Do 40-Year Mortgages Ever Make Sense?


Renting vs. buying a home, forty-year mortgages, HELOCs, and relationships vs. real estate. There’s something for everyone on this episode of Seeing Greene, as David tackles questions that go far beyond just basic investing. And as the housing market continues to get even more confusing, homebuyers, landlords, and sellers are stuck with some serious debates that only an expert agent, mortgage broker, and investor like David can answer!

When choosing to rent vs. buy a home, David uses some geographic-specific data to decide which markets make more sense to own. Then, we have a question on how an interest-only mortgage works, and whether not paying into principal is a waste of time or a better option for cash-flow-strapped landlords. If you’re thinking of buying a property in all cash, David has some advice as to why now may not be the time to use loan-free dollars to get a better deal. Finally, David takes a more personal question from a listener, asking when to put real estate over relationships and why dating feels like a “waste of time” when trying to build wealth.

Want to ask David a question? If so, submit your question here so David can answer it on the next episode of Seeing Greene. Hop on the BiggerPockets forums and ask other investors their take, or follow David on Instagram to see when he’s going live so you can hop on a live Q&A and get your question answered on the spot!

David:
This is the BiggerPockets Podcast Show 702.
I’m not against using 40-year loans and I’m not against interest-only periods. There is a danger to 40-year loans, and the last time we saw them was 2005, ‘6 when the market was red hot.
The reason that they introduced 40-year loans into the market was because you couldn’t afford the house at the price the seller wanted on a 30-year loan, which meant you couldn’t afford the house. So by making it a 40-year loan, they could reduce your payments to the point that you could now get pre-approved. That is dangerous because…