My First Mortgage

Published: August 15, 2007, 9:58 am

I and my wife bought our first home in 1994. We chose an area on the western outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. We wanted to be away from the congestion of the city, yet be close enough for convenient shopping. It was a 4-bedroom, 3-bath home that we shared with our two sons and her parents-in-law. When I applied for financing, I went with a 7 percent variable rate mortgage instead of an 8.5 percent fixed-rate mortgage. I knew I could refinance later if the market conditions favored the fixed-rate mortgages, and I did. I locked in a 7 percent fixed-rate mortgage a few years after moving in. Although our house was priced at $89,000 when we bought it, taxes and fees pushed it well above $100,000. It wasn't until 2001 or 2002 (I don't remember) to see that we finally owed less than the original $89,000. Such is the nature of amortized financing. The real estate market didn't favor us selling to relocate anywhere during the first 10 years we owned the house. It was something

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