Mortgage Update

Principle paid down: $323.56
Interest: $346.40
Additional Principle: $13.00
New Balance: $110,520.58

The pay off date is June 2033. If I continue to pay the minimum on my loan, I will still need to pay $45,083.14 in interest (plus the $24,327.11 I've already paid). Before our refinance, we would have paid $116,404.23 in interest.

I tossed an extra $13 at the mortgage this month because that was the monthly debt pay down challenge in the  Proboards WIR WEST group ... to add $1 to your debt for whatever day of the month it is (so since I paid our mortgage on the 13th, I added $13 dollars in extra principle). The extra $13 we paid this month will save us $13.93 in interest over the life of the loan.

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.. and we saved $5,191.81 by NOT renting a place!! (see Housing Comps 2013 $16,977 for an apartment, $11,785.19 for the condo)

All of that "math" leaves us $6,994.37 in the hole. If we assume our home is worth at least what we paid for it ($120k), we have $9,479.42 in equity...

Leaving us $2,485.05 in profit after 4 yrs & 4 months! Woohoo!

Even though we broke even at the end of 2013, I still want to keep track of how much money our condo is saving us each year. For 2014, we will again assume our monthly mortgage payments are going to be a wash since it's cheaper to OWN our home then to RENT an apartment. (Check out Housing Comps 2014 for how we figured that one out).
For 2014 we have spent $1,115.34 to live in our condo, instead of $1,441.00 to live in the apartment.

• Mortgage: $669.96 (P&I)
• Extra Mortgage Principle: $13.00
• HOA: $270.00
• Property Taxes: $102.03 
• Small Home Repairs/Improvements: $60.35 
• $6.44 fix something under the sink
• $53.91 New front door deadbolt

So far we have saved $325.66 by owning our condo and not renting an apartment.

Current Housing Market:
One-Bedrooms Listed/Sold in our Complex:

• Asking: n/a
• Sold in last 6 months $220,000 (January 2014)

Two-Bedrooms Listed for Sale in our Complex:

• Asking $264,000 (Days on Market 41)
• Originally Listed 12/4/13
• Price drop from $285,000 to 264,000 on 12/18/13
• Delisted 12/22/13
• Asking $264,900 (Days on Market 71)
• Originally listed 11/4/13
• Price drop from 284,900 to $279,900 on 11/15/13
• Price drop from 279,900 to $264,900 on 11/23/13
• Asking $285,000 (Days of Market technically 105)
• Listed 9/30/13 
• Delisted 12/18/13
• Relisted 1/7/14
• Sold in the last 6 months: $185,000.00 (August, 2013)- Short Sale
• Sold in the last 6 months: $257,000.00 (August, 2013)