Getting rid of a London-sized Mortgage

kaycastle

This is a really fascinating and very different journey!

Good luck on the condo!

Tropically

Thanks kaycastle!

We've also filed our taxes! I think that I will get about £200 back and my husband will have to pay £1500 on top of the PAYE from his regular job. He's on the higher rate but I'm not. I'm actually really impressed with the tax system. I usually don't have to file as I just have regular income, but this year has been complicated. I thought the tax system was pretty fair. Calling HMRC was a dream and they answered in two rings both times I had to call them.

My car did need a new battery. The job of car ownership. I really want to take public transport again, at least you can complain about trains but have no real responsibility to maintain them.

Please anyone chirp up if you think buying a second property is a bad idea. I think it's the right thing to do but have trouble exploring why. I have been listening to the Afford Anything podcast (extremely good) and they talk a lot about real estate investing. There are very low costs here associated with purchasing real estate (no stamp duty due on this price point, for example) and property is overall much cheaper than London. It's a small centrally-located condo away from the beach.

Savingtomove

Hi Tropically!

I have started reading your diary and am so impressed with want you have achieved. I have massive amount of mortgage debt due to having investment properties as well as my own home. My current mortgage dept is in the region of £440k - which makes me feel like having a heart attack just writing it down!!!

I am on mat leave at the moment and we have some debts to clear but once that has happened we are going to tackle the mortgages as really want some financial freedom and to move the country side!

With regard to you buying a second property I think you need to identify why you want it. Is it for investment or lifestyle/ home life?

If investment - what is the market like where you are? Is it more stable than the current London market as it may spread your risk a little?

I think with your level of money management and contingency planning you have the ability to cope with two mortgages if you have a void period in London or if there was a issues with either house in terms of repairs.

Whatever you decide to do good luck and I look forward.to hearing how you get on!!!

Runders

Hey Tropically,

How is it all going? Congrats on having an offer accepted on a Condo - are you still having worries about buying a 2nd place? As Savingtomove said above, you are excellent with your finances and planning and I have no doubt you've probably looked at this from every angle.

I'm almost afraid to ask in case I go into a jealous rage, but have you seen some amazing marine life out there? I just completed some seal medic training which was so interesting - I'll act as a seal medic for a local charity when I am back working at my office on the coast.

Hope you are both doing well!

Tropically

Savingtomove wrote: »

I have started reading your diary and am so impressed with want you have achieved. I have massive amount of mortgage debt due to having investment properties as well as my own home. My current mortgage dept is in the region of £440k - which makes me feel like having a heart attack just writing it down!!!

I am on mat leave at the moment and we have some debts to clear but once that has happened we are going to tackle the mortgages as really want some financial freedom and to move the country side!

With regard to you buying a second property I think you need to identify why you want it. Is it for investment or lifestyle/ home life?

If investment - what is the market like where you are? Is it more stable than the current London market as it may spread your risk a little?

Those are some seriously good questions. I am also really happy that you also have large mortgages. I'm still in my 20s and I want to use debt responsibly to build wealth and then pay it off really quickly.

I want the property to live in. I'm living with family at the moment which is very generous because it's free, but also not sustainable in the long term. My husband wants his own domain and he doesn't have that right now. At the same time, I don't know if we are going to be here forever so I want it to be highly rentable if we were to leave in 5 years time. If we were to leave, it would only be back to London and we would move into our house again. So I see either two situations: We live here and rent our London place, or we live in London and rent our Cayman place.

The rental market is really good especially in the area I am buying.

Runders wrote: »

I'm almost afraid to ask in case I go into a jealous rage, but have you seen some amazing marine life out there? I just completed some seal medic training which was so interesting - I'll act as a seal medic for a local charity when I am back working at my office on the coast.
Hope you are both doing well!

The marine life here is incredible! There aren't that many big things, but the coral is really healthy and the water is so clear. I did a night dive not too long ago and it was so cool. I was meant to go on another night dive yesterday but I didn't feel up to it in the end. Maybe today? There are also so many shore dives here so it's so easy to be frugal about going diving. A gorgeous shore dive in the clear Caribbean waters looking at a reef is $10 for a tank and weights! They do have some sharks and eagle rays but not every dive. They have tons of regular stingrays. It's one of the best parts. When I get my condo, come visit!

The condo situation is still on and then I will be back with two giant mortgages to scare everyone into making progress on their own!

Tropically

Pay day came and then I was so excited because we had hit a major financial milestone. After I plugged in our numbers into our spreadsheet, I was delighted to see that we had £100,000 in savings between our ISAs and other liquid accounts. What a huge accomplishment (I thought)! My husband came over and looked at the numbers. He scrunched his brow and then asked me to show the formula for one cell in my spreadsheet. It was double counting an account. NOoooo, spreadsheet you failed me.

Our savings were £98,048.90. I will have to wait another month to celebrate. Agggggggh. I shouldn't have been celebrating.

This number does include my secret-money-that-I-don't-think-about-and-pretend-I-don't-have. But it does mean that we have increased our net worth by £70,000 since I joined MSE three years ago. Not all of that has been saved, it shows the value of investing in index funds. Saving regular and investing in index funds has really accelerated this increase. I think investments have been responsible for 25-30% of that growth, although I haven't been tracking it specifically.

lessavyfav

wow, you are doing so well! Congrats. I am only putting a tiny amount in index funds at the moment but know I need to ramp it up if i want to see big returns!!

Runders

Tropically wrote: »

The marine life here is incredible! There aren't that many big things, but the coral is really healthy and the water is so clear. I did a night dive not too long ago and it was so cool. I was meant to go on another night dive yesterday but I didn't feel up to it in the end. Maybe today? There are also so many shore dives here so it's so easy to be frugal about going diving. A gorgeous shore dive in the clear Caribbean waters looking at a reef is $10 for a tank and weights! They do have some sharks and eagle rays but not every dive. They have tons of regular stingrays. It's one of the best parts. When I get my condo, come visit!

I may hold you to coming to visit! :rotfl::rotfl::beer:

Have you done anymore diving? I can't believe how cheap it is to dive out there! I am thinking about joining a BSAC club here and converting my PADI over, I need to finally accept that I am going to have to do some dry suit diving in the UK now I am not travelling so much for work.

I'm glad the corals are healthy, some of the best coral I've seen was off a small protected Honduran island. This was a good 15 years ago now though, so unsure of it's status today.

I am suffering from 'Marine Withdrawal' now that I am office based. Every time I walk past screens with the seabed images I used to take I get all excited and nostalgic. I keep having to remind myself of the reasons I stopped, living on a boat for over half a year does get tiresome 11 years in! I have been doing volunteering to keep my hands in on the science/fun side and I have been finding that really rewarding. Are you in Marine Consultancy at the moment, or more on the conservation side, if you don't mind my asking that is?

Enough of the marine and onto the MSE, massive congrats on your savings, it's great to have such a healthy amount. :money:

Tropically

Runders wrote: »

I may hold you to coming to visit! :rotfl::rotfl::beer:

Have you done anymore diving? I can't believe how cheap it is to dive out there! I am thinking about joining a BSAC club here and converting my PADI over, I need to finally accept that I am going to have to do some dry suit diving in the UK now I am not travelling so much for work.

I'm glad the corals are healthy, some of the best coral I've seen was off a small protected Honduran island. This was a good 15 years ago now though, so unsure of it's status today.

I am suffering from 'Marine Withdrawal' now that I am office based. Every time I walk past screens with the seabed images I used to take I get all excited and nostalgic. I keep having to remind myself of the reasons I stopped, living on a boat for over half a year does get tiresome 11 years in! I have been doing volunteering to keep my hands in on the science/fun side and I have been finding that really rewarding. Are you in Marine Consultancy at the moment, or more on the conservation side, if you don't mind my asking that is?

Enough of the marine and onto the MSE, massive congrats on your savings, it's great to have such a healthy amount. :money:

I learned to dry suit dive in Wraysbury lake and it was COLD!!! Even with the dry suit. I'm unfortunately in the planning and development side and do the marine side of things for fun, only! We are having a massive bleaching event right now. The water has been so hot. I volunteer with a group trying to grow corals and it is going really well for them. I just do the scrubbing of algae off the PVC pipes they are attached to!

There is actually a special on boat diving right now so it's $25 for a two tank boat dive. It's low tourist season so it's extra cheap for residents. I do have all my own equipment though, otherwise it would add up for sure. Were you in Roatan or Utila? I'm really keen to go there on a holiday sometime soon, there is a direct flight!

Tropically

I applied for a mortgage! $299,000.

The guy at the bank dropped some bad news on me though - that they don't lend at the LTV I was proposing any more. He said they would still consider it because I had originally met with him when it was still available.

We'll see.

I'm still working my four jobs and thinking about taking on a fifth. I have begun to feel anxious whenever I am not using time productively. Even my relaxation time needs to be productive and I have started yoga and some DIY. My husband has been studying for a professional exam which takes 300+ hours of study. It requires all his leisure time, so I think I am filling up all that time with things. He tries in December but it has a very low pass rate so he might have to try again in June.

Stay tuned. I could be back with an even bigger mortgage amount!