I am in a few months going to be starting the wonderful world of owning my own home
now i have a question, is paying off my mortgage quickly a good idea or should i let it fester?

Paying off debt quickly is always a good idea.

only reason i asked is because i got a foreclosed home, home inspector said it was perfect
and i got the freaken house for 50k

Depends on various factors. In general it's good to try to pay down your debts as quickly as possible, but there are some things that can make it better to take things a bit slower. One thing to consider is your overall income and how much of a chunk extra payments on your mortgage would take out of it; paying down your mortgage quickly won't be that useful if you're living paycheck to paycheck as a result (and being just one emergency away from serious financial troubles due to not having an emergency fund). Make sure you have enough money coming in and saved up to handle any emergencies, and only then start putting extra money towards more quickly paying down your mortgage. The other possible reason to not pay down your mortgage quickly is if you can invest your money at a higher rate of return than the rate on your mortgage. In that case you'd come out better financially in the long term putting your money towards such investments rather than towards extra payments on the mortgage (although these days getting a good, consistant rate of return on investments is rather difficult). A similar argument applies if you have other debts to pay off that are at higher rates than your mortgage (always try to pay down whatever debt has the highest rate first). However, if neither of these considerations apply to you then I'd say it's a good idea to try to pay down your mortgage as quickly as possible.

It depends on how the mortgage is structured.
A saying to help you remember the portions of a mortgage: Have PITI on me, oh mighty banking institution!

P - The PRINCIPAL of the mortgage (what the home costs)
I - The INTEREST you'll pay to the lending institution (for trusting the borrower...you)
T - The TAXES owed to the local government (varies by local services availed to you such as police, fire, schools, etc, and usually held in escrow by the lender)
I - The INSURANCE (always less if you can put down more than 20% of the principal)

Those are the 4 components of a mortgage. Now, as to whether it's best to pay off early or not? Only if there is no balloon on the end.
- Speak plainly and bluntly with your real estate agent.
- Emphasize, with white boards and colored markers if necessary, that you plan to pay off early.
- Tell them, don't ask if it's alright, but TELL them you will not enter a loan with any early payment penalties.

All realtors and loan institutions want your money. Your job is to find the ones who want your business.
The difference between the two schools of thought is key.
You're the boss hiring them for their services. You do not work for them: They work for you.
Again, use the white board and markers if they do not understand this empirical fact.

Hope that helps

I favor getting rid of it as quickly as comfortable. If you do the math, faster payoff followed by investing your former mortgage payment is vastly better than holding onto the mortgage and taking the deduction. I paid off my 30 year mortgage in 23 years by adding an extra couple hundred bucks a month after the first 10 years.

BTW, I only paid 45K for my house. Of course, that was in 1983.

edit- to address the post above this, that was extra money I put towards principle only.

In general paying a debt off faster is good because you should end up paying less interest. That said, open home loans are good for your credit. When my parents were close to having their house paid off they opened a line of credit against the mortgage so they could keep it active. It's a pretty easy way to keep your credit history looking good.

The whole credit score process is a gimmick. I haven't used credit of any type for almost 15 years. You do not need to go into debt to have a good credit score- just pay your rent and utilities on time. You may have to hunt for a lender willing to do an old-school underwrite for a loan you do want, but it can be done.

Sure, it can be done, but it can be a challenge depending on where you live an what kind of loan you're looking for. My girlfriend is a mortgage broker and she's told some interesting stories about securing loans for people without enough credit history. I ran into the same issue the first time I bought a car...not enough recent credit history. As you said, some lenders are willing to fight for you, while others have strict cutoffs when it comes to reported credit scores.

That is interesting to know since I have zero credit atm (Will soon though when I file for taxes and such)