What was your mortgage situation prior to starting with Replace Your Mortgage?
At age 57, we had our original 30-year mortgage, which started with $465,000 (May 2016). We had 28 years remaining at $461,000 when I took the deep dive into RYM.
I found RYM in October 2017 and finally signed up in December of 2017. Stood on the sidelines for another 5 months, talking at arms length with many of the listed bankers and working on improving my credit score and fact-checking the reality of the program.
What is the current status of your HELOC and how many months did it take you to achieve it?
In July of 2018, I was able to secure a $500,000 prime - .09% loan (My credit score came in at 840!), carrying an initial balance of $450,000 in the HELOC.
Was able to skip payments until September but just jumped in and have reduced the balance to $445,000.
Now that I see how it works, I'm dropping a couple of high-interest credit card balances into the HELOC. So my balance will increase, but ultimately this is so cool... I'm taking my original mortgage payment of $3,000, adding the other high-interest loan (credit cards and vehicle) payments of $2,000, and using that same amount as my new HELOC Payment of $5,000.
My interest-only payment is around $1,500 per month. With my bank’s app, I can see the impact of my payments on a daily basis.
What was your biggest concern when deciding to join RYM?
I wanted to vet out the entire program and spent a lot of time monitoring the Facebook posts. I consulted with several of the banks and, when balanced with the Facebook comments, it helped me decide the direction and who I wanted to sign up with.
How has using the RYM strategy changed your life?
Time will certainly tell. At my age, I'm hoping that during the next 10 years I can take advantage of the benefits of the HELOC.
Paying off our “forever” home, using it to set up life-changing events for my family (i.e., life insurance plans and home-based businesses) and knowing that I won't have a mortgage payment going into my retirement years... I sleep at night with confidence knowing that my future has a plan
What advice would you give to a homeowner considering trying the RYM strategy?
Find a banker, establish a relationship with them, ask the questions and know the answers you want to hear.
Spend the time to understand and know your credit score and get it as high as you possibly can. I took the time to get all of my credit card, car and typical home and utility payments on or near the same date. In my case I moved all of my payments to the first week of the month. In this way, I knew when my score would go up or down based upon my credit usage and payments.
I used this information to know when to apply for a loan at the best possible time. Even now, this helps me manage when to move money around from my HELOC to my checking account.
Also, establish and know your budget, monthly income and expenses and stay disciplined to the process.
