SLLM (Single Lady Large Mortgage)

tara747

Sistergold said:

Good morning ladies
I hope you have all been doing well? My week has been alright and I have been going to work as usual. Yesterday I was not feeling well, did a self test of covid as I had general muscular pain but test was negative. End of day I went home and slept early and am feeling better.

Writing this I am still having a lie in but will soon wake up and get ready for work as I told them I will come in late as I will be trying to rest. 

Have been reading >

The 'We're saving for a deposit' thread

It has been such an interesting read so far as some people there have saved such impressive amounts like @tara747 has saved £200k over like 10years🥳. Can you imagine doing all the things life needs you to do but building up such savings? Before stumbling on that saving deposit thread I had been toying with the idea of buying a bungalow or a detached house outside London as a Plan B for retirement and/or investment? I just felt that if when I am old there is no special reason I would want to carry on living in London I can just stay in another town in the said property. The house I will buy will be smaller than the one I live in now. Well that’s the general plan for now. I have been looking at different towns for now and just looking at general house prices. 

Initially I was going to buy a house outright, then I thought I should maybe put in a deposit and get a mortgage which will be buy to let? Well the house will be let for years until I need it? The thing is my savings are not earning much at the moment maybe just chuck in some into a property? As far as savings go if I look at building fund, other savings and even Emergency Funds I can raise a big deposit for a property now I could also possible wait a bit and pay for the property outright. My EF is way above what I will need as EF and I can take some money from there then build it back up. 

So many questions? 

Then you look at @tara747 and wonder whether I should just save from year to year and not worry about interests for now? I guess you will put the money where you find confidence to put the money? 

I guess for now I will just continue saving and after I buy second property I will start a new wave of saving. 

I received children’s reports and they are doing well considering they are learning from home. I am really grateful for that as I do worry about the children being at home without my help while I am away everyday at work. 

Weather has been so dull but today a bit of sun has been coming through. I am looking to rest this weekend and I hope it will be nice weather.

Direct debit went out 14th and mortgage balance is now at £455425. In 3 months if I don’t OP I should still be able to get to the  £444###. I am wishing I get to £399###.
I am on the save £12k in 2121 and through this I hope to be able to save £20k which I will be able to pay towards mortgage. So far I have put £2k towards the planned £20k. 

So now I have 3 things I am trying to achieve 
1. Get a second property, already started investigations as to best way to do it, buy it outright or get mortgage?
2. Save £20k to OP by £20k end of this year 
3. carry on saving towards building fund. 

I have read a lot of horror stories about rentals. For me the above said property will be a place to possibly downsize to. I have also had rental properties before and I had some bad experiences with that, tenants not paying for months and needing to go through the whole process of evicting someone while being left thousands out of pocket and said property being trashed. For me all the horror stories I think do come with being a landlord. Sometimes it’s works out with some tenants and sometimes it doesn’t. The trick is not to have a rental property which you could not pay for if a tenant goes bad. Having a tenant can be like having a tick which just wants to suck you dry but you really needs to accept the good and the bad and it’s not all bad! 

I will keep an emergency fund for the second property too and see how that goes. 

Laddies I hope to hear from you and please tell me what you are upto. 

This came up in my notifications. Thanks so much for the kind words, Sistergold! I've been reading some of your posts, you are really inspirational.
Yes, I have definitely lived as well as saving over the last decade. Travel is my greatest love, and I do plenty of that (in non-pandemic times).
I would say my savings are for financial freedom. It just makes me feel settled having a financial cushion behind me. I've never been one for spending for the sake of it, and I'm lucky to earn more than I spend.
I moved in with my amazing partner 2.5 years ago, and also inherited part of a family home. We intend to build our dream home in the next few years without having to sell either of those houses. It would be amazing to build it from scratch without borrowing money.
Please come and join in the deposit savings thread and the 'save £12k in 2021' thread too if you like! With the latter you can set your own goal, it was started in 2012 hence the £12k thing. People save different amounts each year and it's really interesting to see how they all get on.

Sistergold

tara747 said:

Sistergold said:

Good morning ladies
I hope you have all been doing well? My week has been alright and I have been going to work as usual. Yesterday I was not feeling well, did a self test of covid as I had general muscular pain but test was negative. End of day I went home and slept early and am feeling better.

Writing this I am still having a lie in but will soon wake up and get ready for work as I told them I will come in late as I will be trying to rest. 

Have been reading >

The 'We're saving for a deposit' thread

It has been such an interesting read so far as some people there have saved such impressive amounts like @tara747 has saved £200k over like 10years🥳. Can you imagine doing all the things life needs you to do but building up such savings? Before stumbling on that saving deposit thread I had been toying with the idea of buying a bungalow or a detached house outside London as a Plan B for retirement and/or investment? I just felt that if when I am old there is no special reason I would want to carry on living in London I can just stay in another town in the said property. The house I will buy will be smaller than the one I live in now. Well that’s the general plan for now. I have been looking at different towns for now and just looking at general house prices. 

Initially I was going to buy a house outright, then I thought I should maybe put in a deposit and get a mortgage which will be buy to let? Well the house will be let for years until I need it? The thing is my savings are not earning much at the moment maybe just chuck in some into a property? As far as savings go if I look at building fund, other savings and even Emergency Funds I can raise a big deposit for a property now I could also possible wait a bit and pay for the property outright. My EF is way above what I will need as EF and I can take some money from there then build it back up. 

So many questions? 

Then you look at @tara747 and wonder whether I should just save from year to year and not worry about interests for now? I guess you will put the money where you find confidence to put the money? 

I guess for now I will just continue saving and after I buy second property I will start a new wave of saving. 

I received children’s reports and they are doing well considering they are learning from home. I am really grateful for that as I do worry about the children being at home without my help while I am away everyday at work. 

Weather has been so dull but today a bit of sun has been coming through. I am looking to rest this weekend and I hope it will be nice weather.

Direct debit went out 14th and mortgage balance is now at £455425. In 3 months if I don’t OP I should still be able to get to the  £444###. I am wishing I get to £399###.
I am on the save £12k in 2121 and through this I hope to be able to save £20k which I will be able to pay towards mortgage. So far I have put £2k towards the planned £20k. 

So now I have 3 things I am trying to achieve 
1. Get a second property, already started investigations as to best way to do it, buy it outright or get mortgage?
2. Save £20k to OP by £20k end of this year 
3. carry on saving towards building fund. 

I have read a lot of horror stories about rentals. For me the above said property will be a place to possibly downsize to. I have also had rental properties before and I had some bad experiences with that, tenants not paying for months and needing to go through the whole process of evicting someone while being left thousands out of pocket and said property being trashed. For me all the horror stories I think do come with being a landlord. Sometimes it’s works out with some tenants and sometimes it doesn’t. The trick is not to have a rental property which you could not pay for if a tenant goes bad. Having a tenant can be like having a tick which just wants to suck you dry but you really needs to accept the good and the bad and it’s not all bad! 

I will keep an emergency fund for the second property too and see how that goes. 

Laddies I hope to hear from you and please tell me what you are upto. 

This came up in my notifications. Thanks so much for the kind words, Sistergold! I've been reading some of your posts, you are really inspirational.
Yes, I have definitely lived as well as saving over the last decade. Travel is my greatest love, and I do plenty of that (in non-pandemic times).
I would say my savings are for financial freedom. It just makes me feel settled having a financial cushion behind me. I've never been one for spending for the sake of it, and I'm lucky to earn more than I spend.
I moved in with my amazing partner 2.5 years ago, and also inherited part of a family home. We intend to build our dream home in the next few years without having to sell either of those houses. It would be amazing to build it from scratch without borrowing money.
Please come and join in the deposit savings thread and the 'save £12k in 2021' thread too if you like! With the latter you can set your own goal, it was started in 2012 hence the £12k thing. People save different amounts each year and it's really interesting to see how they all get on.

@Tara747 thank you so much for dropping in, I really didn’t expect it and I really feel honoured! I have read your posts and feel moved and challenged by what you have achieved! Your life example has shown me that a lot can be achieved if only we can be disciplined and consistent following a set goal! Also learnt from you that Rome was surely not built in one day. Thank you also for your kind words and invitation to join “we are saving for deposit thread”. I did wonder about joining before but felt it might be too late to. I took part in the save £12k challenge last year and am part of the challenge again this year. I really do need to “save for financial freedom”. Building your own house from scratch sounds exciting and will be cheering you on! Keep up the good works! Xx

HelloB

Hello ladies! Well done to everyone homeschooling and getting good reports for their children. Quite a feat during lock down!

On the lodger/rental property point, both are great tools to have passive income. Lodgers can be a blessing (money & great company) and a curse (not respecting the property, expecting one to mother them), as you have to share your own house with someone else.  On rental properties, the general BTL LTV is 75% not to forget the additional 3% stamp duty on the entire purpose price, on top of normal stamp duty. During covid, the government introduced no evictions I'm hearing some tenants not paying rent and "knows the law that landlords cannot evict them".  The ability of offset costs have been curtailed further if one is on a higher/additional tax rate. But if it's a property to downsize to in the future, I do think it's a good idea to plan ahead. Building a house from scratch is so exciting though!  

Sistergold

@HelloB hello there. Yes tax tax. Will see how that goes. I have known myself to just take decisions where I seem to just Chuck away money so will tread carefully with the BTL. I am happy to just break even if that will be possible with the buy to let, will post how it goes that is the good the bad and the ugly of the buy to let. 

Yes building from scratch will be interesting for sure
@HelloB has all been concluded with X? Hope you are well settled now? Xx

HelloB

@Sistergold Absolutely do share your experiences with BTL!  It'd be interesting to see how to navigate investment properties in the current climate.

X issue has concluded finally. Onwards and upwards.

LeighofMar

Regarding lodgers: I would probably cheat. I've tossed the idea around before that if something happens to DH, I will probably move into a home in another state, possibly Colorado or Virginia, that could accommodate me and 2 to 3 other roommates, but those roommates would be my mother, if she too were widowed, my best friend if she needed a place to live, and other friends I have in mind if they ever needed, even if only temporarily. The layout would be a bedroom and bath on the main floor for my mom, upstairs master for me in the turret, (if it's a Victorian house, I get the turret period) and another bedroom and bath for my friend. The only reason it would work out for us is because I would buy a house that also has room for our individual hobbies/work needs. We all work from home. We all have chronic illnesses. So it's helpful if one of us is flaring, the others can pitch in. We all know about tidiness. We all know about boundaries. We know that we don't exist to entertain or be entertained by each other and that we have our own lives so if one day we feel like socializing, we do. If not, no one takes offense because we are all past that grade-school nonsense. If that arrangement ever happened, I think I would also like a detached garage apartment, and there, a male lodger, a stranger could live because hey, we still need someone to pick up any dead bugs. Non-negotiable. I think that would be the perfect arrangement should it ever come to that. If not, my current house will be paid for and even though the secondary bedroom is also big enough to be considered a master bedroom size and has access to the hall bath, I don't want anybody else in my space for this house. This house is perfect for the 2 of us or just me by myself. So we will see. Who knows what the future holds? 

Sistergold

HelloB said:

@Sistergold Absolutely do share your experiences with BTL!  It'd be interesting to see how to navigate investment properties in the current climate.

X issue has concluded finally. Onwards and upwards.

Phew! Good to know that all has been concluded! Onwards and upwards for sure! XX 

Sistergold

LeighofMar said:

Regarding lodgers: ———but those roommates would be my mother, if she too were widowed, my best friend if she needed a place to live, and other friends I have in mind if they ever needed, even if only temporarily.
———a male lodger, a stranger could live because hey, we still need someone to pick up any dead bugs. Non-negotiable.

This is the best house share ever! 🥰

Sistergold

Hello dear diary friends
I hope you are all doing well? I have been doing okay and have been trying hard to be financially disciplined 🤑 As you all know I have a lot going on with my mind jumping from one thought to another? The good thing is none of the thoughts are about spending unnecessarily. One moment I want to extend my house, next moment I want to save to buy a second property and next moment I want to overpay my mortgage???!!! 🤔🙄 In all this though I have continued to save and told myself when the time comes I will spend the money as I see fit and regret or be thankful later? 

Many times we spend money on things which are not wasteful as such but we realise we could have done better if we had spent the same money elsewhere. So for instance a new kitchen or OP, or extension or renovations is not always a waste but sometimes we just could have done without or spent elsewhere? 

Well I have been toying with the idea of overpaying a good amount towards the mortgage as my product is ending 31/05/2021. Last week I went on to check what is available for me to switch products with same bank as if you remember I am not going to try and remortgage with someone else?. In trying to switch products all I am being offered are products with only up to a £1000 overpayment per month so a maximum of £12k a year. So I can not even OP by 10% a year? First year ERPC is 1% and second year ERPC will be 0.5%.  I was a bit unhappy about this but I have now gotten over it as the interest is not too bad at 1.39% for two years as a tracker. So instead of getting so upset I have now gone on and made an overpayment of £6338 to bring my mortgage down from £454338 to £448000 so that now I am at 70% LTV! Yeeeee I have now reached 70% LTV! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
Ai have asked that the OP should go to reduce my monthly repayment and keep mortgage term the same. I know this is t going to give the best interest saving but I will stick to keeping term the same until I have reduced my monthly repayment to well below £2k. I am waiting for the recalculation letter to come within the next 5 days to know what my new payment will be. 

Anyway the online offer they gave me has since expired but I don’t mind as I have now OPd so that I start a new product under £450sss mark. 

Switching  can be done anytime 4 months before product expires but I am going to leave it until the last month(May) so that I pay down the mortgage a bit more and also just in case I can overpay a bit more? Once I switch I will then only overpay by a maximum of £1k per month until product expires in two years at which point I can OP a lump sum before I fix another product. 

Hope you are all doing okay? 

slm6002

I am sure which ever way you go you will make a good amount of progress - as you now have with the mortgage.  I am very much like you in should i sell or stay, upgrade or move.  I am hopefully going to fully own my house by the end of March  (XH off the deeds yay), and at that point i really want to move, but because of benefits and debt history etc its down to if i can get a mortgage or not. Moneywise i know i can afford it but its if they think i can that will be the issue.  I am currently making the house nice just in case i can sell, but if not i will do the house up and start paying every single penny towards the loan i will have (family member paying mortgage off for me and i will be paying him back).  I am thinking positively though - i will move