Just passed 3 years ownership and still completely satisfied. I would definitely buy them again and recommend them without reservation. About a year ago, one of the units (I think it was the freezer) started making a louder than normal noise when the compressor started up, but it went away right around the time I considered calling someone about it - go figure! I have not been keeping track of the year to year model evolutions, but just looking at the comparison page on Frigidaire's website, I have no idea why they make two lines - the Professional and the Gallery are virtually identical but for a few tiny details. BTW, I did not receive any incentives to write this - just a satisfied owner.

Your plan sure sounds sensible to me. I can think of two questions you might want to ask: 1) Does your title insurance cover you or just the mortgage holder? I think, though I am far from certain, that you can often get the title insurance policy extended to cover you as well by paying a small additional fee. It would seem to me that if the bank requires you to insure your title for their benefit, then an argument can be made for insuring it for your benefit as well. 2) What's the mortgage rate? If it's low enough, you'd do better by paying it off as slowly as possible and investing the money you'd otherwise use to pay the mortgage. As long as your investments return more than the mortgage interest rate, you win. Of course, your investments could tank. But (a) even if they do, you're in no more immediate trouble than you'd be in if you had sent the same money to the mortgage company, and (b) they'll probably come back well before you have the mortgage paid off. Of course you can't just put the money in a traditional savings account. But there are lots of mutual funds there that have long-term returns of 8% or more. So if your mortgage is, say, at 6.5%, that's an extra 1.5% per year, on average, that you can gain by investing the extra instead of retiring the mortgage. Again, let me emphasize that this strategy is in no way a sure thing, and you shouldn't even consider it unless you feel comfortable about it and convince yourself about why it's a good idea. So I am *not* saying you should do it. I'm suggesting you should think about it and learn enough to be able to make a confident decision.

Wow! Thanks for all the additional feedback. You've given me even more to think about, although it all seems a little bit clearer now. whode, you are definitely right that putting the money into principal makes it less accessible. Though we are generally very disciplined, there is a high chance that we would dip into a more accessible savings account, or perhaps not be as disciplined about putting the money away in the first place. By setting our mortgage minimum (the real mortgage payment + our self imposed principal payment) we don't seem to waver much if ever. I have to think that whether we pay off the mortgage ASAP, build up savings, or do a little of both, we are still heading in the right direction. I have so many friends who discuss why you shouldn't pay off your mortgage, but then they don't/can't save any money on the side so they really aren't getting ahead on any level, are they? Thanks again. Q

I will second (or third) the recommendation to go with someone local. First of all, it is a great idea to develop a relationship with such a person.... ours contacted us 9 months after our first refi to let us know rates were (significantly)even lower and it would be beneficial to refi again. Someone local will be interested in keeping their excellent local reputation, such on on Yelp, Nextdoor, and the local real estate agents, and with your neighbors, etc. They have an incentive therefor to be accomodating and honest, and helpful. Ask your friends and neighbors.