May Mortgage Update 2013

Looks like there will be another hiccup with our refinance... They are having trouble with the insurance documents from the HOA and with the delay, its best to be safe and cut the May mortgage payment after all.

Principle paid down: $170.77
Interest: $479.87
Additional Principle: $0.00

New Balance: $109,513.76

The pay off date is still November 2038 which is 10 months ahead of the initial schedule. If I continue to pay the minimum on my loan, I will pay $111,081.60 in interest instead of the original $116,404.23. The extra $1,646.77 I've tossed at the mortgage over the life of the loan has saved us $5,322.63 in interest to date.

It took me $7,057.08 to get the keys to my condo... and another $17,672.29 to remodel and repair it...

In short, I was -$24,729.37 in the hole on day one...

But thankfully the hole is getting filled in a little bit each and every year.

• In 2009 I got the First Time Home buyer's Credit giving us $8,000.00. I also got to write off some of the property tax I paid in addition to taking the standard deduction. This gave us an extra $90.10... but then I had to pay an Electrician $95.00 to fix an outlet... We also ended 2009 with a refund from my botched tile job that gave us another $1,265.00.
• In 2010 I saved $1,087.00 on my federal taxes and $461.00 on my State taxes from itemizing my homeowners expenses. (This is what I received ABOVE what I would have with just the standard deduction).
• In 2011 I spent $12.97 at home depot and $72.29 on a kitchen door. When we subtract those costs from what we saved by living in our condo instead of renting, we came out ahead $494.04 (See Mortgage Update + Condo Costs December '11 for that break down.)  We also received a small $70 refund check from over paid closing costs. Since we tied the knot in 2011 we won't be able to itemize our housing costs so there's no savings there for us.
• In 2012 we finished our Kitchen/Laundry door which cost us $103.24.. We also replaced both our glass slider doors which cost us $2,957.00... and repaired our dryer for $81.42....It ended up being $3,383.47 cheaper to OWN our condo than to rent an apartment on a monthly basis,  (See Housing Costs 2012 for the break down) so even after we subtract the windows and other minor repairs, we still came out ahead $241.81 by owning our condo instead of renting... 
• In 2013 we got $52.53 back from challenging my property taxes in 2012.

Leaving us $13,062.89 in the hole...

If we assume our home is worth at least what we paid for it (which in this market you never really know...), then we have $10,486.24 in equity...

Leaving us only $2,576.65 in the hole after 3 years, 8 months.

For 2013, we will again assume our monthly mortgage payments are a wash since its cheaper to OWN our home then to RENT an apartment. Check out Housing Comps 2013 for how we figured that one out. Thus far for 2013 we have spent $5,936.94 to live in our condo, instead of $6,805.00 to live in the apartment.

• Mortgage (including P&I, Property Taxes, MIP, & additional principle:) $4,177.44
• HOA:  $1,312.50
• Small Home Repairs/Improvements:$0
• Earthquake Insurance: $0
• Homeowners Insurance: $0
• Refinance Charges: $447.00

As of today, we have saved $868.06 this year by not renting.

If I sold the condo tomorrow, I'd have to sell the property for $119,245.12 to break even... which is 7254.88 less than what I paid for it! 

• This assumes a 6% total commission ($7,154.71)
• and enough money to refund the amount we are in the hole for ($2,576.65)