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Monday, July 1, 2013

Update - July 2013

I spent some time today updating our budget and something amazing jumped out at me...

 

We've paid off $100,517 in only three years!


While updating our July 1st mortgage balances, I rolled my cursor over an Excel "comment" field on my budget that was dated July 31st, 2010 showing a total balance of $255,025 spread over five different mortgages.  Among the now dead and buried are our personal residence and one rental property, both of which are now owned free and clear!  Now some folks don't seem to get very excited over paying off mortgage debt, but I do.  I think deleveraging is both wise and prudent.  Moreover, just as a growing porfolio of dividend paying companies gives one a feeling of security and satisfaction, the same can be said for disappearing debt...ANY DEBT, even the "GOOD DEBT".
 
We're not finished.  We'll continue to whittle away at the remaining mortgage debt totalling $154,508.   I am especially interested in getting property #3 paid off as quickly as possible because doing so will increase our monthly cash flow by $424.57 or $5,094.84 annually.  That's just the principle and interest portion of the monthly loan payment, or in other words the portion you get to keep once the mortgage is retired.  How large of a portfolio stocked with dividend-paying companies would it take to bring in an annual dividend income of $5,094?

Drumroll please...


A portfolio totalling $127,371 earning 4%.  You see, at this point I can bring home income equivalent to a $127,371 portfolio for only $29,565!  But wait, there's more...kidding.  The only problem is that I can't and won't see a dime of that extra cash flow until the mortgage is paid off in full.  Banks just won't give a partial credit for that amount until we've paid off every last cent.
  
 

9 comments:

All About Interest said...

That's an impressive amount of debt to pay down in a short time. I will keep an eye on your updates. I like what you're doing, as I have similar investment objectives. Take care!

Pay off my rentals said...

Thanks, AAI!

The Blog is keeping me motivated. I find it helps to record the progress and it's motivating to go back and read some of the posts. There's a definite evolution involved in achieving the goal of FI as well as fine tuning one's investment objectives.

I am following your outstanding progress over there at the All about Interest Blog. I find it especially funny that we both invested $13k into our respective investment accounts last month. I just can't keep that frenetic pace going every month. Great job!

Martin @ hellosuckers.net said...

This is a great debt payment result. I think I am a bit behind with my debt elimination progress. I still haven't done the books for the second quarter yet, but have the feeling that I didn't progress. So good for you and congrats on your progress!

Pay off my rentals said...

Thanks, Martin!

I've found that I must budget that additional payoff funds or it won't happen. Paying off debt isn't quite as exciting as saving/investing, but it really is the same thing in reverse. It still benefits the net worth just the same.

I've been to your blog. In fact, it peaked my interest about Jesse Livermore, so I read up on his interesting and tragic life. Very interesting. Thanks for stopping by.

Anonymous said...

Love the approach towards paying off debt! I also don't like having so much debt on the books, but leverage is sort of the price you pay when first starting out.

I'm still in the accumulation phase, so will be adding more debt to help me acquire more assets. Once I get to around 7-10 properties, I will work diligently towards paying the debt down, one property at a time.

Keep up the great work!

Pay off my rentals said...

Thanks, FIFighter!

Yes, leverage is a necessary evil when starting. I certainly used it, but was very cautious in its use and thus avoided disaster during the housing crash even though I was sporting 6 mortgages during that time.

I could buy more houses and continued to use leverage, but now I'm more interested in living off the rental income together with dividend income and not sweating any mortgage debt.

Enjoy you site. I'll keep up with your progress. Take care!

Tiago said...

Every time one pays his debts he feels much more tranquil than before. It is an amazing feeling of self confidence and relive. My boss owns properties all over the world and once he had bought an buenos aires apartments through a mortgage. After the Argentinean big crisis of 2001 the rate changed enormously and he had to renegociate his debt because it could rocket. I always think that even here in US having a debt to a bank has many risks.

Unknown said...

This is impressive that you have been able to handle that much debt. You have shown a lot of dedication, budgeting, and will-power to do this. I'm looking at possibly buying rentals in Fort Mcmurray. I really like what you have done here. Maybe you can give some advice on which ones would be the best investment to a someone who just starting in this field. http://www.riverparkglen.ca/FortMcMurrayApartments.aspx

Pay off my rentals said...

Thanks, Sam.

Although I'm not qualified to comment on your specific market area, you'll find some pretty helpfull guidelines in my article here entitled "Rental Finances 101" http://payoffmyrentals.blogspot.com/2013/06/rental-finances-101.html

Otherwise, while I don't currently have any, I like the idea of Duplex, Triplex, or Quadplex as income properties. If you can live in one of the units, you get regular owner financing vs. the more expensive investor financing for anything up to and including 4 units. Again, you must live in one of them as your primary residence. I wish you the best in your future real estate investing endeavors!