Write off what? The only part of the mortgage payment that is deductible, is the interest and that's it. Period. (As I understand it now, even PMI is no longer deductible - but I could be wrong) So if you pay off your mortgage in Jan, you "might" have a few bucks in interest to deduct that will probably not make any difference what-so-ever in your tax liability. Well, it "might" lower your tax liability by a dollar or two....maybe.
As for me, I'd pay it off ASAP. I paid off the $48K balance on one of my rental properties a few years back when I came into the cash that enabled me to do that. Yes, I was no longer paying deductible interest after that, but I don't care. I don't have a problem with paying taxes on money *I get to keep*. But I do have a problem with paying a lender thousands of dollars a year in non-deductible principle that I "do" have to pay taxes on. If I don't have to do it, then why on earth would I want to give my money to someone else "after" paying taxes on it, when I'm not able to deduct it?
I've got three rentals, and I'm in the process on using the "additional" income from the paid off rental that I now get to keep, to pay off another rental as fast as I possibly can.
