Is paying off your mortgage your first priority?

FrankieM

We have a property that needs some work...ok quite a bit of work and I just wondered if there was anyone else in that position?
We have paid off all our debt other than the mortgage..so the question is...
Do we now use our 'extra' money to sort the house out? Pay off the mortgage? Or a bit of both?

halloweenqueen_2

I would try and make overpayments and shop carefully for the improvements!!

Gingham_Ribbon

Maintaining your home is important both because you want to live in a comfortable place and because some problems get worse the longer you leave them. If it's cosmetic it's less urgent.

What do you mean by 'extra money'? Can you find out how much money you'd need to spend on the house and allocate a fixed monthly amount to getting it sorted, then put the rest into the mortgage?

aliasojo

Depends how strongly you feel about the work that needs doing.

I've just paid my mortgage off and we still have some debt on cc to go. We also have a house that needs things doing to it. As far as I'm concerned, getting rid of the mortgage and the cc was more important that what needed doing.

Of course if I was living with no kitchen and a bucket for a toilet, then I suppose I'd feel differently.

Gingham_Ribbon

Can you tell us a bit more? If you have a leaking roof or woodworm for example, I'd be saying deal with that first. If you don't like the wallpaper then that's different...

FrankieM

The downstairs is probably just cosmetic. We hav just bare plater on the walls and we need skirting boards, fireplace etc. Upstairs all the bedrooms need decorating , new carpets etc. Family bathroom could with being tiled as well.
Our bedroom is the thing that needs most work. We curently have an open plan ensuite!
I guess I'm aware that if we were to sell now then we wouldn't get the best price for the property. We are not really ones for living in the same house for the rest of our lives and so I'm aware of wanting to make sure the house is in good order. Though of course I'm also aware that the more we pay of the mortgage itself the better off we'll be as well...
I have just reworked the budget planner and I have put aside £500 a month for house renovations/maintenance.
I guess once the house is 'finished' then most of that can be used to pay extra off the mortgage.

[Deleted User]

Spending on the house can also be a type of investment. After all, it's possibly your biggest asset - so looking after it is important.

Paying off the mortgage is my own personal priority ad the nearer I get the more obsessed I get with it. However, I have had to spend on my house for essentials i.e heating

I just cut back on other things and have not had a holiday for 3 years now, nor will I, till it's paid off. I've stopped buying books and use the library, I've only bought ESSENTIAL clothes, and lots of other small changes which all help.

Gingham_Ribbon

It does sound mostly cosmetic, apart from the ensuite and the tiling. Could you get them sorted first, then reduce the amount you're saving for the house stuff by say half, and put the rest to the mortgage? It would take longer to get it all done, but the important stuff would be out of the way and your mortgage will be reduced by quite a lot.

jezza1O1

I guess if your priority is spending the least money then your mortgage should come first. However I think there is more to life than scraping every penny and we're spending the cash on the areas we want to get done. Then we can sit back and enjoy our home whilst pumping extra funds into the mortgage account.

Try to find a balance that suits you.

missk_ensington

Id rather live in a pig sty than pay £380 a month pure interest to a bank! (Thats what I pay on £82,500 at 5.54% only £100 ish actually pays off the loan!) Unless its dire (i.e, house falling down, no oven, nowhere to cook) then Id pay off mortgage asap! Once you've reduced your payments by, say 20%, you have 20% extra income a months (which may be £100 or more) to spend on DIY.

halloweenqueen_2

I guess a lot of it depends how much mortgage you have left as well. If you could pay it off within the next 12 months say, i would do everything to pay it off.
If its more than that I would get a wall in my ensuite!!
If you can plan what you need to buy or decide on what you want then maybe you can keep a lookout for the stuff when its on sale, or source the cheapest materials. Or ,maybe get a big curtain to hide your blushes!!!!!!!!