Mortgage Free - so good they'll do it twice! Wynnvegas aiming for the big house

wynnvegas

Afternoon All,

I'll dedicate this diary to all the friends who were so very kind to gee me on in completing the first one. Our attempt at being completely mortgage free ended (successfully, it should be added) on 28/10/10 but that, as all Hollywood teasers promise, is only the beginning of our story. For those who enjoy Tolstoy-esque (length and not quality) submissions, the original and best mortgage free journey can be revisited here - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1892947.

Having knocked the mortgage off and completed the brand new shiny SOA, we (Moyra (who can now, having given up her superhero status, be identified) and I) have figured out we will, from November 2010 onward, have a monthly surplus of £3,201.10. Having discussed our plans at length, we were, as intended, left with a lot of flexibility and a lot of options. This diary is a commitment to our chosen option and is intended to chart our journey to hopefully achieving our ambitions in life.

We originally started with a premise of moving into a big townhouse type idea nearby our current house. We've seen a couple of decent sized, 5-bedroom efforts which go in our area for around the £350k mark - I know I don't need to strain too hard to hear the gasps from people who would struggle to get a three-flapped cardboard box in some areas of the South East for that kind of money! To be fair though, when we started thinking about what we'd like to have in our house, we came up with a list of requirements that made moving into an existing house less feasible and then, partly due to a diet involving Grand Designs (me) and Cribs (Moyra), the notion of building our own place really began to appeal.

All of this was very notional until recently when we a) paid off the mortgage and realised that the 3-bed semi we live in at the moment (or as Moyra now terms it, the squalor) wasn't going to do us for a lifetime and b) visited an ex-colleague of mine who has built a 7-bedroom mansion about 10 miles west of us. We're both 100% set on building our own place now but, with all of £1,000 in the bank and around £150,000 of equity in our house, the road will be long and hopefully not too hard to getting it done.

As befits this board (and as there aren't any "building our house" discussion boards), the likelihood of borrowing again seems very real. I had intended getting it to a stage in about 5 years where we could do it on either a completely mortgage free basis or with a mortgage that the eventual sale of "the squalor" would wipe out. From all IFA advice received to date, that doesn't look doable as land prices will likely run away from us in that time. I've been advised to either buy the land now or to buy other property and run that as a landlord to take advantage of any potential gains in the housing market over a period. Either way, I've decided that we'll do up the squalor in the meantime to make living there just about manageable for Moyra, get ourselves, Moyra's sister Lynne and Auntie Anne off to Vegas in July next year and then, with something in the region of £20k to stake, make that kind of decision this time next year. Here's hoping there's no oil or gold struck in East Central Scotland in the next 12 months!!

As for the house we want, it only has to do the two of us as we don't intend having kids. We've designed our dream in a very basic fashion which I'll share as soon as I figure out how. Downstairs will have a living room, a dining room and an American stylee kitchen with the big utility island thingy. It will contain a utility room and downstairs toilet and, just for fun, what will effectively be my private pub. I wanted a games room and a cinema room so I've combined the two ideals and added a bar for good measure. Moyra fancies a pool eventually (although this is still very much a notion at the moment) which we've currently factored in. Upstairs will be two guest bedrooms, a spare bathroom between the two rooms, a study / library and a master bedroom (complete with two sex and the city style (this reference is lost on me but may well hit home with the readership!) walk in wardrobes and a large master bathroom somewhat inspired by the Spa Suites at MGM Grand. Version 1.0 here for review and comment -
https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=18fURBY6vEwkuXtBx-mfve1DI58fQxOMz1XgWX3nY1a8&hl=en&authkey=CLGv7o0D.

My plan is to borrow as little as possible over the course of our journey (and pay whatever is borrowed back as soon as possible) and to have the whole project completed and paid for in full within 7 years...wish us luck!

Cheers,

Billy

ztan

Billy.. I think you're a) mental b) a massive inspiration c) guaranteed to do well with this next project!

I have to admit to being insanely jealous- that amount a month surplus is 3 times what I EARN in a month! But it's good to see you're putting to towards a new project- another MF journey.

Building your own house is certainly a massive step on top of the original MFW aspirations. Will we be seeing you on Grand Designs next then?



Seriously, best of luck and I shall be watching this space very closely!

wynnvegas

Thanks ztan,

I thought those were multiple choice options there but I realise now that it's a complete package and, I hope, fair enough in all respects! We are both pretty lucky to have halfway decent and pretty stable jobs and that surplus is an as is figure so by the time Moyra hits the shops and we add in gym memberships and the like, it may be closer to the £2,500 mark. Unless Grand Designs fancy sticking their hand in the Channel 4 coffers to help us along the way, probably not! Thanks for the support - I did find googledocs let me upload v.1.0 of the house plan so any views / questions are most welcome.

Cheers,

Billy

Froggy-G

Woohoo! Billy is back with a vengeance!
Not content to smash your mortgage, you now came up with an even bigger idea!

I am in awe! Will be following you every steps of the way!

Very well done!

As an incentive, I will even offer you & Moyra, my services to cook you a 5 course meal of your choice (according to somebody, my choices are a bit weird:p) when the castle is up & running!

I am looking forward to the next step!

Cheers
Froggy

newgirly

Well done in paying off the first mortgage, and I can't wait to read about the new adventures !

Jock_Tight

All the best Billy in your new quest! :cool:

Are you going for a double garage in your dream home ?
What about a budget for landscaping ?

wynnvegas

Hi Froggy,

I'll take you up on that on the condition that it's real food and any dessert options never include a cheese board! I just need to find a fitting kitchen to accommodate such a celebrated personality!

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Thanks newgirly,

Much appreciated.

Cheers,

Billy

CathT

Will be following all your progress in building your dream home, well done Billy!

Froggy-G

wynnvegas wrote: »

Hi Froggy,

I'll take you up on that on the condition that it's real food and any dessert options never include a cheese board! I just need to find a fitting kitchen to accommodate such a celebrated personality!

Cheers,

Billy

Promised, it will be real food (yours & Moyra choices) and no cheese board as pudding

This will also constitute my first ever visit to Scotland (much overdue :eek:)

Froggy

wynnvegas

Hi Jock,

At the moment, we're looking at the all in cost for the house alone (ideally with a good number of the fixtures in) so nothing external other than access roads etc. The ex-colleague we visited ingeniously built a two-bedroom house with a triple garage on the ground floor to live in whilst they completed their mansion which may yet be a step we could take as Moyra is in no way for looking at a caravan or any such nonsense. I should add that the £450,000 figure is a complete shot in the dark at the moment. Until we speak to a proper professional then that will sit as the notional project figure.

Cheers,

Billy