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Getting started

June 20th, 2013 at 02:57 am

Hi, everybody! I'm a long-time lurker on this site, but new to the world of blogging. Mostly because I never really felt like I had anything interesting to say!

My DH and I are about to buy our first home, however, and I thought I could use this blog to track my goals for the mortgage. I plan to pay extra on the mortgage each month, with the goal of paying off the 30-year note within 20 years.

I may be getting a little ahead of myself, because we haven't even closed on the house yet! We should do so at the end of July, so I guess our first mortgage payment should be due August 1st. The big deal for us is that this payment will be a good deal lower than what we have been paying in rent for the past four years. I hope that I can send at least some of the difference to principle each month!

That's all for now, but I'll share more info in the future. Looking forward to being a part of Saving Advice!

15 Responses to “Getting started”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1371694967

    Welcome! Technically, your first payment will likely be September 1. You will pay interest through the end of July when you close. The August interest that accumulates will then be due September. Great goal by the way!!

  2. snafu Says:
    1371695047

    Welcome to SA, happy you're now a participant. Buying a house is a major life marker and I remember how worried we were. I'm sure you'll be fine. It's very important to read and understand the details of your contract. If you plan to make extra payments make certain you understand how your lender handles or processes and identifies payments to be directly subtracted from principal. I was shocked when I saw how little of the first two dozen payments went to the principal. I'm sure those figures will motive you to eking out extra principal payments.

  3. Elle Says:
    1371696310

    Thanks for the info, creditcardfree. I guess I am so used to paying rent in advance that I just assumed I'd have a mortgage payment that first month. But what you said makes perfect sense.

    snafu -- thanks for the encouragement. I will be sure to check how payments are applied. That's actually something I've picked up from all my lurking on this site!

  4. Shiela Says:
    1371696442

    Hey welcome to SA. Congrats on owning your own house.

  5. Kiki Says:
    1371696651

    Welcome! Buying a home is a goal for me as well. When i do inplan to use an amortization schedule to make sure everything is deducted correctly. Easy to do on a website like bankrate.com.

    Best of luck on your new home, and welcome again!

  6. LuckyRobin Says:
    1371697400

    Welcome and good luck on all going smoothly with the purchase of the house.

  7. PNW Mom Says:
    1371700268

    Welcome! Smile

  8. MonkeyMama Says:
    1371700911

    Good luck on the home!

  9. baselle Says:
    1371701417

    Best of luck on the house ownership. The fact that the mortgage payment is going to be lower than rent will help - but remember the incidentals, taxes, mortgage insurance, possibly HOA fee.... but you know that already. Definitely keep your eyes peeled and ask questions! I asked a lot myself when I bought my condo last October. And sometimes the surprises are pleasant.

  10. NJDebbie Says:
    1371727715

    Welcome to SA! Make sure you ask your lender if your loan has a penalty for prepayment. I know that in some states prepayment penalties are illegal but in some states it is not. Good luck and look forward to reading your entries.

  11. CB in the City Says:
    1371734532

    My mortgage is considerably lower than my rent was, so I pay double and then some on my mortgage. It's a good habit to get into!

  12. twest Says:
    1371737523

    Glad to have you with us. Look forward to reading about your mortgage progress. With our first house I told the lender we would be trying to double the payment on our house and she told us that if we did it would probably shave 8 - 10 years off. Well 4 yrs later we paid the house off. We hadn't borrowed much (60,000)but just wanted to share that with you because it is amazing how quickly you really can pay things off when you are determined to do it. Good Luck and Welcome!

  13. MissAngel Says:
    1371741926

    Welcome to SA! I was a long time lurker before I took the plunge too!

  14. PauletteGoddard Says:
    1371773930

    Hi Elle! Welcome to Saving Advice. I wish you many happy moments in your new home.

  15. My English Castle Says:
    1371965430

    Welcome to Blogland! I bet your amortization schedule will become a fixture as you watch that balance drop!

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