This has come up at work for some marketing and now I'm curious too so I thought this was a good forum to try to gain an understanding. What do you mean when you say "I or we own our home/house" or "I am a homeowner"? Do you only say it once your mortgage has been paid off or when you have a substantial amount of equity in the house? Do you say it for logistics reasons bc technically you're not renting but actually you don't feel like you own the house if the bank has a big mortgage on it? Or are you kind of oblivious to the mortgage if you have one and feel like you do own the house? Finally, which is or do you think will be more satisfying - paying off the mortgage or having the downpayment and closing on the house? Or maybe both equally? Thanks!
Thanks - I think a lot of the sense of ownership comes from responsibility for repairs and maintenance as well as the ability to make any changes you want etc. That is quite different than renting. I disagree a bit with one poster though that the bank never owns the house. If you default, they do own it. What they decide to then do with it is one thing but they do take title so I'd consider the bank owner. Mostly what I was getting at though was emotional vs legal as I know people are on the title. And it seems like emotionally people feel they really do own the house versus in a way renting it from the bank until the mortgage is paid off.
I think whether you outright own a home or are paying on a home, you own it. I mean its not like you can just walk away from a home without huge repercussions if you have a mortgage on a home.
Doesn't matter if the bank holds a note on the property, you are the legal owner. It cannot be taken from you without due process. That's enough for me.
We jokingly refer to the square footage we own at any given point b/c technically the banks owns the bulk of the house. I think at this point we own the two bathrooms and one of the bedrooms!
I'm definitely not oblivious to that check I write monthly. I don't think people refer to themselves as "homeowners" for any reason other than they don't rent and it's faster than saying "long-term home purchaser"!
I believe it's common to say you own home, even if the bank technically owns it.
I have often said, to be funny, that the bank owns our home. People know what I mean.
Whether the home is paid in full, or you have a 10, 20, 30 year mortgage, a mortgage indicates that one actually bought the home and went through the rigorous banking and loan qualifications. Renting will never imply that. Renting will never imply the responsibilities associated with actually owning the home and property. Renters do not do manage home improvement and maintenance issues.
If you pay a mortgage vs rent - you "OWN"...
Ummm I own the home, whether there is a mortgage outstanding or not....the bank isn't going to come in and replace my appliances when they die, or fix the roof when it leaks or any other myriad of things. I don't go based on equity (though we put down a sizeable downpayment and have made major dents in the mortgage) -- I think I owned it from the second the t's were crossed and i's were dotted.
I think paying off the mortgage would be more satisfying -- less money expended every month :( Hate that big ole payment!
I consider myself and my husband to be homeowners.
We have a mortgage, but it is our home. We've done extensive renovations ($100,000 worth), lived here for 6 years and brought all 3 of our daughters home from the hospital. If we want to sell it, we can; if we want to change anything about it, we can.
And I think it will be mighty satisfying to pay off our mortgage - if for no other reason than to free-up that 'extra' income :o)
If you have a mortgage.. then I beleive it is considered that you "own" even though technically the bank does until your mortgage is paid off.
.
If someone has a mortgage on a home and is not renting, regardless of equity, I'd call them a "homeowner". If someone is paid off, that's definitely a "homeowner". I think it's like having a loan on a car and saying it's "yours". It is - you use it, you maintain it. You are paying a bank for it, but you are otherwise responsible for it. We are not renting, so we are homeowners. IMO.
you own the home if you have a morgage. my hubby and I dont have a morgage so we always have to specify we own our house free and clear
I own the home because I am paying for it. The bank has interest in it because they hold a substantial amount of the amount owed on it. If I decide not to pay them, it doesn't mean they own it, they are going to get it off their books, because all they need is the money I borrowed to pay for it. When I am done paying for it, they have no more interest. If I had all the money up front and paid for it cash, it would be mine, but since most of us don't, we share the burden of the cost with the bank. Just my view!
As soon as my husband and I signed the papers we owned our own home! It's no different then when we bought our car. As soon as we signed the papers it was ours! Sure we had payments on it, but we owned it! It was an exciting time in our lives but with that excitement came a lot of responsibility. For all repairs. For maintenance. For upkeep. Etc! But it was ours, and we could do pretty much what we wanted with it and to it. And we didn't have to ask a landlord if it was okay to do the things we wanted to do first. If I wanted to paint the bedroom purple with green stripes, I could. (Which one of my daughters wanted to do! We did compromise and let her have the purple walls but not the green stripes)
Paying off the mortgage is fantastic! We paid ours off 3 years ago and it actually brought me to tears! Over the 30 years it took to pay it off there had been a few times when finances were rough and we were afraid we might lose it. But that was over! The last payment was paid! We got the final papers in the mail to prove it. The mortgage was paid! It was like a big weight was lifted off our shoulders! Sure we still had all the responsibilities but it didn't matter, it was paid for! We really did own our own home! And yes, one of the bedroom is still purple! LOL
Technically you don't have full home ownership until you've paid off your morgage. The bank/lendor actually owns your home so if you don't pay it off, they have the right to sell it. The bank cannot tell you what you can or cannot do with your house as long as you are paying them. It's kind of like renting with the option to buy, except that you are paying interest and the bank can't kick you out unless you don't pay them. Depending on the context you can say you're a home owner if it's in casual conversation or you are highering a contractor. Which is better to pay it off or have a big down payment? That's an easy answer. People who have the money to do so, pay it off ASAP. If they have the money to pay cash for a house, they will do so. Even my lawyer and my accounting teacher pay cash for their houses. Why? You will never get enough tax cuts to recoup the interest on the house that you pay when paying a morgage, so you actually get ripped off. You wind up paying more money for the house through morgaging, than what the house is actually worth. Also remember when buying a house, you should NEVER pay the asking price. They always set it higher than what they will accept. You pay the asking price, then you've missed a bargain. Always offer at least 10% less for the house. Find something wrong with it if you have to. Remember if they don't accept your first offer, you can counter offer.
Owning Outright means that your mortgage has been paid off. The MOMENT you sign and get the keys you're a homeowner, because YOU have paid the seller 100% for the house (whether you take out a loan to do so or not). It's your legal property and you are 100% responsible for it.
The bank NEVER owns my home. I took out a substantial loan from them, and I used that money to buy a house. They can't even take my house... what they do is to call in MONEY. It's only if I default on my loan that they call in my collateral. Say I have a diamond the size of new hampshire... I sell that and give them the money. The bank holds my LOAN, not the house. It's just that the house tends to be the biggest asset that a person has to trade for the loan and is used as collateral for the loan. ((Same token, I can take out a collateral based loan on ANYTHING. I can put ANY piece of property I OWN down as collateral on a loan.)) Or I can use a line of credit. My mum has a several hundred thousand dollar credit limit. If she chose, she could easily buy a house on a credit card. And in fact, there are times when credit cards have lower interest rate. The problem exists in that credit card companies can change their APR without notice, banks are under restrictions about changing the APR.
We are currently renting and paying much for this home. We sold our home a few years ago and felt renting was best due to my husband's job was talking about relocating us to Germany in a year. Now his job has given him his own department and agreed to stay in the U.S. for the next few years so now we are looking for another house to buy. We look forward to having our own mortgage again so that the house will be ours. We look forward to doing things how we want in the home from remodeling to repairs. Its nothing like paying on a mortgage for something you own to do what you want to be happy than live under the rules of a realtor for a property you are only leasing.
Well, when you buy a car and make payments, you still consider it "your car" right? I think when someone is purchasing rather than renting, it's "home ownership"!
If you have a mortgage on a home you "own" the home. You cannot just walk away from it. It is yours and you have the responsibility. If you have paid off your mortgage we just say it's "paid off". Paying off a mortgage would be an extremely satisfying thing I think!!! One day!
I am paying for it or have paid for it and the title is in my name(with or without leans).
I consider myself any my husband to be home owners even though right now we don't own a single penny of our home (our principal balance is more than the house is worth). I also would consider us "owning" our cars even though one of them is not paid off.
My husband and I 'owe' the mortgage on the house so we own the house. We are the ones who take the potential risks associated with 'owning' a home (insurance, upkeep, etc....) and we have the most to lose if everything falls apart. So though I get where you are coming from (the bank really owns the house, I get to say I do because utiimately (as long as we can work and pay for it) it will become ours.
I will imagine that paying off the mortgage will be more satisfying. Paying a downpayment and closing is just the beginning of the commitment; seeing it through, is the pay off.
Interestingly enough, I am more excited about paying off our first home which is a rental now because then I get the rental income. Now that will be satisfying!
I feel that we own our house because we are paying a morgage not rent. I agree with the feeling being derived from all the responsibilities of home ownership vs renting. Our morgage is about 75% paid off, but I felt this way from the beginning. I guess I am sort of oblivious to the morgage since it's automatically deducted from our acct. I would day paying off will be more satisfying!
