[klyrs]

No need to imagine; I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life renting illegal moldy basement apartments until about 4 years ago.

[klipklop]

Congrats for getting out of that trap. Now for the next one. Pay off the mortgage. In my opinion you are not "free" until some bank or landlord cant take your housing away from you.

[sokoloff]

Property tax is forever. Your city/county will still take your paid-off house if you don’t pay property taxes for long enough.

[klyrs]

Indeed. Those "near-zero" interest rates you mentioned? They don't last. We could only lock in a 5-year rate -- the rates that come after that loom large in our awareness.