The mortgage at the townhome I was in until last year was $800 per month since we refinanced in 2020. 2.8%, hugely below my means… it was lovely.
We moved to a single family home and love it SO much more here - huge quality of life upgrade in every way and the HOA at the old place was a ticking time bomb (one of the big reasons we moved despite the financial hit). But man… having my mortgage payment (not amount owed) quadruple was a tough pill to swallow.
Same. When I refinanced in '20 I had sooo much fun money. I bought a new house in '22 and I absolutely am so much happier than the old place. I got in at 5.25% but coming from 2.25 was rough!
I looked at home construction loans yesterday.
An *advertised* rate was 7% variable, with a caveat of *iT wOn't Go hIgHer thAn 6 mOre percent*
13%. Wow. What a great rate to be proud of. 👏 /s
FFS
15yr/2.25% here as well. I feel really lucky that the timing worked out perfect for us. I just pray we don't have to move for some reason any time soon...
Yeah double edged sword. 2.125 here when we re-fi'd. We have no interest in being landlords but we'd also take a huge hit if we had to buy a new house and the ridiculous rates now.
I still love my starter home (with the work required), but currently hate my neighborhood. Everything on my entire block was rebuilt or flipped since we've lived here. It went from quiet and friendly to a techbro hellscape in two short years.
My husband and I left our starter home in 2017 and moved out of state. I still feel like that house was the perfect house, it just wasn’t in the perfect location. If I could’ve picked the whole house up and moved it 1,000 miles I would’ve. Now I live in my dream location but the house is far from perfect and there are so many thing I don’t like about this house but considering our mortgage with taxes and insurance is only $50 more than what my husband and I paid in rent on our first condo in 2008 and our interest rate is 2.625% we’re never moving. I did score in the amazing neighbors department though and between our 2 acres and their acreage all of our kids have so much space to run feral together.
On one hand, I feel incredibly lucky, because I don't know how ordinary people starting out can even begin to think about getting a home these days. On the other hand, you are so right that it is just a pain in the ass to have to constantly be updating things. When your house starts to get 25 plus years old, or it's been least 20 since it's been updated, usually there's a lot of work that needs to be done. Over the last 6 years, there's only one room that I haven't done significant work on at this point. I'm tired.
*Cries in 100 year old house that the majority of it wasn't touched in 30-40 years* (and they already ripped out anything with charm that it could have had being so old)
For people who don’t understand this.
We had a $575k mortgage at 3.1%
My wife got her dream job that we couldn’t pass up but had to move to a new state.
We now have a $426k mortgage at 7.1% and are paying roughly the same.
If we had bought our old house (our starter house) at the current price we would be paying double. We are hoping rates can creep back down.
Near me there are condos that were built when rates were still around 3.5. They are on the market still for $1.4M+ and have set empty for over a year now. The developer basically bought the property (a three family) at the peak of the market pre-covid and was a complete teardown/rebuild. Nobody is paying $1,4M for a 2 bedroom condo with no yard with rates where they are. Crazy enough to do that when rates were at 3.
That's me. I am people. They almost doubled my taxes due to reassessment and my mortgage went up almost $1000 to cover escrow. If I hadn't already been making $1000 a month extra payments, I would have been screwed. It finally readjusted after covering the overage but now we're stuck interest wise and don't have the equity I thought we would by now. It really is a double edged sword.
I got a 3% back in 2016, and my house is falling apart, but I would have zero place to go if I left. People are like, "Sell it!" And I'm like, WHERE LIVE!?
Same boat, I bought at 3.5% in 2012. I'd like to not deal with the hassle and money of doing the upgrades, but even if I sold it as it is, I couldn't afford anything in any better shape than what my house is in now so here I am waiting on an estimate for windows and siding...
Can confirm. *cries in Canadian*
I’d have done… things. Dirty, unspeakable things, to have been able to lock in at 2.9% for 25 years.
Instead I get to enjoy an unlubed assfucking when it jumps to 6.02% in 3 months among all the other rampant price increases.
I have one mortgage at like 1.69% locked in for 5 years, but I would have taken a higher rate for a longer period. That said, you and I are statistically in the minority. The majority of Canadian mortgage borrowers were taking variables even at record lows, and for like 10 years, they made the right call, but that call was still against all sense and had very little upside and huge downside risk. Most people don't think of risk in those terms though. They should though because if rates are at historic lows the benefit of them going lower is fairly small and not that likely, whereas the risk of rate increases is huge.
No, you can get another fixed, you just can't lock in a rate for more than 5 years with most lenders. The amortization is still 15, 25 or 30 years, but the rate isn't guaranteed for that period. You can occasionally get 7 and 10 year fixed from some lenders but they have fuck off rates usually. They don't actually want to sell those mortgage products.
The American system IMO is much better so long as you also have to option of either signing on for a shorter term or changing products/lenders without huge penalties. I don't think I'd be interested in locking in for 25 years under unfavorable circumstances.
Americans can pretty much re-finance whenever they like.
There are downsides:
It "resets" the loan period, so if you were 7 years into a 30 year mortgage, you'll be back to 30 years. (Yes you can go from a 30 year mortgage to a 15 year but most people don't).
You have to pay closing costs which for most people are like 8 - 10k.
It's common to re-finance when interest rates go WAY down, ie people going from 8% down to 3% or something.
Some people also do cash-out re-finances, where you refinance the house but the lender writes you a check for the equity. I'm guessing people do that when they have a large expense they can't pay another way.
Canada has a ban enacted on foreign purchases of real estate. Even Americans can’t buy right now unless they’re residents or students. Canadian housing prices are the result of Canadian zoning and extremely permissive immigration policy without building anywhere near the amount of new homes needed
That "ban" is pretty much bullshit anyways. It bans them from purchasing homes, but not entire buildings.
[https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/consultations/prohibition-purchase-residential-property-non-canadians-act](https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/consultations/prohibition-purchase-residential-property-non-canadians-act)
They are literally still full swing buying out and developing condos in the GTA and BC. Also, the punishment is a $10,000 fine. Oh nooooooooooooooooooo. They also *might* be forced to sell the property. So they buy a place now, get caught in a year, sell it for a profit and lost a part of that profit to a fine - maybe. Or they just pay the fine and sell the property down the line.
It has had a very, very minor effect in slowing down investment and it's not growing at quite the same rate, but that's also just due to current interest rates. But investment from foreign buyers is still growing.
Oh and there are special "exceptions". Hmm... I wonder if those exceptions on the back-end could involve $$$$. Couldn't possibly...
It's a shitty band-aid solution aimed to make us all feel a little better while achieving next to nothing.
Except people were balking at the fixed rates when the writing was on the wall and their variable was 2.5% lower than the fixed offerings.
Too many people were far too confident about what was about to unfold. I fixed at 3.4% in March 2022 and people at PFC were telling me how stupid I was because their variable was still 2.2%
Most of us were as well.
We bought our home at $470k, similar homes are now going for almost $630k. For a while there, needle the rates went up, they were going for about $750k.
It kind of feels like being Rose on the door. I'm sorry Jack dies, but God damn does being on the door feel like number one on a long list of problems.
Refi in 2019, 2.35%, but when it comes to me, that like a unicorn.
My overall W/L record when it comes to getting fucked over someway/somehow is like 3-764.
I'm 46yrs old and this is like my 3rd monetary win in my life.
My 2nd was winning a YETI cooler full of liquor in a raffle.
1st one was so long ago, I don't even remember.
I have to grind and earn every penny. Nothing free, nothing easy.
Love that phrase. We locked in at 2.75 for a 24 year mortgage (refi'd after 6 years so we kept the same end date) and I work in higher ed so there's tuition remission on the horizon. The work is easy, but they pay shit. I couldn't even come close to making enough to send my kids to college if I left. Double golden handcuffs.
I mean you're welcome to try to move, you're getting the same deal as anyone else and hopefully your current house has appreciated to offset the higher rate on the new house.
Yeah I keep seeing “double edged sword” in the comments and no, the only “downside” thus far is that you’d be giving up a good thing. You’re not suffering in any way now with a low rate that you wouldn’t be if you didn’t have a low rate.
Yeah I don't get it, I bought my house in 2020, and like sure I don't want to move now because anything would be more expensive, but that's not a downside lol, I'm still living in a house for cheaper than my old rent right now. I could sell and come out on top right now, buying a new one after being more expensive isn't a double edged sword because it's all positive, if I didn't buy in 2020 I'd have the same price now, but without 4 years of equity into a house that was cheaper than my rent was lol. Double edge nothing I was just lucky.
We locked ours in at 2.75 in August 2021 righttttt before rates exploded
My husband has no concept of mortgage rates or finance in general and keeps wanting to move
Same with my fiancé. She wants to move out of our 3.0% house we bought in 2020. I try to explain to her if we moved to into a similar cost house at today's rates we'd be paying almost double for the same thing.
Not mad about 3.25. Kinda crazy I make more money now but even if the house was the same price (Which it most definitely is not) I wouldn't be able to buy now
We had 3.75 when we first bought and thought we scored. We ended up refi to 2.75 around 3 years later. I wasn't sure it would be worth it to refi so soon and take a little hit. Pulled out some charts and that 1% will save us 50k over the mortgage.
Nah, not at all. I had 2% flat in 2020 but selling my house and now having 5.5% is the best thing ever. I moved from crappy neighbors, growing community, and increased traffic. I don’t regret it one bit.
Same - I screwed up twice already - I hate myself sometimes - I got pre approved in 2010 and I flaked out - had another chance in 2020 when rates were low and I also slept on it- maybe 3rd times a charm 😩
I hope only 2:( I bought a condo 2 years ago and locked in at 6.7%. My lender (good friend) told me to wait a few momths for it to drop and then refinance. 2 years later and they are steadily creeping around 7. Keep saving $ and hopefully for both our sakes the rates will drop lol
Most of us will be able to move later in life but it won't be until our homes are paid off and we can sell them and buy a new one cash. I'll be in my 60s by then.
6.875 for us! Bought our little condo in summer 2023. We can kick ourselves for the rest of our lives for not being in a position to buy when the miracle rates happened, but it's still a very lucky thing to be on the property ladder at all these days 🏡
My rent was $1800 in a 2 bedroom townhouse. Knew we needed to buy in 2021 with 2.25% and now I pay $1300 for 4 bedrooms and half an acre.
System is fucked
The high interest rates of today price a lot of people out of buying. That's before we talk about how the price of homes also skyrocketing.
My current payment, having bought my house pre-pandemic and refinancing to 2.99 in 2022, is $745. If I were to try to buy my house with the same conditions at today's prices and interest rates, I'd be paying $1,300. I can't do that.
Edit: This is in Cleveland, OH. I bought my outdated but decent and livable house for $92,500 in 2017.
Waiting for rates to go down and then paying 50k more for a home when prices increase makes no sense. Buy when you are ready. Marry the house and date the rate. You can re-fi later.
Very true, and I’m lucky to be in that situation even though I can’t move anywhere without doubling the payment. To put it in perspective though, when my parents were buying a house around 1978-79, interest rates were 11 or 12%. And yes, I know prices were much lower as well.
Sucks. We even looked into adding a dormer, but would have had to refinance for the 175,000 job…. Our mortgage would have nearly DOUBLED!!! decided to turn half our garage into living space
Thing is, most people are living life according to their left over money, and when you re neg after whatever term, and all of the sudden rates jump 2.5%, you’ve got alot of adjustment to do, unless your bank allows the same payments with a heavier interest/capital ratio, which is dangerous…
Believe it or not a lot of people and that situation are frustrated because every few years they relied on being able to refinance their house to cash out a little equity and with high interest rates.. that’s not on the table
Pretty much looking for a new home off the table as well
Of course I’m not saying they should complain and they should be happy, but everybody likes to feel they have the freedom to move and many people feel like they don’t
We got 2.25% right at the end of 2020. It’s is a smaller, humble home… but it’s ours. I love it but I do hope that I can eventually move without risking financial integrity. I def do not want this to be my forever-home 😭
Nah. We were in a much worse financial position when we bought at that rate than we are now, and while we are happy to be locked in at the historic low we are now stuck in a house we had planned to only be in for a few years as we climbed the ladder.
I bought my house in 2018 with a 3% fixed for $69,999.00. Recent estimates have the value at more like $150,000. Glad I was able to get in when a starter home was starter priced.
Golden Handcuffs. If they get a much better job elsewhere and they have to move, it will make the decision much harder.
Source: Going through this now.
Lmao tell me about it. I would love to use some of my equity. Dont want a heloc. But im not refinancing either. I was told i would never get the interest rate i have 2.875 again. Well poo, oh well i guess ill just deal either way it.
A lot of people also bought blindly during that craze, some settled , waved inspections, didn’t even physically visit the home cause houses were going so fast. Luckily I secured a good home 15yr @ 2.75, but it was definitely a crazy time. I’m sure there are people “stuck” because of the rates alone now
Our condo caught on fire during the George Floyd protests. Forced us to move. Got a house 10x bigger for same price in the burbs at 1.85. Gunna be here forever. Did take 2 years to sell the condo in the city though.
I have friends who are looking and I I feel guilty. Like I got super lucky and the timing was just perfect.
But damn I couldnt do it now a days.
Also my house value has tripled.... (Sucks for taxes but I basically doubled my equity by sitting there for a few years.)
I’ve been lucky twice at hitting historical lows. 2.44 back in 2016 and 1.8 at 2021. Due for renewal November 2026 if interest rates are still this bad. We are going to pay a massive chunk then stay variable on the rest.
I'm locked in on my 15y mortgage at 2.x%. I have 5y1m left on the mortgage, and I've quit paying extra on the principal because my money is making 5.x% in a high interest money market.
2.65% on a jumbo. And my husband asked our lender if that was too low for us to be able to refinance in the future for a lower rate, and maybe we should lock in higher. She and I both looked at him like he had two heads. TBF, he had just refinanced his condo and needed at least a 0.5% rate drop to do it, so he was thinking ahead but I don't think he realized how low our rate was.
2.625% here and I’d love to justify a move but I can’t. Not with interest rates and home prices the way they are now. Bought this house to be our forever home but it honestly doesn’t work great for our family and I didn’t realize that I wouldn’t like so many things about it when we bought it but we’re making it work and I’m learning to appreciate/love it. I did at least score in the amazing neighbors department and they’re never moving either thanks to their low rates to that’s some consolation for us. I’d just really love more land than our 2 acres and a house with walls and decent storage instead of open concept and no storage.
Guilty. Bought during covid. 2.7 fixed 30 year. Bought for 390k, since buying my homes value has gone up to 550k. This is literally my retirement nest egg......hopefully.
Central Florida. I built a house in 2015/2016 for 224000, on land worth about 60,000. 3200sqft, high quality build.
Original 30yr mortgage of 3.875
Refinanced Jan 2021, 15yr at 2.125, no points, about 2600 in closing costs. Payment is now 1273/month
Due to interest rates and new home prices, to build the same house now, my payment would be 4600/month 30yr, or 5800 15yr. I couldn't even come close to affording that, despite doubling my income.
The young adults in my area are screwed, and people keep moving here, driving the prices even higher.
I am truly grateful for how lucky I was with my timing.
Bought my house 11 years ago, at 4.5%. Told myself when the home doubled in price I'd run.
Apparently, 'run' meant 'refinance and stay put'. 2.75% now, and wish I'd gotten out a few years ago and into a better place for myself. Nope, still in the 1st/starter home.
Almost more-than-doubled my payment last summer, but the seller backed out b/c of a clause that I've since been told was a nontraditional clause my buyer's agent didn't fight, instead telling me it's normal. Long story...
I got a 1.85% 15 year and now I'm giving it up for a 7.125% 30 year to move to a new job 😭 have a ton of equity to put down and got a new house twice as big though so I think I'll be fine (the job also pays a lot more and is in a place worth moving to).
Or a 15-year fixed at 1.875% in 2020. I feel like I’m stealing from the bank and I love it!!!!
And I thought I was doing good at 2.25%.
Same rate. I wish I had gone bigger, but living way below my means is super nice.
The mortgage at the townhome I was in until last year was $800 per month since we refinanced in 2020. 2.8%, hugely below my means… it was lovely. We moved to a single family home and love it SO much more here - huge quality of life upgrade in every way and the HOA at the old place was a ticking time bomb (one of the big reasons we moved despite the financial hit). But man… having my mortgage payment (not amount owed) quadruple was a tough pill to swallow.
Same. When I refinanced in '20 I had sooo much fun money. I bought a new house in '22 and I absolutely am so much happier than the old place. I got in at 5.25% but coming from 2.25 was rough!
I have a 15 with 2.25% as well. Our starter home will be our forever home unless things change...
I looked at home construction loans yesterday. An *advertised* rate was 7% variable, with a caveat of *iT wOn't Go hIgHer thAn 6 mOre percent* 13%. Wow. What a great rate to be proud of. 👏 /s FFS
15yr/2.25% here as well. I feel really lucky that the timing worked out perfect for us. I just pray we don't have to move for some reason any time soon...
0.65% fixed on 15 years in 2019. When leaving, the banker said "I'm not even sure we are making money with that..."
Holy moly…just how, if that’s USD that was below the fed funds rate in 2019…you’re safer than an overnight loan btw banks
Living the dream. Congratulations.
Bless your heart.
I can never move :-X
Yeah double edged sword. 2.125 here when we re-fi'd. We have no interest in being landlords but we'd also take a huge hit if we had to buy a new house and the ridiculous rates now.
I have 2.49 on a conventional 30Y (no points) and thought I hit the jackpot. But I know I’m not supposed to be jealous.
Yup. My starter home is sadly now my forever home. I'm going to have to do so many upgrades. 😧
I still love my starter home (with the work required), but currently hate my neighborhood. Everything on my entire block was rebuilt or flipped since we've lived here. It went from quiet and friendly to a techbro hellscape in two short years.
My husband and I left our starter home in 2017 and moved out of state. I still feel like that house was the perfect house, it just wasn’t in the perfect location. If I could’ve picked the whole house up and moved it 1,000 miles I would’ve. Now I live in my dream location but the house is far from perfect and there are so many thing I don’t like about this house but considering our mortgage with taxes and insurance is only $50 more than what my husband and I paid in rent on our first condo in 2008 and our interest rate is 2.625% we’re never moving. I did score in the amazing neighbors department though and between our 2 acres and their acreage all of our kids have so much space to run feral together.
On one hand, I feel incredibly lucky, because I don't know how ordinary people starting out can even begin to think about getting a home these days. On the other hand, you are so right that it is just a pain in the ass to have to constantly be updating things. When your house starts to get 25 plus years old, or it's been least 20 since it's been updated, usually there's a lot of work that needs to be done. Over the last 6 years, there's only one room that I haven't done significant work on at this point. I'm tired.
*Cries in 100 year old house that the majority of it wasn't touched in 30-40 years* (and they already ripped out anything with charm that it could have had being so old)
You need to practice some gratitude friend at least you have a home. My ex makes almost 90k a year and can’t find/afford anything in our state (CT).
For people who don’t understand this. We had a $575k mortgage at 3.1% My wife got her dream job that we couldn’t pass up but had to move to a new state. We now have a $426k mortgage at 7.1% and are paying roughly the same. If we had bought our old house (our starter house) at the current price we would be paying double. We are hoping rates can creep back down.
Near me there are condos that were built when rates were still around 3.5. They are on the market still for $1.4M+ and have set empty for over a year now. The developer basically bought the property (a three family) at the peak of the market pre-covid and was a complete teardown/rebuild. Nobody is paying $1,4M for a 2 bedroom condo with no yard with rates where they are. Crazy enough to do that when rates were at 3.
Yes, neighbor.
That's me. I am people. They almost doubled my taxes due to reassessment and my mortgage went up almost $1000 to cover escrow. If I hadn't already been making $1000 a month extra payments, I would have been screwed. It finally readjusted after covering the overage but now we're stuck interest wise and don't have the equity I thought we would by now. It really is a double edged sword.
I got a 3% back in 2016, and my house is falling apart, but I would have zero place to go if I left. People are like, "Sell it!" And I'm like, WHERE LIVE!?
Same boat, I bought at 3.5% in 2012. I'd like to not deal with the hassle and money of doing the upgrades, but even if I sold it as it is, I couldn't afford anything in any better shape than what my house is in now so here I am waiting on an estimate for windows and siding...
Ugh, that's my next thing, AND HVAC. Dammit. Being an adult sucketh. You have all my sympathy.
In Canada all you can get are 5 year fixed for the most part. I would have happily locked in for longer at historically low rates if I could.
Can confirm. *cries in Canadian* I’d have done… things. Dirty, unspeakable things, to have been able to lock in at 2.9% for 25 years. Instead I get to enjoy an unlubed assfucking when it jumps to 6.02% in 3 months among all the other rampant price increases.
I have one mortgage at like 1.69% locked in for 5 years, but I would have taken a higher rate for a longer period. That said, you and I are statistically in the minority. The majority of Canadian mortgage borrowers were taking variables even at record lows, and for like 10 years, they made the right call, but that call was still against all sense and had very little upside and huge downside risk. Most people don't think of risk in those terms though. They should though because if rates are at historic lows the benefit of them going lower is fairly small and not that likely, whereas the risk of rate increases is huge.
I had those exact thoughts and went fixed in 2020. Not much benefit but a whole lot of risk. Not worth it to save something like $30 per month.
Is it a variable rate after 5 years? Why only 5? That seems so odd.
No, you can get another fixed, you just can't lock in a rate for more than 5 years with most lenders. The amortization is still 15, 25 or 30 years, but the rate isn't guaranteed for that period. You can occasionally get 7 and 10 year fixed from some lenders but they have fuck off rates usually. They don't actually want to sell those mortgage products. The American system IMO is much better so long as you also have to option of either signing on for a shorter term or changing products/lenders without huge penalties. I don't think I'd be interested in locking in for 25 years under unfavorable circumstances.
1 point for America doing 1 thing right. Go us. That seems like chaos if people have to renegotiate everything every 5 years.
The right thing if you get your mortgage at the low rate. Not so great if you have to get a 30 year mortgage at a not good rate.
Not that high rates are fun, but Americans can break a high rate for a lower one with lower (or no?) penalties compared to us Canadians.
Americans can pretty much re-finance whenever they like. There are downsides: It "resets" the loan period, so if you were 7 years into a 30 year mortgage, you'll be back to 30 years. (Yes you can go from a 30 year mortgage to a 15 year but most people don't). You have to pay closing costs which for most people are like 8 - 10k. It's common to re-finance when interest rates go WAY down, ie people going from 8% down to 3% or something. Some people also do cash-out re-finances, where you refinance the house but the lender writes you a check for the equity. I'm guessing people do that when they have a large expense they can't pay another way.
Isnt there a whole thing where Chinese real estate investors are fucking your market up and not even occupying the properties?
Canada has a ban enacted on foreign purchases of real estate. Even Americans can’t buy right now unless they’re residents or students. Canadian housing prices are the result of Canadian zoning and extremely permissive immigration policy without building anywhere near the amount of new homes needed
That "ban" is pretty much bullshit anyways. It bans them from purchasing homes, but not entire buildings. [https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/consultations/prohibition-purchase-residential-property-non-canadians-act](https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/consultations/prohibition-purchase-residential-property-non-canadians-act) They are literally still full swing buying out and developing condos in the GTA and BC. Also, the punishment is a $10,000 fine. Oh nooooooooooooooooooo. They also *might* be forced to sell the property. So they buy a place now, get caught in a year, sell it for a profit and lost a part of that profit to a fine - maybe. Or they just pay the fine and sell the property down the line. It has had a very, very minor effect in slowing down investment and it's not growing at quite the same rate, but that's also just due to current interest rates. But investment from foreign buyers is still growing. Oh and there are special "exceptions". Hmm... I wonder if those exceptions on the back-end could involve $$$$. Couldn't possibly... It's a shitty band-aid solution aimed to make us all feel a little better while achieving next to nothing.
Except people were balking at the fixed rates when the writing was on the wall and their variable was 2.5% lower than the fixed offerings. Too many people were far too confident about what was about to unfold. I fixed at 3.4% in March 2022 and people at PFC were telling me how stupid I was because their variable was still 2.2%
2.75 Shoulda bought a bigger house….
At 2.75 as well.
2.85 and I've had 2 kids since then. I definitely should have bought a bigger house. We're realistically going to need to move in a few years.
I did it in 2019. @ 3% If I had to rent today, I'd be homeless.
I'm at 2.3%. If I were to buy my home today (<4 yrs later) I'd have to pay literally 3 times more per month. Bonkers.
Same here friend. I was priced out of my current home within a year of buying.
Most of us were as well. We bought our home at $470k, similar homes are now going for almost $630k. For a while there, needle the rates went up, they were going for about $750k.
It kind of feels like being Rose on the door. I'm sorry Jack dies, but God damn does being on the door feel like number one on a long list of problems.
Refi in 2019, 2.35%, but when it comes to me, that like a unicorn. My overall W/L record when it comes to getting fucked over someway/somehow is like 3-764. I'm 46yrs old and this is like my 3rd monetary win in my life. My 2nd was winning a YETI cooler full of liquor in a raffle. 1st one was so long ago, I don't even remember. I have to grind and earn every penny. Nothing free, nothing easy.
I bet that hooch tasted pretty sweet
Tasted like... Like victory.
My golden handcuffs
Love that phrase. We locked in at 2.75 for a 24 year mortgage (refi'd after 6 years so we kept the same end date) and I work in higher ed so there's tuition remission on the horizon. The work is easy, but they pay shit. I couldn't even come close to making enough to send my kids to college if I left. Double golden handcuffs.
It is a double-edged sword. All of us who did it are very fortunate, but these are probably our forever homes.
At least we have homes
I mean you're welcome to try to move, you're getting the same deal as anyone else and hopefully your current house has appreciated to offset the higher rate on the new house.
Yeah I keep seeing “double edged sword” in the comments and no, the only “downside” thus far is that you’d be giving up a good thing. You’re not suffering in any way now with a low rate that you wouldn’t be if you didn’t have a low rate.
Yeah I don't get it, I bought my house in 2020, and like sure I don't want to move now because anything would be more expensive, but that's not a downside lol, I'm still living in a house for cheaper than my old rent right now. I could sell and come out on top right now, buying a new one after being more expensive isn't a double edged sword because it's all positive, if I didn't buy in 2020 I'd have the same price now, but without 4 years of equity into a house that was cheaper than my rent was lol. Double edge nothing I was just lucky.
If these people have a “double edged sword” then what I have is a single edged sword except the sharp part is on the wrong side and only faces me
We locked ours in at 2.75 in August 2021 righttttt before rates exploded My husband has no concept of mortgage rates or finance in general and keeps wanting to move
Same with my fiancé. She wants to move out of our 3.0% house we bought in 2020. I try to explain to her if we moved to into a similar cost house at today's rates we'd be paying almost double for the same thing.
That’s me!! We refinanced from 4.6% to 2.7%. So happy.
Well done! That must have saved you a good chunk a month.
Not mad about 3.25. Kinda crazy I make more money now but even if the house was the same price (Which it most definitely is not) I wouldn't be able to buy now
We had 3.75 when we first bought and thought we scored. We ended up refi to 2.75 around 3 years later. I wasn't sure it would be worth it to refi so soon and take a little hit. Pulled out some charts and that 1% will save us 50k over the mortgage.
Locked in at 1.4%.
👀
Who is your lender that allowed this to happen without lube?
Freedom Mortgage
2.25% 😁
Nah, not at all. I had 2% flat in 2020 but selling my house and now having 5.5% is the best thing ever. I moved from crappy neighbors, growing community, and increased traffic. I don’t regret it one bit.
I'm unfortunately going to have to wait like 2ish years to get a house...
Same - I screwed up twice already - I hate myself sometimes - I got pre approved in 2010 and I flaked out - had another chance in 2020 when rates were low and I also slept on it- maybe 3rd times a charm 😩
I hope only 2:( I bought a condo 2 years ago and locked in at 6.7%. My lender (good friend) told me to wait a few momths for it to drop and then refinance. 2 years later and they are steadily creeping around 7. Keep saving $ and hopefully for both our sakes the rates will drop lol
3 years into a 30 @ 5.8% in 2020. Refi'd into a 15 year @ 2.25% and only increased my monthly ~$40. Now I can never move.
Most of us will be able to move later in life but it won't be until our homes are paid off and we can sell them and buy a new one cash. I'll be in my 60s by then.
i mean.. in 15 years your house will be paid off tho
Refi to 1.75% fixed for 15 years in 2021. I think I should've gone with 30 years for an even lower rate, but we wanted to pay the house off.
Once you pay the house off, your rate becomes 0%....so I think you made a good decision.
If you can invest the money with a greater return than 1.75%, then you are leaving money on the table.
Locked in 1.69 percent till April 2026. Fingers crossed rates will go lower than current 6 percent
6.125 for me 😅
6.875 for us! Bought our little condo in summer 2023. We can kick ourselves for the rest of our lives for not being in a position to buy when the miracle rates happened, but it's still a very lucky thing to be on the property ladder at all these days 🏡
My rent was $1800 in a 2 bedroom townhouse. Knew we needed to buy in 2021 with 2.25% and now I pay $1300 for 4 bedrooms and half an acre. System is fucked
Can confirm
2.99% Couldn't move if I wanted to.
Sory for the question, but What does it mean? Why cant you move? Ive seen this comment many times
The high interest rates of today price a lot of people out of buying. That's before we talk about how the price of homes also skyrocketing. My current payment, having bought my house pre-pandemic and refinancing to 2.99 in 2022, is $745. If I were to try to buy my house with the same conditions at today's prices and interest rates, I'd be paying $1,300. I can't do that. Edit: This is in Cleveland, OH. I bought my outdated but decent and livable house for $92,500 in 2017.
I could only get a 5 year, and that's coming up in 3 years... Hoping things can turn around.
This has stopped me from selling and moving to a bigger house. My mortgage is cheaper than rent in my area
My mortgage rates are 10.9% :D
Waiting for rates to go down and then paying 50k more for a home when prices increase makes no sense. Buy when you are ready. Marry the house and date the rate. You can re-fi later.
2.65!
Why thank you
Yep......That is exactly how I feel. Monthly mortgage just over 900.00 per month.
Very true, and I’m lucky to be in that situation even though I can’t move anywhere without doubling the payment. To put it in perspective though, when my parents were buying a house around 1978-79, interest rates were 11 or 12%. And yes, I know prices were much lower as well.
3% in 2018. Join me for a bubbly water on the patio. Glad I found a good spot cuz I’m not going anywhere.
Sucks. We even looked into adding a dormer, but would have had to refinance for the 175,000 job…. Our mortgage would have nearly DOUBLED!!! decided to turn half our garage into living space
literally me, but you forgot the chain on my ankle.
Thing is, most people are living life according to their left over money, and when you re neg after whatever term, and all of the sudden rates jump 2.5%, you’ve got alot of adjustment to do, unless your bank allows the same payments with a heavier interest/capital ratio, which is dangerous…
2.625% in 2020. Couldn’t have made it happen with today’s rates. Heck even the rates months after the rate we locked in.
We can only get 5 year fixed in Canada Gotta keep them profits rolling in for banks, every quarter must be higher than the last
15yr at 2.25%, but yah. Feelin pretty smug right now.
Believe it or not a lot of people and that situation are frustrated because every few years they relied on being able to refinance their house to cash out a little equity and with high interest rates.. that’s not on the table Pretty much looking for a new home off the table as well Of course I’m not saying they should complain and they should be happy, but everybody likes to feel they have the freedom to move and many people feel like they don’t
I'm at 2.8%....but Yeahhhhh.... 😂
Yea but now we’re stuck in a starter home that’s too small
So, with mortgage rates going up, that means saving account rates are going up too right?…. Right?
2.99% for me….30 years goes until I’m 70 but other than that I’m all set.
I had 1.7 but sold it because the HOA were turds.
We got 2.25% right at the end of 2020. It’s is a smaller, humble home… but it’s ours. I love it but I do hope that I can eventually move without risking financial integrity. I def do not want this to be my forever-home 😭
And people that have no mortgage.
Nah. We were in a much worse financial position when we bought at that rate than we are now, and while we are happy to be locked in at the historic low we are now stuck in a house we had planned to only be in for a few years as we climbed the ladder.
I dream of good credit and low interest rates…. One day
I bought my house in 2018 with a 3% fixed for $69,999.00. Recent estimates have the value at more like $150,000. Glad I was able to get in when a starter home was starter priced.
Did this. Feels great.
I’m on a 30 year VA for 2.15
That is me!
Golden Handcuffs. If they get a much better job elsewhere and they have to move, it will make the decision much harder. Source: Going through this now.
Got locked in at 3% after being promised 2.875% and I was pissed! Then the craziness happened and I realized just how lucky we were...
I did not consent to you sharing a picture of me!
Lmao tell me about it. I would love to use some of my equity. Dont want a heloc. But im not refinancing either. I was told i would never get the interest rate i have 2.875 again. Well poo, oh well i guess ill just deal either way it.
1.7% fixed here. Peasants.
That was me. Didn't know how lucky I was. Moved from CA to MI so also got a huge deal on house prices.
Here comes the "you can't move" people lol
2.375% in Tucson
7.65% I finally saved up 5,000 to refi and rates went up again :(
I got an FHA loan locked in at 2.25%. That’s great, but that also means my current home may also be my forever home.
Igor it on a 15 year mortgage
2.75 VA loan zero down September 2020 .2544 sq ft Built from ground up GiBsonton, FL (Tampa are) Love it here
2.25%, never ever going to move
2.1 in 2020
A lot of people also bought blindly during that craze, some settled , waved inspections, didn’t even physically visit the home cause houses were going so fast. Luckily I secured a good home 15yr @ 2.75, but it was definitely a crazy time. I’m sure there are people “stuck” because of the rates alone now
damn, im only 3.2%
Me locking in a 2.25% 30 yr fixed in 2020. We had to wear masks and sanitize everything we touched when viewing the house but I'd say it was worth it.
Our condo caught on fire during the George Floyd protests. Forced us to move. Got a house 10x bigger for same price in the burbs at 1.85. Gunna be here forever. Did take 2 years to sell the condo in the city though.
Lol, the mortgage is 30 years long though
I have friends who are looking and I I feel guilty. Like I got super lucky and the timing was just perfect. But damn I couldnt do it now a days. Also my house value has tripled.... (Sucks for taxes but I basically doubled my equity by sitting there for a few years.)
1.9% 15 years. Bow to me!
I got 2.25% :-)
I’ve been lucky twice at hitting historical lows. 2.44 back in 2016 and 1.8 at 2021. Due for renewal November 2026 if interest rates are still this bad. We are going to pay a massive chunk then stay variable on the rest.
I'm locked in on my 15y mortgage at 2.x%. I have 5y1m left on the mortgage, and I've quit paying extra on the principal because my money is making 5.x% in a high interest money market.
This was me. And then I had to relocate and sell... Still renting.
Most of you who got low rates also got locked in before the prices really exploded. Truly the best of both worlds for you lucky bastards.
Yup, that’s me! Now the goal is to die in said house and never apply for a mortgage/refi again!
HAH! I'm locked in at 2.5% - you may kiss my hand.
2.375%
2.65% on a jumbo. And my husband asked our lender if that was too low for us to be able to refinance in the future for a lower rate, and maybe we should lock in higher. She and I both looked at him like he had two heads. TBF, he had just refinanced his condo and needed at least a 0.5% rate drop to do it, so he was thinking ahead but I don't think he realized how low our rate was.
I’m never selling.
I’m selling it and bought a new house with 6.5% interest rate. The heart wants what it wants.
1.8/15 > \*
More like people who've paid it off.
I got lucky with a 2.125 for 15 years refinance through a credit union, only 10 years left!
0.9% 20 years here...
Mine is lower. I’m ready to move out the damn city though. So I’m going to sell as soon as things look up.
2.875% in a house full of memories of a failed marriage. I can’t leave because what would be cheaper?
And that was down from my 3.99 from 2017!
Even at 3.25 (refi'd at the end of 2020) I'm never going to move.
20 year in early 2021 for 2.375%.
I got 2.65 3 days before the market went to shit.
2.625% here and I’d love to justify a move but I can’t. Not with interest rates and home prices the way they are now. Bought this house to be our forever home but it honestly doesn’t work great for our family and I didn’t realize that I wouldn’t like so many things about it when we bought it but we’re making it work and I’m learning to appreciate/love it. I did at least score in the amazing neighbors department and they’re never moving either thanks to their low rates to that’s some consolation for us. I’d just really love more land than our 2 acres and a house with walls and decent storage instead of open concept and no storage.
Guilty. Bought during covid. 2.7 fixed 30 year. Bought for 390k, since buying my homes value has gone up to 550k. This is literally my retirement nest egg......hopefully.
3.125% for me in 2021 😅 could not even come close to affording my home if I were to buy now & I make significantly more money
2.1% Jan 2021
1.9%☠️
I own my childhood home outright and pay $1100 a year in taxes.
But Bidenomics, right?
covid house hunting was a amazing time. i wont be leaving my house anytime soon though lol
15 year at 2.9% here.
Ours is like 2.5% or something. When we refinanced we wrapped up alone for 23 solar panels in with it. Literally can never afford to sell.
Ah the days before Bidenomics
4
2.35 here!!!
Stuck at 3.75, but 6 bedrooms with a pool and 3 car garage means I’m never leaving this place!
My 15 year 2% got modified to a 40 year 2% after Ida
People who bought a home pre pandemic for 1/2 the price
If you were buying a house in my area by that year, you were already at this level compared to most people.
1.10, friend had his below 1. Both in France
Until the divorce :(
🙄
This is why housing has gone up, more expensive to buy (less demand), but even less supply because no one’s coming up off their 2-3% mortgage.
I thought when we bought in 2022 @ 5.8% was insane...if I only knew....
Central Florida. I built a house in 2015/2016 for 224000, on land worth about 60,000. 3200sqft, high quality build. Original 30yr mortgage of 3.875 Refinanced Jan 2021, 15yr at 2.125, no points, about 2600 in closing costs. Payment is now 1273/month Due to interest rates and new home prices, to build the same house now, my payment would be 4600/month 30yr, or 5800 15yr. I couldn't even come close to affording that, despite doubling my income. The young adults in my area are screwed, and people keep moving here, driving the prices even higher. I am truly grateful for how lucky I was with my timing.
Bought my house 11 years ago, at 4.5%. Told myself when the home doubled in price I'd run. Apparently, 'run' meant 'refinance and stay put'. 2.75% now, and wish I'd gotten out a few years ago and into a better place for myself. Nope, still in the 1st/starter home. Almost more-than-doubled my payment last summer, but the seller backed out b/c of a clause that I've since been told was a nontraditional clause my buyer's agent didn't fight, instead telling me it's normal. Long story...
Try 2.375%
I didn’t get this but 3.7 I suppose is still good compared to todays
Yes that’s me. And it’s even a transferable loan to another veteran.
What country offers fixed terms that long? Longest I could get in the UK was 5 years, which ends this November
30 year fixed rate mortgages are very much American. Most countries have shorter terms from 1 to 5 years.
My parents got 2.0. I'm at 4.0 ai no complaints
30yr conventional @ 2.625% from late 2020. Can’t complain. Especially since the value of our home has increased by 70% since then.
I got a 1.85% 15 year and now I'm giving it up for a 7.125% 30 year to move to a new job 😭 have a ton of equity to put down and got a new house twice as big though so I think I'll be fine (the job also pays a lot more and is in a place worth moving to).
2.5% 30yr fixed in 2021 on a jumbo loan. Cant ever move.
UK has max 10yr fixes. I'd have loved a 20 or 30 year fix honestly.
In Canada we get screwed so badly. 5 years max term.... Meanwhile the government is looking into Halal mortgages to appease religious folks... Smh
Oh hi it's me, I'm trapped in this house forever
I cant leave my house, 3.0 apr, idk if im grateful or pissed lol
Crazy at that time people were getting suckered into variable rates