When he referred to the "recession" of the 1930's, he lost all credibility for me!

The other side of the coin is, although one may take money out savings to pay off a mortgage, a paid off mortgage allows one to save additional money, without most going into the black hole of mortgage interest.

But then, I am neither an accountant, nor an economist, just an old lady who his happy to be done with mortgage payments.

"The other side of the coin is, although one may take money out savings to pay off a mortgage, a paid off mortgage allows one to save additional money, without most going into the black hole of mortgage interest."

If you can make a better return on your money with investments than you are paying for the mortgage it is better to NOT pay the mortgage off.

When investment yields fall throwing extra money at a mortgage may be a better option.

Outside of reverse mortgages, you cannot pull money out of a property without income to pay off the loan.
Property rich and cash poor is a problem for many older homeowners.

I make plenty of money purchasing the deferred maintenance properties that often result, renovating them, and then selling (or occasionally holding for lease).

I typically put enough down to ensure I can cover expenses (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc) on the rent I can get.