New Homeowner -- Please Help.

Hi girls. Its me again. I have another question for you fellow homeowners out there.

Do you have your mortgage company pay your taxes or do you pay them separately when they are due? Can anyone please give me the pro's and con's of both ways. I have to make a decision soon, so any advice would be so appreciated. I had planned on having the mortgage co. pay them, then someone brought to my attention if we pay them on our own, the bank won't require the 6 mos. in escrow at the closing (so that would greatly reduce our closing costs) and the other thing is I am gaining interest on that money not the bank.On the ohter hand, will I remember to pay them every 6 mos.? Please help me, Thanks!

Denise

Like you said there are pros and cons....for our first year we let the bank pay them but then realized (duuuh ) that we could be earning interest on this money rather than the bank earning it! So we continue to make the full mortgage payment plus taxes and just transfer the tax money into a savings account.

Believe me, you wont forget to pay them when you get that huge tax bill in the mail from the government!

It is painless paying them too. We just sent them a check, didn't even have to go down there.

Good luck and congrats on the new home

How do you get the option? we didnt have it? the mortgage company automatically did it -- but I would love to change it
Any ideas?

I think you needed to decide before you close. That is why this question is so urgent, I have to let him know. Once, you put the money in escrow and they start paying them, I don't know how you would get that money out - back and my friend tried to do it and they wouldnt give her the esrow back so she waited till she refinanced and then decided to pay them herself.

Did you go to closing yet, do you already own a home. The only differences I can see is that you get the interest all along because its building in your savings acc't instead of the banks, but the flip side of that is that you have an extra responsibility, step whatever you want to call it to remember to pay them on time.