What age were you when you became mortgage free?

Ms_Chocaholic

We were 42/41 respectively when we paid off our mortgage earlier this year. DS commenced Uni in September 06 though and, as we support him, not really benefitting too much at the moment (roll on when his degree course finishes).

Redbedhead

I am 31 now and H and I have worked out we could pay the mortgage off in 5 years, so I would be 36. However, this would mean we have to stay where we are (small 2 bed terrace) and couldn't have kids, which we would like to do.

So, the plan is to get the mortgage down as much as we can while also building up savings to have a family and get a bigger house. This will put our mortgage free date back a number of years but until we find the house we want to buy, we won't know how far. We are hoping to be mortgage free by the time I am 45, then look at a house abroad.

cazmanian_minx

I'm 31, I'd really like to do it by the time I'm 35. I've recently gone self-employed though, so income's a little variable at the moment!

Caz

pandas66

I'm hoping by the time I'm 50 (latest!). Overpaid the last 2 years small amount every month and will continue to.

I'd like to have done it by 45 but the pesky kids will be hitting Uni etc.

funky-footprints

we are in a position to become mortgage free once the remaining properties of my husbands sell, however we are seriously considering off-setting. so we could (if we wanted to be) be mortgage free at 33.

Our long term plan is to be mortage free in 3/4 years time max, when we will be 36, we plan on building, we do have a building plot, we will remain mortgage free if we stick to our budget but wont be overly freaked if building our dream house, we end up with a mortgage under £100k.

likewise if we sold our home now, we would have about £240k and could be mortgage free, but we dont want to downsize and we arent ready to build yet.
x

donstermonster

nearlyrich wrote:

We paid off ours in 1999 so I was 38, we overpaid as the interest rate came down we didn't lower the payments and remortgaged to lower the rate as we became free to look for a better deal.

We never missed a holiday and to be honest spent more on "stuff" than we do now, we had cars and holidays and nice clothes, maybe didn't have weekends away or eat out as much as we had younger children, they are older now and we don't need a baby sitter LOL.

I don't crave a bigger or better house, we have a 4 bed detached on a nice road, plenty of living space and everything we need, the views are amazing and I am proud of what we've got.

I agree , i still have holidays and okayish cars and the kids have loads of fun and things they *need*

I want to pay it off to have options to do other things.

I love the idea of a holiday home in spain or portugal and i may well pay it off and get a big mortgage again and do something nicer than just pay off my main residence.

That said i may take a job that is less stressful, less well paid and do something more enjoyable and enriching like spend more time with my kids and wife and mum and sister

I am like you in that i love my house, it is only a 3 bed detached but in an area i want to live in near places and people i like to see.

I could do with a bit more space but what i have now my parents have never had and i am very aware and grateful at what i have and how very easily it could disappear!!!!

:beer: I thinkmost people with BIG mortgages , if they lost their jobs for 6 months would have to sell up , i do not want to be in that position

The amount of people that say you should move to a bigger place , you can afford it and i can if i want a mortgage until i am 65 but NOOOO THANKS, i think people are too hung up on status and size of houses and cars

who knows, all about options ,

Cheers everybody keep em coming !:beer:

aurora_borealis_2

I could be mortgage free if I downsized my property. It's all a bit relative really.

PeteB_2000

the plan is to be MF next year 2007 i will be 36, currently owe 4.5k, mortgage was 86k taken out in 2000.

That is the only debt we have no loans/cards etc cars and everything are paid for......tiz a great feeling knowing no matter what the market does the roof over your head is safe

Scully's_Girl

My husband paid off our mortgage right before we married, in 2004. It was very important to him that we start off our marriage with as clean a slate as possible. He was 35, and I was 27. A very small inheritance paid off the last couple of thousand, but the rest was partially due to the exeptional price he received when he sold his flat to buy this house. To be honest, the fact he bought the house in 2001 helped ALOT. He bought right before the bubble, so the house (a 4 bedroom detached) is far more valuable then we bought it for.
We do aspire to have a different house at some point. Today I turned 31 and would very much like to have children, but we want to be settled first. So now, we are just thinking about the next step to take (do we stay in our current jobs, do we move?).
Also, my husband was able to put the small inheritance into the mortgage because he had no outstanding debts. For many, any kind of windfall might not benefit a mortgage paydown if theyhave debts that are far more deserving of it (ie: higher interest rates).
Right now, we both pay buckets each month into ISA's and other accounts, as if it were mortgage payments, so that when we do buy up, we will have the excess already in the bank & will not need to ever get a mortgage again.

Dr.Lou

Technically not mortgage free, but savings total outweighs the mortgage, so could pay it off totally if we wanted to.

I was 29 and my husband was 30 when we got to that point (in Sept).

We got there by making an effort to save at least something every month, since we were in our early twenties. Have enjoyed ourselves whist doing it, have a great social life and some really wonderful holidays but otherwise we are quite thrifty with money which helps.

Our aim now is to continue to save/invest for the next 4-5 years and see what happens. We would either like to buy a bigger home mortgage free or a small holiday home with little or no mortgage. Although if we were to stay here we would be happy too.