Mortgage Update November '13

Principle paid down: $321.52
Interest: $348.44
Additional Principle: $0.00
New Balance: $111,179.66

The pay off date is June 2033. If I continue to pay the minimum on my loan, I will still need to pay $45,791.19 in interest (plus the $23,633.27 I've already paid). Before our refinance, we would have paid $116,404.23 in interest. 


Getting the Keys...

It took me $7,057.08 to get the keys to my condo and then I spent another $17,672.29 to remodel and repair it...  In short, I was -$24,729.37 in the hole on day one...

• 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 got 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 gotten back 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. We didn't Itemize our taxes in 2011.
• 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. I also refinanced our condo, costing us $447.00 up front for our home appraisal... but we got a check back at closing for $747.20 and a check from my old escrow account for $489.74... We also got to skip a mortgage payment too! In addition, they automatically lowered my property tax value, giving us a check for $86.77

All of that "math" leaves us $12,186.18 in the hole. If we assume our home is worth at least what we paid for it ($120k), we have $8,820.34 in equity...

Leaving us $3,365.84 in the hole after 4 yrs & 2 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. For 2013 we have spent $10,740.16 to live in our condo, instead of $15,470.51 to live in the apartment.

• Mortgage (including additional principle payments:) $8,260.44
• HOA:  $2,925
• Small Home Repairs/Improvements:$0
• Earthquake Insurance: $187
• Homeowners Insurance: $297
• Refinance Charges: (-$789.94) This is what we "gained" from refinancing after out of pocket fees.
• Property tax Rebates (-$52.53) & (-$86.77) 

The year isn't over yet, but so far we have saved $4,730.35 by not renting... and if that figure holds true, it looks like we might break even on our condo this year!

Current Housing Market:
One-Bedrooms Listed for Sale in our Complex:

• Asking $222,000.00 (Days on Market 57)
• Sold in last 3 months: N/A

Two-Bedrooms Listed for Sale in our Complex:

• Asking $284,900.00 (Days on Market 10)
• Asking: $295,000.00 (Days on Market 45)
• Sold in the last 3 months: $257,000.00 (August, 2013)
• Sold in the last 6 months: $240,000.00 (June, 2013)