Honestly, I wrestled with this exact thing when we built our place last year. The 15-year sounded great on paper—less interest, over and done with faster, all that. But then I started thinking about what actually happens once you’re in the house. Our water heater died three months after we moved in (brand new house, go figure), and then the driveway needed sealing way sooner than I expected. If we’d locked ourselves into the higher payment, those repairs would’ve been way more stressful.
I get the argument about “if you don’t lock it in, you’ll just spend it,” but for us, having a little extra in the bank has saved our sanity more than once. Maybe it’s just my luck, but stuff always seems to break right after a big bill hits. Do you ever feel like homeownership is just a series of surprise expenses?
I do wonder sometimes if we’re missing out on long-term savings by not going 15 years, but honestly, peace of mind has been worth more to us so far. Anyone else find that flexibility helps them sleep better at night?