Originally Posted by
SteveinMN
For us, the real estate just "is". When I bought this house, I spent far less than the lender would give me; I just didn't feel I needed to spend that much money on a house (especially when I didn't know how long I'd have it). My rental property was the same way. And I would not have bought it if I didn't know I'd have a sure rental for at least a few years.
Our financial advisor counts the equity we have in both houses as part of our portfolio, as he counts the guesstimate value of DW's and my pensions. It was nice to hear that number but I'm not sure it means much on a daily basis. From our perspective, the mortgages are just bills to pay until they're gone. We were paying additional against principal for a while but diverted that to investments with a better return.
I'm not looking for additional real estate; DW and I are talking about possibly downsizing in a different city as this one is starting to display a fair amount of stupidity in how they want to spend money. But that would be a wash financially and the equity in the rental could be applied to that to finish it off (or get it close). For whatever reasons, I'm not hung up on paying off the house before retirement. Our income should be enough to cover what's left of the mortgage; we don't have to pay that forever.