The point of a mortgage is to be able to live in a house before you can afford to pay for all of it. There's no reason why you have to pay off a mortgage. You

The point of a mortgage is to be able to live in a house before you can afford to pay for all of it. There's no reason why you have to pay off a mortgage. You can sell the house and recoup your partial equity in the property. e.g., you can start with a 30 year mortgage, sell it at 10 years for an equivalent property with a 20 year mortgage, do it again in 10 years for a 10 year mortgage, and end up fully owning a house even if it's not the one you started with. Or renting for the remainder of your life with your accumulated equity and savings.