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> Option #1 above -- monthly payment of 536.82 > Option #2 above -- monthly payment of 454.14 It's frightening to me how people would be willing to pay that mu

• leetcrew 4y ago
  it's probably a bad idea for most people, but not for the reason you gave. one way of looking at very long term mortgages is that they are a bet on how long you will actually own the property. keep in mind that, historically, the value of a nominal dollar has halved every ~20 years. if that trend continues, the monthly payment by the end of the mortgage period will be less than a quarter of the initial real value. whether you're a "loser" for paying all that extra interest depends on what happens to the value of the house, what you did with the extra $80/month, etc. it's not inconceivable that a person/family who holds the property for a full 50 years would be better off than if they had structured it as a 30 or 15 year mortgage. the bigger risk is what happens if you don't end up holding onto the property for a full 50 years. it will take a longer time to start building equity vs a 30 year mortgage, and the upfront interest payments are already (imo) a significant problem with 30 year mortgages. it's hard to know for sure you will live in a place long enough to break even on these types of mortgages.