 

Speak with your accountant. I’m better off not paying my house off for the next couple years at least. I took that cash and put it in some secure investments and some property. Issue may come about if I sell the property but I plan to buy more so it nets out. My accountant runs multiple scenarios when I have questions like this and tells me what’s best. He is unbiased unlike some of these so called financial advisors. It’s just easier to pay him to do the math as he knows the laws and legal loopholes like the back of his hand. He pays for himself 100x over annually.

 

Can tell you don’t have kids . Joking aside that’s a damn good score.

 

Look at what is “value” to you. Knowing you the bit of tax or other money you’d save wouldn’t be worth the thought of having to worry about a mortgage.

 

Yeah I'am a fan of Dave Ramsey, paid cash for my townhome, hate owning money to anybody.

 

Dude - if all you're concerned about, and it seems that you are, is your credit score in relation to your mortgage and the interest rate on the new Anus.....pay it off. It won't hurt your credit score enough to make any difference in the rates you're going to get. 809 vs 799 isn't changing anything.

If you're concerned about other shit....keep the mortgage and invest the money elsewhere.

 

Or to put it another way you pay interest based upon the current principal. So given a fixed payment a higher percentage is interest, over time the principal gets paid off and the percentage of interest declines.

Oh and for those saying you can earn more in the market, they are ignoring risk a MAJOR error. Having everything paid off has a peace of mind that is hard to describe. It also allows you to not be forced into decisions when the economy tanks or similar. Sounds like that is what you are headed toward. Also you might run the numbers, if you are tossing that much more at it you have likely reduced that 18 years a lot.

 

Wait..... I thought....

 

Bring your ass to Dallas. I wanna have a beer with you!

 

Yep if Broome goes to Dallas, I'm having a beer with both you ugly f..ks.

When we went to buy the Viper in 98 we were over 800, because I remember the guy in finance saying he didn't see that often, but he was probably BS'ing to get me to close. They wouldn't discount below MSRP a penny so I bought used.

When we refinanced the house 2 months ago it was down to 790? Evidently, they run 3 different agencies and take the middle one, as I recall. But the mortgage broker told me it didn't really matter, as long as we were above 740, I believe, you get the same rate.

 

When we re-fi'd down to 2.25% here recently mine had dropped to 818 and the missus' had dropped to 819. Mine had been a couple of points higher than hers 6 months earlier, but they both dropped when we bought the house since we didn't have a mortgage for a couple of years before, I guess. And no credit card debt a month old or older. And we hadn't had a car note in a year or more, still don't and probably won't until I absolutely have to get something to replace the 2003 F150. Should get at least another decade out of it at less than 110K on the clock. The missus' 2019 4runner better damn well keep pace with that longevity, too! Hell, we may die before we have to replace that one.

We suck as consumers.

 

It depends on the dealership, an 800 at a Dodge dealership is probably pretty rare. I sold Honda’s in a nice part of San Antonio and 800’s didn’t even raise an eyebrow. I remember one Saturday we had pulled 25 bureaus and 20 were 800+. I moved to a Buick/Pontiac/GMC store in a pretty meh part of town and you did a backflip if you got somebody in front of you that could buy much less a 700, 800’s were unicorns there.

I want to say 720’ish got you the best rates (this was 15 years ago) anything over that was a dick measuring contest. I’m close to paying off my house and I’m considering drinking the Ramsey cool aid and see if can get a zero credit score. I haven’t done the homework but if it doesn’t affect things like my insurance rates I think I’ll pull the trigger.

 

Anything above 750 is probably as good as it gets, so you should be fine.

Said no one ever.

 

My understanding is that most sectors are prioritizing debt to income ratio vs score.

 

you have the ability to pay off your house and pay cash for cars or what ever the fuck and youre worried about a credit score? go buy some more water

 

Yep, that is what it boils down to. There might have been/be more financially optimal ways to invest that money, but that isnt worth as much to me as having the house paid off.

 

Its on the short list.

Nashville is at the top of the list at the moment. There are some really nice neighborhoods, alot of shit to do, and you are in a big city, without the "big city feel". There is a big difference between places like Houston or New Orleans, and Nashville.

We have spent a good bit of time in Nashville, and really like it. There are alot of premium shops, restaurants, nice house and cars, etc. But the people (at least in our experience), are very nice and polite. Nobody is in too big of a rush, and the roads arent super packed like Houston.

But i have heard alot of good things about Dallas; one of my coworkers lives there.

We have also talked about maybe Arizona. It really doesnt matter to either of us. We just have to be able to get to an airport.

There is an ideal sort of living area that we want to be in.

Gated community with a pool and gym in the neighborhood, even a condo would be fine. I don't care about a yard. But we must be able to buy it, not rent.
Close proximity to an airport.
Good weather (nice temps most of the year, no worry of hurricanes).
Golf courses and shooting ranges nearby.
Same or similar gun laws as TN.
Close enough to the city that we can quickly go do shit...but not in the middle of downtown so traffic is always a pain in the balls.
No state taxes would be nice, but not a deal breaker.
And we want the state to be "red".

So basically, that is the criteria. Whether that place is in TN, TX, GA, or AZ...it doesnt matter.

 

Right?

 

FICO needs to see an active installment loan on your credit reports to get the maximum scoring....and 3 credit cards to add to that.

If you have another installment loan besides the mortgage (which sounds like you don't), then you could pay off the mortgage before your new car. Otherwise, leave the mortgage alone until you buy the car and then pay off the mortgage.

Paying off the mortgage will drop your score 10-20 pts usually, if it's the only installment loan that you have.
But like others have said, it won't affect your new car interest rate when you have a high credit score.

FYI, your paid off mortgage or any closed credit account, will continue to report positively and monthly for the next 10 yrs. So AAoA (average age of accounts) and oldest account variable, won't hurt a credit score/file for 10 yrs. And by then it's a moot point generally.