Black Cat's Year

black_cat

I'm interested in how people actually go about paying off their mortgage.

I overpay every month - at least rounding down to the nearest hundred - but I also have a savings account to eventually make a very large payment. We don't incur any penalties so can pay whatever we like.
We've made the equivalent of nearly three months extra payments so far this year but it's exciting to see what the mortgage balance would be if we used the savings to pay more off! (I suppose that's the equivalent of an offset mortgage).

Do you keep an emergency fund and throw the rest at your mortgage?
Do you throw everything at your mortgage?
Do you make small over payments?
Are you saving to pay it off in full one day?

black_cat

Thanks Andy. Paying off the mortgage can't do us any harm whether we move or not

black_cat

I've been playing around with the calculator as we have the opportunity to make a one off payment. I'm trying to decide how much to keep in savings. I'm leaning towards 6 months expenses (only to be used in case of job loss) and £2000 in an emergency fund. I'd really love to pay off more but I know that it's sensible to keep savings.

After doing this, the plan would be to stop saving and throw as much money as possible at the mortgage. If the Calculator is to be believed - and if we focus - we could pay off our current mortgage in 4 years. 4 years! That would be so liberating!

black_cat

I've just had a helpful meeting with our mortgage provider. Until we've made the decision to stay or go it makes sense to stop making over-payments and save the money instead. If we decide to move, our current mortgage rate is better than one we would take on if we choose to borrow more money so it would be better to save money and borrow less. Obviously we can use the savings to pay off the current mortgage should we decide to stay.

Decisions, decisions...

A good scenario would be to move and not take out a bigger mortgage but use equity and savings towards the new house.

We have another meeting next week to get a offer in principle as knowing what sort of property we could look for will help us to make our decision. I feel positive about doing something about moving forward rather that just talking abouut it.

black_cat

Several visits to bank later...

I know what my price bracket is, saved money for fees etc, viewed two houses, looked at others from the outside and subscribed to RightMove alerts. But, our house isn't on the market yet! I've packed up loads of stuff and put it into storage, nearly finished painting the conservatory and have made plans to improve the house aesthetically.

I've spoken to an EA about a valuation but I've put it off as I know that my house isn't perfect. Silly, I know, so today's target is to make that phone call!

black_cat

...contacted estate agents and have had 3 valuations. We didn't redecorate and are happy with the valuation so we're putting the house on the market "as is." It's quite a relief, actually, to admit that we're just not DIY-ers however hard we try to motivate ourselves. Brochure and photos being done on Monday so house on market on Tuesday - that's the aim. We've found a house we like and are waiting to see if they'll accept our offer. Lots to do this week - prep house for brochure and photos, mortgage appointment, continue packing (make house look bigger), deep clean etc.

We're also going to go back to better fiscal habits: menu plan and eat out of stores etc as I want to get our expenditure as low as possible to save for the moving expenses. I'mn quite excited!

beanielou

All sounding good.
Hope all goes well.

Betterthanever

Very exciting! Good luck with it all and fingers crossed for a quick and easy sale!

black_cat

Thank you Beanie and Better!
House should be on the market Tuesday or Wednesday - can't wait to start paying off the new mortgage already!

black_cat

This is the first time we've sold a house - exciting but daunting! Packing plan needed now so I'm going to start in the loft:

1. Get rid of unwanted stuff (particularly if it's stayed in the loft since we moved in)! Do we really want to take it with us? If so, where will it go in the new house?
2. Pack wanted stuff and label clearly with contents and room it's to go to in new house.
3. Stack boxes logically in loft so easy to move.
4. When done should have more space to pack up things from the house.

I have lots of packing materials to hand as I've already made a start.