Quickest way to pay off mortgage v when to buy

tired_dad

Take as long as you need to decide but before doing anything else, put your 1.5k per month into an ISA (30k per year between you both). Transfer all savings you currently have into ISA's.

The decision on Wales vs London is tricky. Its a personal thing. London is one of the Worlds top cities with all the good and bad that comes with it. If the city is not in your heart then you have to move. You only live once.

Salaries, employment opportunities etc in London are going to be better that outside.

BabyBoots

princeofpounds wrote: »

Not quite true. It really is an 'it depends' answer that depends primarily on savings rate, house price rises and interest rates.

It can often be quicker to pay off a mortgage by buying asap with a small deposit and refinancing as house price rises and savings create equity. That has probably been the case for most of the last 20yrs in the south-East for example, though I doubt it will be the case going forwards.

I agree, that's why I went on to mention all the variable of rates etc, acknowledging that "all other things" are rarely equal.

penguingirl

What would you do with your Welsh house until you relocated? You're unlikely to get a BTL mortgage (as you don't own your own home) and you will struggle to insure a house that is empty more than 30 days at a time.

As others have said, none of us have a crystal ball, but personally I would take a bet that the Welsh housing market is not about to have a boom and just continue to save up as it's less hassle all round.

Dorney1

Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions. Lots of replies so I'll try and answer/comment in one go, apologies if I've missed anyone.

1) I'm not actually Welsh although all of my family are and I lived there as a young boy. My mum owns a house in Swansea where she is every other weekend and will 100% retire there and it would be nice to be close by to her later in life should she need me.

2) I've opened an ISA and just transferred all my current savings in and I've advised my wife to do the same. We will now plough all of our savings in to these until we are ready to buy.

3) Having reviewed mortgage options I think a minimum of 20% is required as the rates are lower, no fees and unlimited free early repayments. I think waiting another year will barely affect house prices and the mortgage benefits will outweigh buying now.

4) I won't be letting it out. It will remain vacant and as a holiday home for myself and the wife. My mum will also be able to check on it every other week, plus we would be there at least once a month plus friends would use it as a free holiday home. We are even toying with buying something cheap that needs work and slowly doing it up over time as it doesn't need to be liveable immediately (and for that reason we wouldn't need contents insurance).

5) The career prospects aren't important, one of the motivations is to be mortgage free so we can move away from our careers and the associated stresses. Jobs however would be important, but we wouldn't move there until mortgage free but our required earnings would be drastically reduced as we would move there mortgage free, fully furnished, car etc. Just daily living costs would be needed.

6) Just to explain our motivations a little more clearly. I was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2010 at 27 years old. After a year of chemotherapy and radiotherapy I'm now in remission and likely cured but that has awarded me a new perspective where free time means more to me than money and the thought of another 30 years of getting up at 6, getting home at 8, commuting on the tube, being semi permanently stressed does not appeal.

In short, we don't want a mortgage hanging over us for the next 30 years for the 'luxury' of living in London. We earn fairly well and want to use that money to become mortgage free ASAP.

Thanks for all of the comments and help, it's really helped clear up my thoughts. Feel free to make further suggestions about buying something that needs work v a straight move in deal - does it tend to save money in the long run if you have time on your side?

Thanks,

James