Personally I can't justify financing something that I worked so hard to pay off. There are pro's and con's to everyone's personal situations and needs. I paid my house off in 1998, just 8 years after we moved in and retired the same year from my 8-5 job. Having no mortgage has afforded us a lifestyle that we would have never had with a 30 year mortgage. Health issues are starting to affect both of us and may make future decisions harder, but when we built this house it answered our dreams. I was fortunate to have a full time job and 2 buissinses for income that allowed me to pay a 10 year mortgage off in 8 years.
On the other side of the coin, I have one stepson that is the only one with any right to inherit any of what we have acquired, and I'm afraid he doesn't have a good enough job to even pay taxes on this place and eat too. So thinking about it this way, why not get a reverse mortgage for all we can get, and when we pass, they own the place. My understanding is that you don't have to make regular payments and that it comes due when you pass or leave the home. So which direction?
The subject has been brought up here, so I'm anxious to hear other opinions. Maybe there's a better way that I'm unaware of.