3 stories of mortgages who paid off debt or reached the home stretch

We found people who have paid off their mortgages or will soon do so, and asked them to share tips and impressions about life with a long-term loan. Their stories will make it clear that everything is not as scary as it is commonly believed, and will help to draw attention to non-obvious nuances.

"Although you share an apartment with a bank, you can still choose."

It sounds ridiculous, but it is so: my husband and I bought our odnushka in Saratov on a mortgage like a chocolate bar in a supermarket - according to the "12-12-12" promotion. The initial payment was 12%, the rate was 12%, the loan term was 12 years.

We took out the mortgage in October 2013. In fact, we bought a concrete box with an area of ​​37 square meters in a house under construction. The deadline was in a year and a half. Our fourth floor had already been erected by that time. The object was included in the database of reliable in the lists of our bank.

Friends will disperse, but you will remain with a mortgage

Before the mortgage, we rented several apartments. The rent was slightly lower than our monthly payment, but we were determined to get our own home. However, we did not have an initial payment. Therefore, we moved to my parents and began to save, part of the money we borrowed from relatives.

When the apartment was finished, we grabbed our heads. Money for repair (surprise!) we needed a lot, but we had (as expected!) few of them. We did a lot in the apartment ourselves. For example, in the room we have a stretch ceiling, because we are very, very bad plasterers. On the other hand, we decided to entrust the repair in the bathroom to professionals, but they turned out to be crooked. This is still the most terrible place in the apartment, now we are just saving up for a new finish.

We also brought in a cat, and it significantly reduced the lifespan of some things: wallpaper, sofa, stools. Of course, it's great that you can have a pet, because you live in your own apartment. But I hate re-wallpapering.

On the one hand, the mortgage is oppressive. You understand that you cannot quit your job and look for a job for a long time, you plan your vacations in advance so that the numbers converge. You count down the years, you grow old with this debt of hundreds of thousands of rubles. On the other hand, although you share an apartment with a bank, you can still choose the color of wallpaper, furniture, vote for the installation of an automatic watering system in the yard, and finally come up with a password for Wi-Fi.

But! Be prepared that your non-mortgage friends will disperse to more successful regions, and you will stay where with a mortgage were born and came in handy.

Tax deductions will help to cope with overpayment

The apartment at the time of purchase - under construction - cost 1.2 million rubles. We owed the bank a little over a million. Overpayment for 12 years - 900 thousand rubles.

We initially decided not to pursue early repayment and live relatively calmly, simply increasing the amount on the mortgage account in case of force majeure. It is easier for me when I know that we have money for 6-7 months of mortgage payments. Especially now, when it is generally not clear what will happen tomorrow with work, with the ruble, with the bank and with you. Although covid has shown that it is better to have more stock.

Psychologically, I was helped to cope with the huge overpayment by property tax deductions. For several years I received my 13% of the cost of the apartment - 156 thousand rubles. And you can also return part of the interest paid on the loan. Starting next year, it seems like it will be done automatically through the tax authorities. But I filled out my first declaration by hand. And then I got used to the website of the tax office, and now I even advise colleagues and acquaintances on deductions.

Don't regret missed opportunities

We have exactly four years left until the mortgage is paid off. We will be the proud owners of a one-room apartment in Saratov. And if a miracle does not happen, by the time the apartment becomes completely ours, I will be 36 years old, my husband - 38.

After eight years of the mortgage, I can share such advice.

1. If you are determined to settle for somewhere for 12–20 years, then take a bigger apartment right away. Because you still have to decide on a second mortgage, and living in a one-room apartment together (including a cat - three together) is sometimes difficult. Optimally - how many people are planned for living, so many rooms. The pet will cost a loggia.
2. A mortgage agreement usually provides for borrower's life insurance and the property. Different insurers have different prices for this service, so look for an option with more adequate prices. At first I did not do this, but then I corrected myself, and it became easier.
3. Don't hire assholes to make you a bathroom. And in general, it is better to hire a team with a project, a contract and obligations prescribed between the parties. Not like us!
4. Don't regret missed opportunities. It only makes it worse. After we took out a mortgage, the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation began to fall. And I saw offers for mortgages at 6% per annum and even at 5%. And we have 12%! All calculations on refinancing showed that we would not win much, so we did not go for it. Although I wrote a letter to the bank with a legitimate question if they wanted to lower the rate, and they lowered it - to 11.9% (thanks, dear!).
5. Save up money. The bigger, the better!

"I always want to live in my own home"

I do not have the most banal history of mortgages: two were in the past, now they have taken a third.

It all started a long time ago, in 2016. We got the first mortgage in Kaliningrad at about 12% per annum. At that time it was a preferential offer for young families. And we were very happy: only 12%, how cool!

We already had a one-room apartment, but if we bought a two-room apartment, we expanded the living space. But the one-room apartment was not sold, but rented out. Rent money accounted for most of the monthly payment. At the same time, we did not have the opportunity to give the loan ahead of schedule. We just made a monthly payment for two or three years. At that time I was on nursing leave for the second child, and the money from the rent made you feel safe.

Then we decided to move to Krasnodar. They sold a one-room apartment and with this money paid off the remainder of the debt for a two-room apartment in Kaliningrad. We still have this apartment, because we also used maternity capital for the payment, but more on that later. In Krasnodar, they again took out a mortgage, because I always want to live in my own home. This was already a magical 9% - also under a preferential program.

Then life turned around so that we moved to St. Petersburg. Of course, I wanted to buy an apartment again, and we got a mortgage. This time under 3.1%. I think we are wildly lucky with the percentage.

Maternity capital requires caution

It is better not to spend Matkapital on real estate, if you are not going to spend the next 18 years in this housing.

Now we have a two-room apartment in Kaliningrad, which we essentially cannot dispose of. If you use mother capital to pay off the mortgage, in this apartment, children must be sure to allocate shares. Then home sales turn into a complex adventure.

The transaction must be approved by the guardianship. For this to happen, the children must first allocate shares in the new real estate. At the same time, they should be at least equal in area and cost, but not mortgage, since, from the point of view of the law, this worsens the property rights of children. All this is so dreary that it is easier to wait for them to come of age and then sell the apartment than to go through all the circles of bureaucratic hell.

Low interest is worth fighting for

We partially repaid the second mortgage ahead of schedule - periodically we made additional payments. But since it was a mortgage at 9% for 30 years, the principal debt decreased very slowly, we practically did not feel the difference. You just throw money into a bottomless barrel, but nothing happens.

Now we have borrowed a huge amount for a huge period. But since this is only 3.1%, with each payment I see how the principal debt decreases, and this makes me very happy.

The interest rate is very important. This is the more noticeable, the longer the term of the mortgage. Therefore, it is worth, if possible, to do everything so that the percentage is as low as possible. For example, compare offers from different banks and see what promotions developers are offering.

"I thought with horror what would happen if instead of a mortgage they decided to save up"

In 2018, my husband and I bought a baby flat in St. Petersburg. We lacked 1.4 million rubles to the full amount - we borrowed them from the bank. We have issued a mortgage for 8 years at 10% per annum with a monthly payment of 21,243 rubles. The percentage could be lower, but the bank manager did not take into account all the documents on time. And then the deal was announced, and I didn't want to fight because of 0.5%. Moreover, we originally planned to pay off the mortgage faster than the schedule, so we didn't have to lose much on this.

Looking ahead, I will say that we repaid the loan in a year and four months. There was no magic, we just denied ourselves almost everything, and also actively worked to increase income. Our total earnings during the mortgage period almost doubled, which made it possible to exceed all expectations in terms of loan repayment. More about this I already told on Lifehacker, it makes no sense to repeat myself. But until now, I agree with everything that is said in the article.

Two years have passed since the last payment on that mortgage. We have more or less recovered from the stress of her, and recently bought a new apartment - also with a small mortgage loan in the form of a supplement. And they also made additional conclusions about loans from the bank.

Mortgages may not be punishment, but luck

Looking back from 2021, I understand how lucky we are that we decided on a mortgage. She has a rather bad reputation, so inside one way or another she itches: "Maybe it's better to save up." But already in 2019, it was clear: we would never have been able to save money at the same pace as repaying debt. You have to pay for a rented apartment. And the motivation is not at all the same. So it is unlikely that we would have squeezed so much in spending and tried to earn more.

In 2020-2021, I thought with horror what would happen if instead of a mortgage they started hoard. The real estate market has recently been undergoing a bacchanalia, prices are growing chaotically. For example, our apartment has risen in price by 42% compared to the purchase price. There is no typo, it is almost 1.5 times. Plus, for the time without a mortgage, we set aside a certain amount. Perhaps someone knows how to invest money for three years in order to get a total return of 60%. I - no, for me this step was justified.

Naturally, the situation played into the hands. In times of peace, the numbers would be different. But we do not have times of peace so often.

Mortgage "steps" - what you need

We all deal with installations that appear we have from experience, from parents, society. I suddenly found myself like this: an apartment is bought for life. Which, of course, in the modern world does not correspond well to reality. It is normal to change housing and move.

From the point of view of mortgages, it is also beneficial not to immediately take out a huge loan for a dream apartment of 150 meters, but to climb steps to it. That is, you buy a smaller apartment and take out a small loan. You pay it off quickly, you get some rest. You go to the next stage.

This approach helps to divide a long distance into several smaller ones. They can be run at a moderate pace or develop sprint speed - at your choice. In any case, a 5-year loan is not as tragic as a 30-year loan. And life during this time will not change as dramatically as in a third of a century.

And the overpayment on a short distance will be less - pure mathematics. Mortgage payments are now mostly annuity, that is, the same throughout the entire period. But their structure is different. First, the majority of the payment is interest, the smaller part is the main debt. Then the first share decreases, the second increases. The longer the term, the later you will move on to paying off the principal.

But the rung strategy only works if you can afford to pay off your mortgage in a few years. If for you this is definitely a marathon, and not a sprint, it is better to choose an apartment where you will be comfortable living for many years, no matter what changes in your family.

Taking a mortgage as a pair - check the status of the relationship

Here I have no tragic personal experience to tell by my own example why this is necessary. But for this there are other people's stories. For example, it is always sad to see ads for the sale of an apartment with an outstanding mortgage with a description that unequivocally hints at parting. But it’s even worse to learn about people who live together, hating each other, but don’t leave, because the loan will be paid for another 20 years.

This is not only useful in mortgage matters: it is very important and pleasant to know that you are one team with the person with whom you are getting involved in something long-term. You both really have no doubts and have a desire to go through everything together, to support each other. Naturally, over the years, everything can change a hundred times. But if it's already at the start relationship is not ok, then everything will get worse. Mortgages are stressful anyway.

It is clear that no one will issue a certificate stating that your partner respects you, loves you and really intends to be with you in grief and joy. But first, you can ask yourself: are you yourself ready for this?

If you also paid the mortgage or are close to it, share your findings and impressions in the comments. If not, share too!