Hi John, thanks for the thought-provoking article. I'd also be really interested in a comparison of mortgage and real estate market mechanisms across countries. There definitely seem to be differences! For example, I recently asked my bank about a HELOC and they said they don't do that.
For my own mortgages, I definitely went the route of shorter durations. I have three mortgages, all with a 15 year fixed (low) interest rate. I will have some remaining balance at the end of 15 years if I just make the regular payments though, so I could potentially face higher interest rates after that. However, I'm allowed to make extra payments on the principal each year, so I could actually pay them all off in that timeframe if I focused all my financial energy on that.
Currently I'm debating whether I should do that, or invest more in the stock market instead in the hope that this will be even more beneficial overall. Wondering if you have any thoughts on this scenario?
Hi John, thanks for the thought-provoking article. I'd also be really interested in a comparison of mortgage and real estate market mechanisms across countries. There definitely seem to be differences! For example, I recently asked my bank about a HELOC and they said they don't do that.
For my own mortgages, I definitely went the route of shorter durations. I have three mortgages, all with a 15 year fixed (low) interest rate. I will have some remaining balance at the end of 15 years if I just make the regular payments though, so I could potentially face higher interest rates after that. However, I'm allowed to make extra payments on the principal each year, so I could actually pay them all off in that timeframe if I focused all my financial energy on that.
Currently I'm debating whether I should do that, or invest more in the stock market instead in the hope that this will be even more beneficial overall. Wondering if you have any thoughts on this scenario?