All Forum Posts by: Hunter Jordan

I’m trying to decide if refinancing my mortgage makes sense, and I’d love some input. Here’s my situation:

Current Loan: 20-year mortgage (started Dec 2023)     

-Balance: $199K     

-Rate: 5.00%

-Monthly Payment: $1,372

-Time Left: 18.5 years

Property: Duplex (I live in one unit, rent out the other for $1,250/month)

I have two refinance options:

20-Year Refinance (6.125% rate)

-New balance: $173K

-Monthly payment: $1,252

-I’d gain ~$26K in immediate home equity

-Planning to still pay $1,372/month to pay it off faster (estimated payoff in 17-18 years)

15-Year Refinance (5.75% rate)

-New balance: $173.5K

-Monthly payment: $1,441

-I’d gain ~$25.5K in immediate home equity

-Higher payment but saves on interest

I also have to come out of pocket $3K for closing for both refinance deals.

Would it make sense to refinance, or should I just stick with my current mortgage? Since I rent out one side for $1,250/month, my out-of-pocket housing cost is pretty low. The 15-year option saves more on interest but increases my payment. The 20-year refi gives me more flexibility, and if I pay extra, I can shorten the term.

What would you do?

The lease also states security deposit will be returned if the full term of the lease has expired. 

The lease clearly states "tenants shall not terminate lease early". Wouldn't this mean that they are on the the hook until the end of the lease period?

My tenant wants to terminate their lease early. The lease ends 09/30/2024.  They gave me a notice 05/15/2024 & are wanting to move out 07/31/2024. This is more than a 60 day notice. The lease states "Tenant shall not have the right to terminate this lease early". My question is can I legally keep their security deposit? I planned to tell them that "I will waive the final 2 months of the lease but unfortunately I will have to keep your security deposit". Is this legal in the state of Georgia? We plan to move into this unit, so finding a new tenant is off the table.

Original tenant did not sign a lease termination. New tenant did. The lease does not state that it is active when a deposit is made.

Lease states no early termination for tenant. I guess I'm asking if the original tenant is still liable for the rent since the new tenant will not be moving in and their lease has been canceled. 

The security deposit i still have is from the original tenant, not the new tenant. I haven't collected anything from the new tenant and their lease has been terminated. We never signed a termination agreement with the original tenant. 

I currently still have her security deposit. It is 2 months of rent. I planned on returning it the 1st of Feb.,  before I found out about the death.

So I have a tenant who has moved out before her lease has ended. She moved out in the middle of January 2024 and has an active lease until May 31st 2024. I took on the efforts of finding a new tenant to get her out of her lease. Well new tenant was found and signed a new lease for the property. Their lease starts Feb. 1st. The issue is that this tenant has unfortunately died and the wife no longer wants to move into the property. I had her sign a early termination agreement. So I'm wondering if the original tenant who moved out in January is still liable for paying rent until the end of her lease since the new tenant will not be moving in? The lease does not allow early termination by tenant. I found a tenant on "good faith".