I agree that low rates can be a good reason to have a mortgage loan (still needing to look at other factors/situations). Just not doing it for the tax deduction though. And lower interest rates make the tax deduction less valuable (before you even get to deduction limits).
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No yard work is one of the benefits of apt/condo life for me! In our neighborhood, houses are close together so I can see into my neighborâs kitchen â but thatâs definitely not the same as having people walking above me or slamming doors down the hallway.
I did not understand the villa or townhouse concept until I hit 60!
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One of the reasons we love our townhouse is no one is above or below us. We have a nice size deck with a table and chairs as well as other seating and a barbecue. H doesnât have to do any yardwork, but he has many pots with plants and flowers that he enjoys caring for. We can walk 2 miles and be at the beach. We can also walk to grocery stores, retail stores, restaurants and a movie theatre. The trolley just opened on Sunday near UCSD and we can walk to it in less than 10 minutes. We are now able to go to Old Town, downtown San Diego, Little Italy and many other places without having to drive. We could also take the trolley to both Scripps and UCSD hospitals and doctors offices.
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I just have to make sure we find a place big enough for our piano and where I wonât bother the neighbors when I play Rachmaninoff. 
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The new Trolley extension must work out really nice for you. It would make going to Padres games at Petco Park really easy. And jury duty too!
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We recently moved from rural Maine because a neighbor constantly and loudly played classical piano at all hours.
We are excited to use the trolley to go to Padres games next year. We rode it on Sunday when it was free for everyone and went to Old Town and drank margaritas!
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I could deal with a townhouse as long as there was a bedroom and bath on first floor. As we age, steps can be difficult. If we have knee or hip surgery, steps are impossible.
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I had knee surgery and I go up and down the stairs every day more than a couple of times.
But yesâŠmy next home will have the master on the first floor.
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My H is having knee issues and it makes me very glad we have a one level home (the house he lived in most of his life was 66 steps from the street/garage to front door). It was a bear when climbing up or down with young kids, especially in the dark or when it was raining/wet. It does have gorgeous unobstructable views!
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@Jolynne_Smyth, the mortgage issue is probably a matter of a) whether you are still working or have retired; and b) taste/comfort. If you are still working, a mortgage may make sense, but if this is close to retirement, you should be able to fund the purchase price without a mortgage.
We purchased our supposedly downsized house and then put out house and our studio up for sale. We had been looking for a number of years and wanted to make sure we had a house before selling our perfectly viable house and studio. In addition, ShawWife has to have a studio to work in. So, we purchased and then sold.
I think one should rent first if one is moving to a new city to make sure it really works and to give oneself time to understand the real estate market.
We did not rent first for two reasons. First, although I would have preferred to move west (Marin County or Boulder or Santa Fe), ShawWife feels very rooted. She has a phenomenal personality and has relationships with the local farm owners, store owners, store workers, art lovers, and lots of folks in town (though we were more friendly than friends with the folks in our old neighborhood). So we ended up moving 2.5 miles away in the same sub/exurb. Second, she would need a studio, so we canât easily move to a new place for a short period of time.
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I just recently refinanced for close to 2 %. I could get a floating rate bond for 3% without any lock in. Why would I want to tie up my money in my house when I could get a better return some where else. Value of my house is the same whether my loan to value is 0% or 80%.
D1 recently asked me if she should pay down some of her mortgage principle on her interest only loan. My question to her was why. Couldnât she get a better return by investing that money into something else.
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The âWhyâ (for some people) is because of the way mortgages are structured. Even with a 2% rate you will still be paying mostly principal <OOPS⊠corrected to say INTEREST>. in the early years. That may be fine for some couples but uncomfortable for others. All depends on the situation.
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You actually pay mostly interest in early years.
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We have paid off more than half of our mortgage. Bought our house a little more than 10 years ago.
We have always thought that it was better to invest any extra money than pay off a mortgage thatâs been at 3%. Itâs paid off as our investments have made more than that.
If youâve owned your house for a long while and have paid off the mortgage, great. But itâs not terrible to have a mortgage at these historical lows.
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My sister and her husband downsized 3-4 years ago to a townhouse. It was an ok place, except that BIL has bad knees, it was next to a rented unit and the child living there was encouraged to make noise and run up and down the stairs, and the HOA was bad.
They sold up and moved further out to a larger, but newer place, a rambler with room for proper furniture and space for their RV. They love it. It isnât in an area Iâd like to live in, but it works for them.
Her lessons learned: think long and hard about the location; aging brings on accessibility concerns; being smack up next to noisy kids and their obnoxious parent is a deal-breaker.
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Thatâs great that you have the house 1/2 paid after 10 years. Did you do a 15 year mortgage? And/or pre-pay on principal?
For folks that are undecided about how to pay for a new home purchase, it can make sense to take a mortgage without pre-payment penalty⊠defer the decision until you know more about future financial situation and preferences.
So you never took the 150 bus?!
Oh my!
When we moved a few years ago, we did not downsize. We right-sized. The new to us house is bigger than the previous one but has fewer bedrooms, and we like the layout much better (open floorplan). The lot is 50% larger but does not have a single blade of purposely planted grass on it because it is mostly forest. Which still leaves plenty of opportunities for Mr. B to enjoy his favorite hobby - yardwork. There is a nice trail a short walk away, and there are good restaurants and some shopping a somewhat longer walk away. Our previous house was in an area with nothing like that accessible by walking. When we decided to move, we looked at smaller places on postage stamp-sized lots and even bid on one. In the end, we realized that we were not ready for 2br/2ba townhome with no yard. Mr. B is not a fan of debt, so we unloaded a portion of our investments and got rid of the mortgage. We timed that sale right, as it turned out! We are now seriously considering buying a vacation place⊠and we might finance the purchase.
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