Reply #88: Ever hear the expression "house poor"?

[Retrograde]

"If you can afford to make a large down payment, you have wealth. If you cannot make the large down payment, you have a large income in order to afford the large monthly note. In both cases you are lucky."

For many people, myself included, accumulating the money for a down payment means several years of savings and frugal living. The down payment effectively took all our savings, so the first couple of years were devoted to paying the mortgage and putting aside money for a cushion in case of emergencies. Yes, we had the house, but for awhile there wasn't any surplus to spend on much else.

"Once the house is paid for, should there be an additional rate that you must pay since you now have the big monthly payment amount available to use for other items. You are really lucky if you do not have to make that large monthly payment!"

The house is finally paid for. However, Mr. Retrograde and I are both retired and the money that was earmarked for the mortgage is now being used to pay for health insurance (and we're really lucky to be able to get grandfathered in with our provider), which goes up with age.

There are other expenses involved with owning a house. Besides property taxes - I'm in California so mine go up at a small but regular rate every year - my town recently enacted an additional parcel tax to support schools. Then there's the insurance (FEMA recently decided we're in a flood zone, so that went up), assorted utilities (gas, electric, water, sewer, garbage: some of which renters pay directly, others which are covered in the rent - it varies), maintenance (roofs need to be replaced every few decades, painting, pest control, plumbing maintenance - it's always something). And, surprise, all those expenses never seem to go down.

So just having a house doesn't mean someone is swimming in surplus cash.