S2KRAY

No long term mortgage. I will be 90 in 15 years and 105 in 30. I do have a drawer at the cemetery where my wife and I will go and it is paid for. It has already appreciated from what we paid.

Emil St-Hilaire

S2KRAY

No, I could even sell it and make some money since we have had it for quite a while. We could move on up to the top row.

Heyitsgary

Ray- I'm sure you know this, but a 5/1 or a 7/1 isn't the length of the loan, just the length of the fixed portion.. So 5 years fixed, then (likely) 25 years adjusted every year. If you want/need a mortgage, are you considering a plain 10 year as an option.

As for refinancing in the initial period, yes (or at least a yes) when I did it. I had a 10/1 that I refi'd 6 years in when rates stayed low. I locked in at a low rate for 15 years at that point, paid 1 extra payment a year towards principle and was basically done in just under 15 from the initial purchase. Unless we move in retirement to some place where housing is so expensive, I hope to not have to borrow.

Ms P - Everyone is different and their situations are different, but I've never really understood that position. I can pay (obviously dependent on many things...) say 5000/year in interest to get back some on taxes... or I can pay nothing and get zero back.

S2KRAY

Yes, I am aware of this thanks. We are looking at all options when we meet with our mortgage broker. We have also included our financial advisor at Goldman Sach's to get his advice. Lots of options out there so we want to choose the one that best fits our current and future needs. With the standard deduction approaching close to what we itemize the interest deduction is not a golden goose anymore.

buckeyesue

Very true. Fewer and fewer people will be itemizing for the tax year 2018.

For a married couple filing a joint return, I believe the standard deduction will be $24,000.

And, for those who are over age 65 and taking the standard deduction, I believe that will be $1300 extra. So, if both of you are over 65, that will be an additional $2600 for a total standard deduction of $26,600. We've never gotten the extra "over age 65" deduction before, because we've always itemized our deductions, and then it was not allowed.

And, I think the state and local tax deduction on itemized deductions will have a limit of $10,000.

I think I read that only about 5% of people will itemize deductions now, compared to about 30% before.

MsPerky

^ Will have to see what my CPA says about that for moi this year.

S2KRAY

I didn't know about the over 65 extra allowance. We are both over 65. Good to know. We will be very close to standard but won't have to do the itemizing we have been doing every year. Thank you and Merry Christmas.

Morris

It's not that I "don't have to" do itemizing, it's that I can "no longer do" itemizing, because the new tax law no longer allows all my state and local taxes (above 10,000) to be deducted. My property taxes alone exceed that. So by limiting my itemized, I now "get" to take the standard deduction, and guess what? I'm paying more taxes! And my income is not very high either. (5 figures)

MsPerky

^ Fortunately, I don't exceed the limit.