Mortgage and career break.

drinkeroftea

Hi all,

First post so sorry if it is in the wrong section!

I am a FTB, and on a 3 year mortgage. My current mortgage comes to an end in July 2015. I am looking to go on a years career break to have a think about whether I want to stay in my current job or not. As I am looking to go to Oz, I can only get a working holiday visa until I turn 31, which will be June 2015, so giving me enough time to save and plan, I will be looking to go over may/june 2015.

The biggest problem I am facing is what to do about my house and mortgage. I could sell, but i don't think i will get much back for more then i paid for it, plus the money I have spent on it. I also don't think i would like to be in a position to come back and then have to find somewhere to live again, and all the expense.



I could rent it out, however once I have paid my mortgage, letting agents fees and % for property maintenance and rates (I am in NI)
I will be left with £25 a month once my rental income has come in. There could also be the problems such as rent not getting paid, house getting trashed etc.

I am guesstimating that my monthly mortgage payments next year will be around £400. I have thought about trying to save up so I can pay the mortgage and not worry about tenants, but there is no way I could afford to do that plus save for Oz.

I suppose what I am really asking is, are there any other options available to me?? I am in such a quandary about everything. I moved to NI for a job from SE England, and I am just not enjoying it over here. My friends and family are in the SE, the job market is better there, however getting a mortgage would be near on impossible. Gah!

PS if anyone can pass on pearls of wisdom about what to do re the job issue, I am all ears!!

Many, many thanks for taking the time to read this essay.

Thrugelmir

Your mortgage doesn't end in 2015 , but your current mortgage product does.

You need to evaluate your priorities in life. Personally I would plan to sell up if you intend to travel and not return to NI.

In the meantime overpay your mortgage. Then when the property is sold. You'll have the money to go travelling with.

drinkeroftea

Mortgage product, thats what I meant of course! If only my mortgage could be paid off in 3 years, I would be laughing.

To overpay do I having to increase my monthly payments to a set amount each month, or just pay whatever extra I can afford on a month by month basis?

thanks for your reply, and you are quite correct about sitting down and evaluating my priorities. I would just find it quite scary to pack my job in, sell my house and then have nothing to come back to. But I hate my job and don't want to stay in NI ...decisions decisions!