From Flat to Farmhouse to Freedom

FloppyDisk

I thought I would start a new diary as I feel very much on the next leg on my little MFW journey. :j I started by overpaying my little flat 6 years ago, managed to knock £30k off the mortgage and the value supposedly increased by £90k. I didn't really have an aim beyond the obvious - buy a massive house in the country with land, so I thought that OPing would give me more options down the line. Since then, BF has come along and we have just moved into an lovely house in the country with an eye-watering mortgage to boot.

The house itself is in very good condition but it's needs to become a home. We want to re-jig the downstairs layout completely, add a bedroom and an en-suite. We also would like some nice furniture after years of living in work accommodation or sharing with lodgers. The squeeze on the BTL market meant that I couldn't take very much equity out of the flat so we have a 90% mortgage to pay off which makes me nervous and very motivated at the same time!

BF is very good at saving big chunks of money and will tackle most of the house jobs himself - so while he watches the pounds, I look after the pennies and tend to focus on the small bits like shopping and utilities - hence needing MSE as an outlet for me! We have a 3 year fix, by the time we get to the end of that (assuming the value doesn't change) we should have 85% LTV, so I might as well make a stretch target of 80% by OPing. That's just over £600 OP a month on top of a big standard payment, and given our plans for new kitchens etc..... probably not going to happen!

But why let reality get in the way of a mad plan??

Starting balance: £417,249
April 2021 aim: £370,000

Tropically

Welcome to the large mortgage crew!! When will you get the chickens?

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

spendinglikemad

Hey Floppydisk - similar size of mortgage here (£426k :eek:- gulp) but it is our forever house so have similar aims to you. We do have around £110k to either pay off lump sums (10% per year) but.....waiting on architect plans and just committing £1,000 pm O/P

SLM

JennyP

Happy shiny new diary!
We've recently gone from boat to farmhouse though luckily - thanks to husband who I met early last year - no mortgage. It's my buy to let mortgages that need clearing.
Shocked at oil costing that. Our vendors left oil so we haven't bought any yet. How do you heat your water? We're surprised to find our boiler isn't connected to the hot water tank so its done with electric immersion. Don't know about oil clubs - will investigate!

JennyP

Our oil from the vendors hasn't run out yet but there doesn't seem to be a way of turning the boiler off so it comes on twice a day whether we need it or not. I found our local oil club after you mentioned them. Going to join.
Have you done airbnb before? Our house Used to be a b&b but I am too lazy.
My car goes into the garage on Thursday for its annual service and mot. There's nothing actually wrong with it that I know it but it's old and has done a lot of miles so they're sure to find things that need fixing. I owe the garage £305 anyway for fixing my mum's car two weeks ago. So it'll be an expensive day!

JennyP

Yes, need to get a plumber in. The boiler is old so we may end up changing it but even if we keep it, we need new radiators and an electric shower that works. I would like a new enquire too. It's gone grey with age.

Only our room is an suite. Husband is a bit of a collector / hoarder so is using the other bedrooms for his stuff. I don't think I'm hospitable enough to have guests.

Wonder if you live near us as there's event here this weekend: Tour Dr Yorkshire and a burlesque festival!

hiddenshadow

Congrats on the move. How long 'til you fill up the spare stable? ;-)