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How to be mortgage-free, prosper and increase

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  • moggins
    moggins Posts: 5,190 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    This is exactly what we did 7 years ago, we'd hunted everywhere for a house that was big enough and were frequently being told by estate agents that we wouldn't find anything like that for what we could afford.

    We started looking in an area that was considered the worst and found a huge 3 storey house with a cellar and a 110 foot back garden, it needed a lot of tlc and the kitchen was a bare empty room all bar the sink. The best thing is that this area has the best sense of community I have ever known and one of the best infants schools in the county, the areas around have now deteriorated whilst ours has improved and constantly has money ploughed into it because it's considered an inner city area.

    We paid £32,500 for this house, and even 7 years ago the monthly payment was hard to find, now the house is worth £125,00. DH's wage has risen far above any mortgage increases and our mortgage even after remortgaging to £48,000 2 years ago our mortgage is still only £300 every month, easily manageable and £300 below what people are now paying to rent in the area.

    I'm so pleased we looked beyond the surface and took a risk. It was well worth it and we have a lovely big house and garden which will see us through to our old age if needs be.
    Organised people are just too lazy to look for things

    F U Fund currently at £250
  • In reality, I think the purpose of this board is to open people's eyes to the purpose of mortgage reduction and to provide encouragement

    There are no silver bullets. The trick is to save some money and thing mortgage first before blowing it on something else
  • jonnydoe
    jonnydoe Posts: 253 Forumite
    I know not all young people are living on credit cards, my son isn't. He lives in our family home in the UK. But in that area you can get a nice 2-bed flat for under £100k. Even my house, that I bought nearly 30 years ago, could be bought for £150k. So there ARE affordable places for first-time buyers.
    QUOTE]

    £100k cheap? You still need to be on almost 30k a year to afford this. how many young people earn this? Come on admit it affordability is a problem..
  • By the way, we had all second hand furniture and an old car (the car we have now is eight years old!). We slept on an air bed for months. People won't do that now, they want all furnished, all new, straight away.


    And although the price of houses seems ridiculously low compared to today....we only earned about £40 a week!


    I do know things are more difficult today....but I still think people could find things more affordable if they lowered their sights a bit and didn't expect everything at once.[/QUOTE]

    i SOOOO agree,

    As a kid our family were skint - i mean really really skint and now i am 39 years old and within 2 - 3 years of paying my mortgage off after overpaying

    My MOST important thing is my kids and my wife and if i had to move back to where i used to be, sell my Jag and BMW , and never go on holiday I WOULDNT CARE LESS - people today use excuses like

    " i have to work (read sling my kids in a second rate childminders) because we cannot afford it, really i ask then why not downsize and sell one of your Mercs , and dont go to the Caribbean this year, and spend time with the most precious "asset" you could ever have , your childtren

    Sorry but it so annoys me with people who do not realise what they have got so easily these days
    donstermonster :D
  • moggins wrote:
    This is exactly what we did 7 years ago, we'd hunted everywhere for a house that was big enough and were frequently being told by estate agents that we wouldn't find anything like that for what we could afford.

    We started looking in an area that was considered the worst and found a huge 3 storey house with a cellar and a 110 foot back garden, it needed a lot of tlc and the kitchen was a bare empty room all bar the sink. The best thing is that this area has the best sense of community I have ever known and one of the best infants schools in the county, the areas around have now deteriorated whilst ours has improved and constantly has money ploughed into it because it's considered an inner city area.

    We paid £32,500 for this house, and even 7 years ago the monthly payment was hard to find, now the house is worth £125,00. DH's wage has risen far above any mortgage increases and our mortgage even after remortgaging to £48,000 2 years ago our mortgage is still only £300 every month, easily manageable and £300 below what people are now paying to rent in the area.

    I'm so pleased we looked beyond the surface and took a risk. It was well worth it and we have a lovely big house and garden which will see us through to our old age if needs be.


    There you are. Like I said, it IS do-able,even now!
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
    Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton
  • [/QUOTE]My MOST important thing is my kids and my wife and if i had to move back to where i used to be, sell my Jag and BMW , and never go on holiday I WOULDNT CARE LESS - people today use excuses like

    " i have to work (read sling my kids in a second rate childminders) because we cannot afford it, really i ask then why not downsize and sell one of your Mercs , and dont go to the Caribbean this year, and spend time with the most precious "asset" you could ever have , your childtren

    Sorry but it so annoys me with people who do not realise what they have got so easily these days[/QUOTE]

    There you are...not just fogeys like me who think this.
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
    Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton
  • [QUOTE=jonnydoe
    £100k cheap? You still need to be on almost 30k a year to afford this. how many young people earn this? Come on admit it affordability is a problem..[/QUOTE]

    You save a deposit first, so your mortgage is not for £100,000.
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
    Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton
  • jonnydoe
    jonnydoe Posts: 253 Forumite
    When do you save this deposit before or after paying off a 15k student loan or saving into a crappy money purchase pension that will maybe get you 5k a year at the end of it?

    I know I'm right 100% and I think you know it too.. and it's a shame so few young people come on these forums to agree with me....

    I think it's too easy to generalise, there will always be exceptions on both sides
  • jonnydoe
    jonnydoe Posts: 253 Forumite
    TimC wrote:
    Education - not everyone qualified for a student grant - I didn't as my parents were self employed, so I didn't get to go to university as I couldn't secure sponsorship - and I'm so "lucky" now, that by the time my children are old enough to go to university it will cost me around £50k each for the privilege of giving them the opportunity to start their employed life without debts - so lucky us.


    The current economic situation affects all of us and our children and unfortunately I don't see it improving in the short term.

    Very lucky to have kids! They seem to cost a lot :) Can't you sell one on ebay? (joke)
  • chris83_2
    chris83_2 Posts: 44 Forumite
    Jonnydoe, i think you are being dramatic.

    Student loans only have interest of about 3.2%. It is the lowest form of borrowing available to anybody. If you are unable to get a well paid job which allows you to pay it off then you should have thought about whether it was worth you going to university in the first place.

    We are not that badly off mate. 20 years ago interest rates were over 10%, making mortgage repayments about the same as what they are now (relative to wages). There is really not much difference.

    And no you aren't right. You will learn eventually that there are hardships for everyone at every stage of their life regarding money, not just you.
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