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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2016)
22W // Real Estate & Home Builders Guide // June 2016 I’ve paid off my mortgage. Now what? By Ilyce Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin Tribune Content Agency Q : I paid off my mortgage and would like to know what actions I should take now. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this very important matter. : First, congratulations on paying off your mortgage. Paying off any debt is worthy of a celebration. Paying off a mortgage, especially if you’ve owned the home for a substantial period of time, say 15 or 30 years, is even more remarkable. There isn’t much for you to do now, other than make sure you continue to pay your property taxes and ensure that the lender has removed the lien it placed against your home when you got your loan. First, if your real estate property taxes were paid as part of the loan with a real estate tax escrow, you’ll need to make sure A you start receiving the property tax bill directly. Since you won’t be making monthly payments, the lender will no longer be paying that bill on your behalf. The good news is that the lender likely kept extra funds above and beyond what you actually owed in taxes. And someday (a couple of weeks after your inal payment), you should get that reserve back in the form of a check from your lender. Make a note in your calendar to contact the lender if you haven’t received these funds four weeks after the payoff of the loan. The bad news is that now you’ll need to set aside enough cash for your property tax payment and homeowners insur- ance policy (if the lender was paying that premium as well). Since it can be dificult for most people to come up with a lump sum twice a year, we suggest you open up a bank account and deposit the same amount as your mortgage each month until you have enough to pay your property taxes and homeowners insurance premium. (You might want to shop around with a few lenders to see if you can reduce your property insurance premiums, if you haven’t done it in a few years.) Once your lender receives the inal payoff amount from you, the loan is paid off in full. Lenders then need to prepare a release deed or release of lien to clear the title to the property. The release, once recorded, gives notice to the world that you have paid off the loan and that the lien the lender attached to the property when you got your mortgage is no longer valid. You should also receive back from the lender the canceled original note and the canceled original mortgage that you signed when you took out the Hermiston sears HOMETOWN STORE loan. Make sure you keep good records so that you later don’t get someone claiming that you didn’t pay the loan off in full or they claim you owe them money on that same loan you paid off. Be aware that lenders often don’t send out release deeds or release of lien letters, as we think they should. But you can call your lender and request that the company prepare and send out the release for recording. The document must be recorded at your local recorder of deeds ofice, or at another ofice charged with recording deeds in the county in which the property is located. When you call the lender, ask for the department that handles the release of liens and then ask how long it will take for the lender to get the documents sent. You may have to keep checking with your local recorder of deeds to ensure that the release of lien gets iled. You might be able to do this online, as many recorder of deeds ofices have put these public records online. One inal note: Make sure to call your homeowners insurance carrier and tell them that you paid off the loan and that the lender no longer needs to be added as the lender on your homeowners insurance policy. Again, the hard part is over. You’ve made your payments and the house is now yours, free and clear. And that, friend, is worthy of a celebration. (Ilyce Glink is the creator of an 18-part webinar+ebook series called “The Intentional Investor: How to be wildly successful in real estate,” as well as the author of many books on real estate. She also hosts the “Real Estate Minute,” on her YouTube channel. Samuel J. Tamkin is a Chica- go-based real estate attorney. Contact Ilyce and Sam through her website, ThinkGlink.com.) HERMISTON REALTY 888-319-2121 or 541-567-2121 2372 N. 1st (Hwy 395) Hermiston, OR 97838 WWW.HERMISTONREALTYNOW.COM TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! Both lot are buildable but think about how incredible it would be to have a custom built home. It would afford you some privacy and you would have fantastic views of Umatilla and the Columbia River. Call DONN today 541-571-2121. $35,000 RMLS#16046316. LOWEST BULK PRICE ON 10 ITEMS OR MORE GUARANTEED! If you fi nd a lower price on an item currently available for sale at another local competitor (includ- ing if it's advertisded online and honored at another local com- petitor's store), we will match that price for up to 14 days after your purchase. We'll even match our own advertised prices for up to 14 days after your purchase. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. 13.25 acres with great exposure to I -84 west bound traffic located on east side of freeway and south of exit 302. I deal for truck stop, convenient store, fast food, motel, strip mall. T wo tax lots ready for your development. $1,100,000 . CALL DONN 541-571- 2121. RMLS# 15501890 IF YOU DON'T NEED 10 ITEMS, THEN CHECK OUT OUR WEEKLY SPECIALS! RMISTON HERMISTON SEARS HOMETOWN STORE Locally owned & operated for 22 years. 80487 North Hwy. 395 Hermiston, OR 97838 541-567-2454 GRAB THE END OF ROOSEVELTS BLUFF!! Always Columbia “Big Sky” outlook. 9.54 acres on South Hill priced to sell. This property is for everyone, but Umatilla Investors ought to seriously consider this. We all appreciate our location for the river view and moving sky. Provide inventory o f easy living homes. Great sight for an eccentric home if you want to own it all. Call KIM 541-561- 8780 today and make offer!! $150,000 . RMLS#16473491 LOOKING FOR A GREAT HOMESITE WITH WATER RIGHTS and also private. U matilla school district and H ermiston address. L ook no further for a home site and irrigated land. 6 acres of water rights from HID . S eller would consider a short term contract with $25,000 down...get the property and then build your home or pick out a beautiful manufactured home... $147,500. C all DONN 641- 571-2121. RMLS # 15050659 ENTRANCE FROM PUNKIN CENTER AND HWY 395 . Cyclone fence on south property line adjacent to United Rental and Directly east of Hermiston Realty. No improvements. $128,990 RMLS# 13139824 Call DONN 541-571-2121 UNIQUE BUILDABLE ACRE located in the N orth H ill T errace off of J oy L ane . E nvision a home with landscaping a waterfall into a natural basalt formation in your back yard. O ne of a kind buildable lot and manufacture is okay . $33,000 . C all DONN 541-571-2121. RMLS# 14060731 RECENTLY REZONED TO COMMERCIAL ... almost half acre with great HWY 395 frontage...triangular lot . REDUCED PRICE! $39,500 , C all DONN 541-571-2121. RMLS# 15682749
