[akcreek]

>On the flip side though, after my 15 year mortgage is up I'm not going to pay another dime outside of maintenance on this thing.

You'll have property taxes as well, which could be meaningful depending where you live. I was talking to one of my neighbors the other day who has lived in his home here in Seattle for over 40 years and he told me he is taking out a equity line of credit against his fully owned home to pay the property taxes as they've increased beyond what his retirement income can cover.

Once the home gets older you get into more than just maintenance as well; you get into replacement. Replacing the appliances, roof, windows, mechanicals, etc can be lead to some very serious expenses. The same neighbor needs to replace his roof, which he also can't afford until he gets the credit line.

[nightski]

You are absolutely correct. However, there are better ways to handle a roof replacement than incurring the $10k+ cost in one year. It's a foregone conclusion that you will need a new roof, just a matter of when. Best to start saving right away every month and include that in your overall cost calculation. It's much easier to pay for a roof over 25 years instead of all at once. Plus then you can use interest to your advantage.