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Paying Off The Loan |
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Edith: I recently came into some money unexpectedly and am thinking about paying off my home mortgage.It only has one year left to go anyway, at 8.125 percent.I’m 52, have the college tuition for the kids taken care of, and am “maxed out” on all my retirement savings opportunities.
Any pitfalls you can see? |
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You have a chance to earn 8.125 percent on that money for the coming year, risk-free, sure thing.By all means do it.I'm surprised you haven't refinanced long before this, with such a high interest rate.
If your lender has been collecting money in an escrow account for future property taxes and insurance premiums, anything in that account belongs to you and should be returned.
Most important, the lender owes you a release, which is a certificate of satisfaction of mortgage, or in some states a deed of reconveyance.The lender may enter it in your county's public records, to clear your property's good name.You should receive the original after it's been recorded, which can take a couple of months.Follow up, though, because this is important.You can go to your county clerk's office and search the records, or in many locations you can search online.There you'll find the mortgage that was placed against your property, and you can see if the payoff has also been recorded. |
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Edith
Originally published on March 6, 2006 |
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