<prompt> Human: My husband and I are planning to pay off our mortgage early. We are on track to pay it off in a couple of years, but may pay it off earlier if we get any windfalls. I have a couple of questions about the logistics of paying off the mortgage, as well as what we can do now to prepare and educate ourselves.1. What is the process of actually submitting the last payment and getting proof that we own the house outright? I am assuming we need to submit paperwork to the mortgage company, the insurance company, the local government, etc., like when we purchased the house. Someone who has experience with this, please walk me through the process.2. Property Taxes: currently, we pay our taxes and insurance through an escrow account. How should we go about paying our taxes once there is no longer an escrow account? Will we just get a regular bill in the mail? Is there a way to set up automatic payments for taxes? I understand that if we dont pay our property taxes on time, our house could be taken away. I would like to set up failsafes for this kind of situation. 3. HELOC: I have seen suggestions to open a HELOC on a house once there is no longer a mortgage. Apparently, this is for the purposes of keeping something in the housing category on a credit report. I investigated getting a HELOC with a bank, but it seems like there are a lot of fees associated with taking out this line of credit e.g. 500 appraisal fee. We dont plan to ever take money out of the HELOC, so is it really worth it? Another HELOC question: interest rates are very low right now. Are any fixed-rate HELOCs available? Would it be beneficial to take out the HELOC sooner rather than later? How will the HELOC affect our credit scores?Thanks for your advice. Please let me know if there is anything I might be missing.  <response>: What is the process of actually submitting the last payment and getting proof that we own the house outright?Call and get a payoff amount. Pay that amount. If there is an overage, theyll send you a refund. After a few weeks, the mortgage lender will send you the deed.You will want to contact your insurance company so you can start paying your payments yourself instead of out of escrow. The property tax bill will just come directly to you and you can pay it out of pocket.How should we go about paying our taxes once there is no longer an escrow account?Just like youd pay any other bill.Will we just get a regular bill in the mail?Yes.Is there a way to set up automatic payments for taxes?Doubtful. Check with your county and see if they offer it.We dont plan to ever take money out of the HELOC, so is it really worth it?There is absolutely NO reason for you to take out a HELOC, and whoever told you that you need to keep something in the housing category on your credit report shouldnt be trusted anymore with financial matters. A HELOC is something you dont need. 