Home Appraisal & refinance done.

[tagordon]

Gettin' close to done.
Funding will be next Thurs. House appraised for more than expected for a 105 yr old. Contructed in 1902 according to records. Mortgage lenders prior history of SubPrime lending has elevated (read inflated) property values.
Those I have asked @ work have had tax increases similarly. Any where from 50-80 per cent increases from a year ago.
Nice to see investment grow. Not nice to see all related costs dig into the actual finacial benefit. Those that were on the edge fiancially are in a panic to pay taxes this year. Our escrow account for taxes & insurance helps a lot. Insurance went down when we consolidated all policies with one company. The escrow will be refunded. New mortage company not offering or requiring this protection for the loan. Gotta look into alternative for escrow to insure we always have the taxes & insurance current.
Nuff said on that. Now I look for a winter bike. Really getting into to riding again after my hiatus. Have not driven since bike on road. Except to run for pizza & beer. Don't want pie/beer handling incident.

[Bob_Roller]

Good to hear you got through the re-finance process during this melt-down mess with the mortgage industry. My property tax assessment was just updated, and the assessed tax value went up 120%, I get my property tax bill in about 2-3 weeks, yeah I can't wait to see what it is now ! I guess I shouldn't complain, a home on the next block, same model as mine with similar upgrades just sold for 3 times what I paid for it 13 years ago. Down side, there are about 300 homes in my sub-division, and 86 are up for sale. I can only imagine that home values are going to tumble when the number of foreclosures reaches critical mass here in the Phoenix area. It's truly amazing how many people have been living way beyond their means, for the last 10-15 years, and now have no way to meet their debt obligations now.

[Ed Miller]

Just figure out what your taxes and insurance will cost, and put 1/12 of that in a savings account every month.  I'll soon be in that position, as my house will be paid for in 11 months.