A 30-Year Trap: The Problem With America’s Weird Mortgages

StrawberryPigtails@lemmy.sdf.org to News@lemmy.world – 144 points –
A 30-Year Trap: The Problem With America’s Weird Mortgages
nytimes.com
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It just feels like a huge gamble. I went the tracker route between 2012 and 2018 only because I didn't want the overpayment restrictions imposed by fixed deals.

Luckily it worked out, had I gone for a fixed rate I'd still be slowly paying it off, at a higher rate.

For every person who did well, there's someone else who didn't, mostly through unlucky timing.

How much did you want to overpay? Pretty sure we're allowed to do something like 10% of remaining balance per year. Which, so far at least has been fine.

And yes, this is generally how the banks work the risks I suspect. They will lose out on some deals, but gain hugely from others. For us, after 10 years of fixed payments there won't be much left (even less if kitchen appliances stop failing and giving us ways to not put money onto the mortgage)

I wanted to pay it down while the rates were low, 10% would've started off ok, but obviously the lower it got, the less that was. Makes sense from the bank's pov, seems a fair trade-off for a fix.