Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do people have such low mortgage balances in the DC area? Are the people responding people who have owned their homes 20+ years?

Not sure about the others, but we live in Fairfax County and bought for $615K in 2013. And then in 2017 my husband started putting an extra $400 a week to it, to try to pay it off in 15 vs 30 years.

And we put 25% down at the time of purchase.

Anonymous wrote:How do people have such low mortgage balances in the DC area? Are the people responding people who have owned their homes 20+ years?

Not sure about the others, but we live in Fairfax County and bought for $615K in 2013. And then in 2017 my husband started putting an extra $400 a week to it, to try to pay it off in 15 vs 30 years.

Anonymous wrote:How do people have such low mortgage balances in the DC area? Are the people responding people who have owned their homes 20+ years?

Move further out or get on the property ladder as soon as you can.

When I graduated college my parents told me to buy a house as soon as possible. I did, although I instantly regretted it. I didn’t really like where I lived, singletons don’t live in the suburbs, and couldn’t move due to being underwater back during the 2010s.

Marriage and 3 kids later, that house allowed us to put a substantial down payment on our current place. Our mortgage is only a fraction of our total HHI.

Anonymous wrote:Something like:
$20,000 student loans (5.5%)
$150,000 mortgage (3.6%)
$8,000 car (2%)

I am going to pay off my student loans by December of this year. My spouse and I don’t have the same feeling as other people do about having mortgage, car, and student loan debt. We feel morally neutral about it. We view it as a business transaction and I am in no way going to pay off this car loan before it’s due.

For age, I am 42 and spouse is 49. We have a 30 year mortgage but we are on track to pay it off sooner (after 14-15 years) - and in the next 3-4 years if we want to. We may do it - but I want to reassess after I pay off my student loans.

52
200k/1m investment properties
0/900k home
No car loan
No student loan

1.1M mortgage at 35 but have several million in our trust + other assets.

Our monthly mortgage is about 10% of our HHI so I sleep very well at night and utilize the cheap leverage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:800k mortgage on a 1.4 house. Nothing else.

Nothing else, says the person almost a million dollars in debt!

they didn't say anything about their total net worth, even setting aside the equity in the house which more than covers their debt. You do understand how 800k in unsecured debt (credit cards, student loans) is very different than a loan on an asset where they still have more than 40% equity?

I've got a 1.2 mortgage on a 2.2M house at a 2.5% rate, no other debt. Plenty of assets elsewhere. and to answer someone else's question, PITI is 7100.

Anonymous wrote:How do people have such low mortgage balances in the DC area? Are the people responding people who have owned their homes 20+ years?

We own a condo we bought for 525k 10 years ago. Mortgage was 450k, we've paid it down to 350k.

Not everyone lives in a 3 bedroom house in NW.

Anonymous wrote:800k mortgage on a 1.4 house. Nothing else.

Nothing else, says the person almost a million dollars in debt!

Age: 43 & 44
Mortgage (2.65%): $830k
Home Value: $2M
Other Debt: None

Anonymous wrote:How do people have such low mortgage balances in the DC area? Are the people responding people who have owned their homes 20+ years?

In my case, yes. DH bought our house in the mid 90s when you could get a 4-bedroom house a few blocks from the metro in Arlington for under $250k. We refinanced and took out additional $ to do a renovation about 10 years ago. Now house would likely sell for about $1.3M and mortgage remaining is $150k. I'd bet when we sell it gets torn down for a $2m+ house or two $1.5M duplexes.

Only debt is a large, seven-figure mortgage, but home has plenty of equity. We plan to downsize when we retire if we haven't paid it off by then.

$0
Teacher
Paid my loans and had the final $17,500 forgiven after working in a title 1 school
Renter and will probably never own
Use credit cards and pay off monthly

I paid off my undergrad ($132K)
Mortgages:
Primary 530K
Investments: $560K (they revenue around 90K/ year)

Anonymous wrote:How do people have such low mortgage balances in the DC area? Are the people responding people who have owned their homes 20+ years?

I think this thread is getting more responses from people pleased with their lack of debt.

Like me! Zero. Paid off mortgage on $1m property by age 35, paid off $75k student loans by age 27.

I value a debt-minimal life because it allows us to be able to afford private school comfortably on a 250k HHI, as well as decent travel a few times per year. We pay cash for vehicles.