Should l sell my house?

boatowner

Hi we are a married couple male aged 60 / wife aged 56.
We have a house that has just been valued to sell at about £179,000
We have a outstanding mortgage of £55,000.The life of which will go pass our retirement age.we have no next of kin to leave house too.
We are thinking of selling house and pay off outstanding amount on mortgage and then buy another prop with amount left.
Down side we would have to move to another area and downsize on property to buy . up side we would be cash buyers and no longer have a mortgage in our old age.
We are not sure what to do and think that a third party may look more clearly at options,any suggestions would really be gratefully received.

poppysarah

Are you both still working and in good health?

boatowner

my wife does suffer from arthritis which is becoming a problem,we really cannot afford to retire in our present circumstances.

BitterAndTwisted

Having no debt is invariably better than being in debt. However, in the short-term this could depend on whether either of you are still working. Is there some urgency to your possible plan to downsize?

boatowner

Just a question of how long we keep paying the mortgage for.
all the time we have it it commits us to having to work full time and thoughts of reducing our work time will never happen.
I shall still be paying it when l am 67yrs old.
We are living hand to mouth and have no savings.
And as we have no dependents we are paying the mortgage just for somewhere to live and would be £620 a month better off without it.

carefullycautious

Are you able to move to a cheaper location to get the best out of your money. You need some for a rainy day just incase of problems. Good luck with whatever decision you make

GDB2222

The more you down-size now, the lower your outgoings will be, and the more you can save for your old age. I'd have thought that's the priority, but you did not mention much about your financial circumstances.

joerugby

Downsize now, and carry on working for a while to save as much as possible for retirement

greenmoneysaver_2

If you can downsize to something you are happy wit I would do it!

We have downsized last year - we are 40 and 36! Husband woud like to semi-retire at 55!

It may help to have a SOA, as if there are no savings what do you have for pensions etc? Would you need to downsize radically?

SnowBelle_2

I too would downsize whilst you are in good health.
We went to see a house last year where the couple were in their 80's and having to move after 30 years due to ill health neither wanted to leave and I felt so sad for them.
I moved last year aged 42 and that was stressful enough,I dread to think about upping sticks again at 80.
also I am sure it would be nice to have a little bit extra to treat yourselves later on and not have to worry about a mortgage.
Good Luck to you in whatever you decide.
Clare

boatowner

Thanks for replies all have given me food for thought.
Should have said that part of mortgage is made up of a ISA and that there will be a shortfall of several thousands due to bad performance.