Another MFW journey...

Bone_Idle

Hi everyone!

I've lurked on this forum for a good couple of years now, very envious of everyone and their progress! Well, now it's my turn...

My OH and I finally got the keys to our new house on Friday, and our first mortgage payment comes out tomorrow... We have a fixed-rate deal for 5 years and are allowed to overpay by 10% of the outstanding balance each year. The repayments are about £70 less than we were paying in rent - and we're also getting a third bedroom and a dining room! Along with all the enjoyment of owning our own place - and the responsibility of course.

Anyway, this place is about being mortgage free so I suppose I'd best get round to that bit!

Mortgage when started: £87,000
Current mortgage (date): £87,000
Mortgage free day: some time in August 2034 as things are going - however, we'd like to do it in 15 years if we can, so here goes!

At the moment we haven't got a clear plan for doing it, other than seeing what overpayments are realistic (a good chunk of the £70 we save each month will be swallowed up in insurance, life assurance etc). Once we've actually moved in properly we'll sit down and look at where we stand financially, but I wanted to get this first post done as a marker for the future!

All advice and encouragement very gratefully received! :beer:

chirpchirp

:beer:Happy Housewarming:beer:

You've just taken me back to waking up for the first time in my own house. Good Luck and Well Done!!

Rich1976

Bone_Idle wrote: »

Hi everyone!

I've lurked on this forum for a good couple of years now, very envious of everyone and their progress! Well, now it's my turn...

My OH and I finally got the keys to our new house on Friday, and our first mortgage payment comes out tomorrow... We have a fixed-rate deal for 5 years and are allowed to overpay by 10% of the outstanding balance each year. The repayments are about £70 less than we were paying in rent - and we're also getting a third bedroom and a dining room! Along with all the enjoyment of owning our own place - and the responsibility of course.

Anyway, this place is about being mortgage free so I suppose I'd best get round to that bit!

Mortgage when started: £87,000
Current mortgage (date): £87,000
Mortgage free day: some time in August 2034 as things are going - however, we'd like to do it in 15 years if we can, so here goes!

At the moment we haven't got a clear plan for doing it, other than seeing what overpayments are realistic (a good chunk of the £70 we save each month will be swallowed up in insurance, life assurance etc). Once we've actually moved in properly we'll sit down and look at where we stand financially, but I wanted to get this first post done as a marker for the future!

All advice and encouragement very gratefully received! :beer:

Congratulations on getting your first property, you'll soon see how better it is than renting. Who wants to pay someone else's mortgage anyway?

Before you over pay on your mortgage it is imprtant to sit down together and work out a proper budget. This needs to be as detailed a spreadhseet as possible that lists all your incomes and outgoings each month. Do not forget to include contributions to savings accounts, pensions, car running costs etc. This should then give you a figure of what you should be left with in an average month. You can then work out how much you can put towards your mortgage. But remember once you have made the overpayment you cannot get it back very easily ( although some lenders will let you take a mortgage holiday once you have overpaid a certain amount) so don't throw all your spare money into the mortgage as you will need money to cope with house maintenrace repairs etc.

My OH and I are overpaying by around £50 a month currently which isn't a lot but it does mean themortgage will be paid around 2 years earlier. We do plan to increase the overpayments as and when.

Good luck!

dexter_fan

Congratulations on your new home.

I would agree with the above post about working out a budget first. I would also personally wait a few months before overpaying. there may be unforeseen expenses or things for the home that you would like - remember you need to ENJOY IT :j

You can then have a realistic figure for your budet. Also, don't forget about ISA's etc.

DF

setmefree2

to MF board. Good luck. Make sure you have your emergency savings fund covered (between 3 to 6 months salary) and don't forget Martin Lewis recommennds using your cash ISA allowance before Oping your mortgage.....make sure you have adequate pension savings too.

Best Wishes

SMF2

Bone_Idle

Thanks everyone! I should say I've always been fairly geeky where money's concerned (had a copy of Quicken accounts software ever since I was at university - about 13 years ago) and our budget is quite well-practised already! But we'll have to revise it now that we're homeowners and will have to think about repairs etc. I think the advice about waiting a few months before making any overpayment is pretty sound so we'll probably be following that!

setmefree2

Bone_Idle wrote: »

Thanks everyone! I should say I've always been fairly geeky where money's concerned (had a copy of Quicken accounts software ever since I was at university - about 13 years ago) and our budget is quite well-practised already! But we'll have to revise it now that we're homeowners and will have to think about repairs etc. I think the advice about waiting a few months before making any overpayment is pretty sound so we'll probably be following that!

Keep posting and let us know how you are getting on, won't you?!

Bone_Idle

Not much progress to report MFW-wise (and not too much progress with the unpacking yet!) as I'm still trying to get my head around what our likely day to day (or month to month) expenses are likely to be. For instance, I keep emailing the council to ask for an updated council tax bill (we had about a month where we were responsible for both this house and the one we were renting) but all I get is the sound of Cornish tumbleweed...

Having said that, we should get basically our entire deposit back from the last place, which will be very welcome. Not least because our DD turns 1 this week yet seems to need clothes for a 2-year-old!

FunnyRabbit

Good luck with your journey

As for clothes, I feel your pain. With three children myself, there always seems to be one that needs something new.

setmefree2

FunnyRabbit wrote: »

As for clothes, I feel your pain. With three children myself, there always seems to be one that needs something new.

Yup - doesn't stop when they get older either. In the early teenage years everytime you turn around the seem to have grown another foot and gone up another shoe size...:eek:

pavlovs_dog

did you have a sizeable deposit bone idle or do you live in a reasonably priced area?

I'd love to take on such a 'small' mortgage, but I doubt we'd find what we want locally for £100k.

good luck with your MF journey; i'm looking forward to seeing how things pan out for you