Mortgage vs. paying off a property

[Stefanie Jensen]

Someone recently posted about paying off your properties versus holding a mortgage and leveraging. I know that a lot of money could be made long-term through leveraging. I choose not to do it because my business model does not require it. I want to own and manage 4 or 5 rentals that I own free a clear. I know money is cheap right now, but it’s not free. Not many people look at the numbers.

Say you buy a home for $250,000. You make a down payment of 20 percent of the price -- $50,000 -- and you finance the remaining $200,000 over 30 years. If the interest rate on your mortgage is 4 percent, you'll pay a total of $143,739 in interest over those 30 years. I want that mortgage interest in my pocket. I know there are a ton of models where I own hundreds of properties and I make it all back, but I don’t care, I can’t get over it.

[Ben Zimmerman]

Originally posted by @Stefanie Jensen:

I know there are a ton of models where I own hundreds of properties and I make it all back, but I don’t care, I can’t get over it.

 Sounds like you have already made up your mind so I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of the post was other than stating your beliefs.  Did you have a question in there somewhere?  

Financially speaking not paying 4% interest is the same as earning 4% interest.  If you are cool with your investments generating a 4% return then go right ahead and do your thing, nobody is stopping you.