Mortgage Balance (UPDATE) - MAR 2017

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: $846,208 (up $9,949 in the last 30-days). My wife and I are not in the real estate profession so we are not sure why home prices have soared in recent months but we certainly welcome them.  On paper, we certainly feel slightly more wealthy. ;)

Our hunch is that the increase is possibly cause by home buyers looking to get into a home as interest rates continue to rise, which would make their monthly payment less and less affordable, and could eventually take them out of their desired neighborhood.  With one rate hike already gone into effect (and possible 1-2 more will occur before the year ends), it has triggered some urgency in those whom are in the market for a home and hoping to lock in a mortgage at current rates before they go up further. 

Mortgage Balance (As of March 1st):
$287,335 (down $1,907 from our post last month)

Percentage Owed:
33.9% (up .6% from our post last month)

Home Equity:
$558,873 (up $11,109 from our post last month)
   
We are very blessed to be able to say that in just 2-months, our mortgage home value has gone up: $20,583; our balance has gone down: $3,810; and as a result, our home equity has risen: $24,393!! 

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 3 months (123 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 1 months (133 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:

Mortgage Balance History