It is great to live in a country like the United States, where you have a lot of different locations to choose from when you want to relocate. You can get a totally different change of atmosphere just by moving from an eastern city like New York to a piece of St. Louis MO real estate. You get to embrace the atmosphere of the west in a big way, and you can send your friends and relatives back east tokens of your new life using services such as cheap postcard printing. First, though, you have to be able to get from where you are now to there. A good way to do that is through a sound financial plan.
Any financial plan will begin with your current job, although as any investment expert can tell you, no one ever got rich working for someone else. However, that is the way for most of us, so you need to be able to make the most with what you have. If you already own real estate, so much the better as it will give you some capital when you make your move.
In order to maximize on your real estate investment, though, you have to make sure you reduce the penalties you may pay on your mortgage as much as possible. Commercial mortgage lenders look at these loans like platinum bullion; they bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. As such, they are reluctant to part with any mortgage and to discourage early payment they penalize borrowers who pay off the mortgage before the end of the loan term. Even if you sell your house, you will pay these penalties.
The first step in a good financial plan for a home owner, then, is making your move to St. Louis when your current mortgage loan is up. You will likely get a few dirty looks from the lender's agent, and don't expect them to send you a Christmas gift like a New York spa package anytime in the future, but you will save a lot of money.
You should also keep this penalization concept in mind as you search for new property in St. Louis. Try to find a mortgage company which charges a very low early payment amount, just in case you decide you want to sell again in the next five years. That way, you won't find yourself dipping into your actively managed ETFs in order to finance the sale.
If you have time, make sure to save up for a down payment on a new home. This money can really save you a lot when it comes to interest payments on your mortgage loan, so include savings toward it in your financial plan.
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