If you have viewed our family's Net Worth Page, you probably already know that it does not include the equity in our home. Although, we do realize that it is technically part of our overall net worth, we decided that since our home equity is not an asset that we can count on for income (unless we sell and buy something cheaper) we would exclude it from our net worth calculation.
For the purpose of this blog, we are more interested in documenting our loan balance rather than our home equity. With that said, we will use the current Zillow value as our estimated home value and use it to figure out the percentage we owe on our home. For those interested, we will include the amount of our home equity, but know that we are less concerned with the equity since we have no plans to cash out or otherwise sell our home. Our main goal is to pay off our home on or before my retirement date.
HOME VALUE:
According to Zillow, our home is currently worth: $804,283 (up $4,853 in the last 30-days). And compared to our post in JUNE, we actually saw our home value grow a total of $9,685! (from $794,650 back in June).
It's fun to calculate and certainly makes you feel a little bit more wealthy but, if you follow us, the reality is that whether our home prices rise or fall, it really doesn't mean much to our family as we have no intentions to sell or otherwise move. We are very lucky to be able to say that we love were we are and couldn't see ourselves living and/or raising our family any other place. :)
It's fun to calculate and certainly makes you feel a little bit more wealthy but, if you follow us, the reality is that whether our home prices rise or fall, it really doesn't mean much to our family as we have no intentions to sell or otherwise move. We are very lucky to be able to say that we love were we are and couldn't see ourselves living and/or raising our family any other place. :)
$300,589 (down $3,746 from our post in June)
Percentage Owed:
37.4% (down 0.9% from our post in June)
Home Equity:
$503,694 (up $13,379 from our post in June)
Mortgage Background:
For those that have not read the Preface on our home equity, we currently hold a 15-year fixed rate mortgage at the incredibly low rate of 2.875%. My goal is to retire within 10 years and 10 months (130 months) so we are setting out to pay off our mortgage on or before my retirement date. Right now we are a few months behind the target retirement date. Currently, we have approximately 11 years and 8 months (140 months) left on our mortgage. Nevertheless, I would like to have it paid off in another 10 years (or less). If we accomplish that, I plan to use the last few years to aggressively build our passive income to help supplement our retirement and defer tapping into the 457K as long as we can so it can continue to grow.
For those that have not read the Preface on our home equity, we currently hold a 15-year fixed rate mortgage at the incredibly low rate of 2.875%. My goal is to retire within 10 years and 10 months (130 months) so we are setting out to pay off our mortgage on or before my retirement date. Right now we are a few months behind the target retirement date. Currently, we have approximately 11 years and 8 months (140 months) left on our mortgage. Nevertheless, I would like to have it paid off in another 10 years (or less). If we accomplish that, I plan to use the last few years to aggressively build our passive income to help supplement our retirement and defer tapping into the 457K as long as we can so it can continue to grow.
Right now we are not putting any extra money towards the principal given our low 2.875% interest rate. We feel that we could make our money grow faster by investing it and while keeping the money more liquid. At a certain point, maybe in 6-9 years, we may consider using money from our investment accounts to wipe out the remaining mortgage balance. Until then, we will continue to grow that money outside, rather than have it locked into our home.
Click on the link below to view our mortgage balance history:
It's great to have you back on the scene AFFJ. Kudos on the home value increase and mortgage value decrease. Nice work sir.
ReplyDeleteGreat to be back and with newfound passion. :) Thanks for the kind words and support. Hoping to finish off the year as strong as we began the year (before our 6-week hiatus).
DeleteBest wishes my friend, AFFJ
That interest rate is stunning -- congratulations on moving to a 15-year fixed rate. After we bought our first house (at a 30-year fixed rate of 6%), we refinanced to a significantly lower 7/1-variable rate (can't remember the details). When the 7-year period was up, we exercised an option to extend it (5/1). Then we refinanced to a fixed rate when we turned it into a rental property.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and thanks for the update. Good to see you back!
Awesome to hear you have a rental. My wife and I would like to have a rental or two in our asset column as well. :)
DeleteThanks for visiting. Best wishes! AFFJ
Nice job on putting a dent on that mortgage, keep up the good work. The interest rate you have is low and for a 15 year loan good to see you're pretty aggressive on trying to pay the mortgage off.
ReplyDeleteGood luck
We recently bought a house and got a 30-year mortgage at 3.5%. I am not sure where you live yet, but we are in the Northeast, which is sadly very expensive.
ReplyDelete