Would you relocate to pay off mortgage?

tyllwyd

I was watching day-time tv this morning, and saw one of these house hunting programmes where people were aiming to downsize and reduce their mortgage by moving to a completely new area.

I'm really tempted by the idea of selling up and buying a small house on the coast somewhere, and not worrying about the mortgage any more. The biggest stumbling block for us is that I don't think we've got enough equity yet in our current house to buy somewhere else outright.

Would you do it, move away from where you are now to make your financial situation easier?

peterg1965

Interesting concept. I dont think it would really work for most people unless you:
a. Had lots of equity in current house.
b. lived in central london and wanted to move out to the sticks.
The so - called North/South divide doesnt really exist anymore in my opinion - yes you can pick up v cheap houses in the middle of some northern towns/cities but there are too many disincentives to move.

I want to move from where i am now in Northern England (Lancaster) to the south coast (Devon), and although I can get a comparible sized property it wold potentially cost me in excess of £20K to move - Stamp duty (2-3%) Estate agents (how do they sleep at night) and legal/moving fees. To a degree the same goes for downsizing in that, unless you have shed loads of equity, you stand to loose loats of money in moving......

Just a few thoughts ............................

gingerdad

I would, we move 4.5 years ago from the Isle of Man to the UK and managed to get a 3 bed semi for less than we sold the old house for and 20k to spare, house is now worth 2.5 times what we paid, i have been looking in our area and there are some smaller new 3 bed semis which would nearly do it, but if we move at 15 miles awayt we could do it no problem, but I wouldn't move to that area, but if we downsize slightly we can do it closer.

Thefunkygibbons

Not a runner for me because of the kids, schools, connections to church etc

However, someone from our road moved from Surrey to Wiltshire and became mortgage free on the back of it

It allowed the wife to quit work and just look after the kids so it certainly has something to recommend it

micheleen

I did, moved from 1 bed flat in Brighton to 2 bed terraced in Barrow-in-Furness. Mortgage free and even a bit left over :j
It does depend of course on your type of work and other local/family commitments (I'm single btw)

homer_j_3

I think the general opinion here is that each persons circumstances is different and dependent on these circumstances and the loaction will also have some bearing.

Personally, I have gone from the mindset of trying to better my living by buying higher and higher rungs on the property ladder and mortgaging myself upto the hilt but since joining MSE and watching a few programs, I realise that I was living my life to what others expectations were of me (the car that goes with the house, new tv etc).

As a reformed person with my finances and with the fact that I am somebody who has a potential high income if I can apply mysellf, I am now understanding that quality of life is a must and being mortgaged up to the eyeball seriously impacts on that.

My aim now is to clear our entire debt including mortgage and whilst my debts are not massive, MSE has shown me that even serviceable debt can become unserviceable at a drop of a hat so accept that this needs to go.

In my journey for mortgage/debt free living I have set myself lots of little goals. First one is that I am starting a new job next week to start maximising my earning potential, so hopefully this will bring in enough money to start making ways forward to this goal.

lynzpower

Curently I have a 2 bed ground floor shared ownership flat, which im paying 700 a month in combination of rent and interest only mortgage. My partner & I have been talking about moving to a one bed flat in outer london, where a repayment mortgage would be saving us £200 a month at least. The only downer of this is we will probably want kids in the next few years and buying adn selling all over again is dead money.

If I can make equity on this place of around 20k, I think we will do it, but again, really not sure.

I was telling my parents to do this as their bungalow (*which ive never liked*) all the others on thier road were going for 320-390 and selling fast) (south manchester) they paid 85 for it. If I was in this situation, there is no question id be selling up!!

Baileys_Babe

This is something we are planning on doing.

Currently live in Oxfordshire and planning to move to Huddersfield. The houses we are looking at are often of comparable size, occasionally bigger. I'm being very fussy on the style of house I'm looking for and location.

This will not only leave us mortgage free but considerably(sp) nearer to family and friends, all of whom are looking out for suitable properties that meet all our requirements.

bobsa1

we're hoping to move this year to a house that needs work/extending for less than current property so hope to be nearly mortgage free.

We bought at the right time and have a lot of equity,(approx £300,000) but I want to stay in similar area for schools etc. so only way is to buy something which needs work.

candygirl

yeah im planning to downsize in the next few years and pay half my mortgage off!!theres only me now and the dogs so it'll be ideal!!this place is too big for us!! :T :T

SnowyOwl_2

I did it two years ago....sold a one bedroom flat on the outskirts of London, and bought a brand new 3 bedroom townhouse with the change left from paying off the mortgage. It is fabulous to be mortgage free and to have so much space all to myself (though I have a sitting room and two bedrooms doing nothing). I would strongly advise doing lots of research on the area you plan to move to. If it's a cheaper area, then work out why it's cheaper. I moved to N.Ireland (where I am from in the first place but had spent 15 years in London) - the work situation is very very different despite all the change, progress and investment over here - I have had to accept that I will never earn as much as I did in England, and that the job I did there is about as common as hen's teeth over here. It depends on what your priorities are I guess. Luckily my new house has doubled in value over the past couple of years, so it is feasible for me to return to England and still be mortgage free. Yes, I am going to go back, it's not for me after all - I have definitely scratched that itch...