Holey Moley!

Today I got the call to say that I have exchanged and completed on the flat I offered on in May this year.

I now have a huge amount of debt, £167,000 but nothing other than that. The flat is not actually suitable to live in currently (for me) as it needs to have decoration done and the bath replaced with a shower. I know that people often advise against this but I have mobility issues and I can't actually get into a bath without hurting myself!

I hope to use this diary to motivate myself with the renovation, getting the best deals with the things I need and paying down my mortgage.

The plan is to round up my mortgage payment up to £750 a month from £717ish until the flat is sorted. After then I will re-evaluate, however I have made myself a little calculator and if I just pay the £750 a month for the five years of my fix then I should knock off about three to four years of the term.

Have to honest though, this is absolutely terrifying.
«13456760

Replies

  • LeighofMarLeighofMar Forumite
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    Welcome and congrats on your new flat. I think everyone has that Oh My God moment, but it will pass as you make your place your home. Enjoy your new place and your mortgage overpayments.
    Mortgage start date Dec 2015 - $64,655.00
    Mortgage end date Dec 2045 - NOT!!!!
    Mortgage balance  - $19,380.00
    Business Savings $55,800/100k
    Hope to be mortgage-free by end of 2023 
  • longway2golongway2go Forumite
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    Congratulations and good luck
    Mortgage Aug 2019 161,000 :eek::eek::eek:Nov 2019 156,500:T Jan 2020 153,122:T, Apr 2020 149,500, Apr2021 139, 675, Oct 2021 136,823, Dec 2021 136,120🙂EF 0/12,000 (0%)😕 (5062.44 was ERC), Jan 2023 128,650. Our Mortgage is never going to be as high as it is today. :jOnwards and downwards to a better life for our family. :jJust keep swimming
  • bexster1975bexster1975 Forumite
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    Congratulations and good luck. When I first bought my place I only overpaid £50 a month ( so a little more than your plan) but eventually I paid it off in 10 years. It was smaller than yours, but all mortgage reduction is a win as less interest paid!

    Enjoy your renovations, and your mortgage free journey!

    Bexster :)
  • yogavibesyogavibes Forumite
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    congrats - exciting times ahead with the renovations
    MFW #69 Mortgage remaining Jan 2021 £221,644; Jan OP £1000;
  • killerpeatykillerpeaty Forumite
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    Thank you for your kind messages! It's very nice of you all.

    Bexster, that's amazing that you managed to pay it off so quickly. Did you increase your overpayments as you went along?

    Leigh, I am definitely having that omg moment. Hoping the anxiety goes soon. When did yours go?

    Progress:
    When I turned up yesterday, I found that both the gas and electricity were in £70 ish debt (so £140 in total :eek:), rang up the company to give readings and discuss going from pay as you go to pay monthly. Thought it was mostly sorted yesterday but today it all went wrong. Another phonecall and the engineer should be out on Friday (my request as I need time to request the time off work), but this means that I am without power until then. This is fine, but annoying because I was hoping to do cleaning after work.

    Signed up to the water company, which was surprisingly easy.

    Purchased cleaning products, a small sander and door handles.

    Tomorrow will be cleaning, transporting some of my stuff to the flat and probably a bit more panic.
  • beanieloubeanielou Forumite
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    Congratulations :)
    Happy shiny new diary.
    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/03/14.
    **Credit card debt free 30/06/10~**
    MFW. Finally mortgage free February 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.
    It starts with you, it starts from now. *** It is ok to be me.***
    ***Keep plodding***
    Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
  • bexster1975bexster1975 Forumite
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    Hello again!

    Yes I did increase my OPs over time ( with salary increases mostly). Eventually I was laying off more in OPs than my original monthly payment was. It all becomes quite a game honestly. I didn't think a lot about how much I owed at the start, just paid month by month, OPIng when I could. Good luck with cleaning. I would recommend " the pink stuff" by stardrops as an all purpose cleaner (89p in B and M home bargains).

    Bexster :)
  • LeighofMarLeighofMar Forumite
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    My anxiety started ebbing away when we unpacked everything and started decorating to our taste. No more neutral colors to sell to someone else. This was our home now and if we wanted blues and grays in the living room, orange and teal in our room and spring green cabinets in the kitchen (still to come), then thats what we are doing. It feels so good.
    But yes, the first things to go wrong are particularly gut wrenching. For us, a few weeks after we moved in, we needed a new sewer line as tree roots penetrated the original. :eek: Fun times. Then the beautiful front tree was cracking our foundation. 2000.00 to take it down. But its all good. It hurts in the beginning but once it's done, you know your house even more and it feels worth it to have your own place.
    You will get there too and I hope you enjoy your new place :beer:
    Mortgage start date Dec 2015 - $64,655.00
    Mortgage end date Dec 2045 - NOT!!!!
    Mortgage balance  - $19,380.00
    Business Savings $55,800/100k
    Hope to be mortgage-free by end of 2023 
  • killerpeatykillerpeaty Forumite
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    Eventually I was laying off more in OPs than my original monthly payment was.

    That is incredible! I bet you are able to save so much now and have a few brilliant holidays I bet.
    LeighofMar wrote: »
    This was our home now and if we wanted blues and grays in the living room, orange and teal in our room and spring green cabinets in the kitchen (still to come), then thats what we are doing.

    This sounds amazing. I also want a green kitchen, I have kitchen utensils of a variety of greens because I like so many greens that I couldn't choose. How do you know which colours you want?

    I also want to have a deep grey for all my internal doors, a light grey for the skirting boards. I'm going with magnolia for the walls because that amount of choice was overwhelming.

    Thank you beanielou. I hope you are well.

    Progress today:
    Did a bit of cleaning, I managed to get rid of some concerning looking surface mould, cleaned the upstairs skirting boards and reviewed how much plastering needs to be done. Looks like a little bit less than I originally thought. One (long) wall in the living room, a bit in the kitchen, the hallway ceiling and the bathroom. I was initially thinking everything would need replastering but the surface mould was not hiding anything nasty.

    Emailed the bathroom man for a quote, emailed the carpet man for an estimate and updated the council with my whereabouts. I tried to sort out the TV licence, I don't need one yet and there's threatening letters from the 9 months of the property being empty.

    Tried to get into the garage for the first time, tried being the operative word. Could not work it out! Nevermind, will try again another time.
  • killerpeatykillerpeaty Forumite
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    Progress today:

    Managed to get some days off work for getting my power put back on. My manager was unimpressed but needs must! It's just going to get harder as December approaches as that is my busiest time of the year.

    Also changed my mortgage payment to go up to £750 as today I got access to the mortgage.

    I'm not actually sure when my first mortgage payment comes out. The screen says the 1st of each month but it didn't have my bank details.

    I'm debating about getting a TV licence now as there are threatening letters. I'm not living there yet so it would probably be a waste of money. But would buy me peace of mind.
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