Two years ago today — April 24, 2009 — I officially became a homeowner, as Becky and I closed on our house in Denver.
Five days later, we actually moved in. Here’s a time lapse showing our entire moving day in just over 3 minutes. It shows the day from beginning to end, starting at our old condo in South Denver, then ending here, at our then-new house.
A lot of things look different than they did then, from the paint job to our new couch — to, oh yeah, a new kid! Loyacita was born less than three months after this (and, lo and behold, we’ve now got another girl due in less than three months). Loyette, meanwhile, was 6 months younger in the video than Loyacita is now, which just seems… impossible.
The title of this post, by the way, is a reference to our mortgage, if that escaped anyone. After a decade of insane hyper-mobility, we’ve switched to the opposite extreme, and fully intend to be those weird people who actually pay off their 30-year mortgage, still living in the house. Technically, I guess that would happen on or about May 1, 2039, since our first mortgage payment was due on June 1, 2009.
Anyway, after the jump, some more notes on the video, copied from this old post.
The first thing you see is me leaving the condo in the morning. Then Becky, her mom, and of course Loyette (and briefly Becky’s dad and brother) mill about for a while. Loyette merrily climbs all over the boxes. 🙂 Around 33 seconds in, our Amazing Moves guys show up, and stuff starts — poof! — disappearing.
Pretty soon everybody’s outta there, and over to the new house; the scene switches at the 57-second mark. (I was at work this whole time, but had cameras set up in both places.) You see the movers arriving and stuff appearing, and frenetic activity and humans and cats move this way and that. Then for about 10 seconds starting around the 1:26 mark, there’s a lull, as Becky & the fam go out (I think for lunch). I love this part, because if you watch carefully, you’ll notice something odd: the cats completely disappear too! Having spent the morning flitting to and fro while there were people around, they retreat (presumably) upstairs when everybody leaves. 🙂
Then everybody comes back. Eventually I arrive — having left for work from one home, and returned at the end of the day to another — we have dinner, the in-laws leave, we put Loyette to bed (though not without a struggle, as you see when she appears back downstairs after briefly disappearing; getting used to the new house took some time). Finally Becky and then I go to bed, the lights go off, and our moving day is over. Kind of a fun time lapse.
Signing my house note was the scariest thing I have ever done. I hate being in debt for any reason, to anyone. That said, I got a good deal at the time…a fixed 4.5%.
About five years after I bought my house, a friend with a realtor’s license told me my house had tripled in value on paper, and encouraged me to take the increase out by re-financing. ( it would have been about $250,000) I reminded him that that money would be a loan, and not a gift. He actually told me that if the payments got out of line I could always walk away. He couldn’t seem to understand why I refused to do such a dishonorable thing.
I don’t know your financial situation (can’t be great with two and soon to be three kids on one paycheck), but if possible, you should be making extra payments. The first two years I made 13 payments on my house, and then for four years I made double principle payments, and it has dropped years off of my payment schedule.
Depends. If you’re mortgage is 4.5% but you have other debt that is shorter-term or at a higher rate (and otherwise not tax deductible), such as car loans, student loans, or consumer debt, you’re better off paying that down first. Also, if you have a 401(k) or a similar retirement investment vehicle, chances are you can make better than 4.5% there as well, so drop additional cash into that prior to paying extra on the mortgage. So long as mortgage interest is tax deductible, shortening your payment schedule might feel good but rarely gives you the most bang for your buck.
I have no other debt besides my house and my 403(b) is maxed out.
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