What would you do? some advice needed :)

Bella79

Good Evening Everyone

I am after some different opinions/advice, were not sure what to do and are interested in others advice/opinions.
I'm 43 hubby is 49 we are in a house worth 295k with a 103k left on mortgage. We stupidly took a 35yr mortgage and have 22 years left For the last 6 months we have started making monthly overpayments of £500 to try and reduce the term, with the regular overpayment it could be off in 9 years (not reduced term officially - no overpayment charges)

Biggest reason we started overpaying is o/h age, We are now starting to think "what are we doing, lets sell" I know we are v v lucky to have 195k to spend mortgage free, butt he houses we a looking at are 250k which would mean a 60k mortgage over 10 years, but again if we overpay could reduce that term to 4/5 years. or is it worth staying here carrying on overpaying and having a house worth 295k mortgage free in 9 years....

We are lucky at the moment that we have that spare 500 a month to make the overpayments, but this could change which is why i dont want to perm increase the payment, I dont want to rely on having that money every month. Also we have updated this house, and we are happy here. But the idea of been mortgage free earlier is so desirable.

killerpeaty

I might be misunderstanding you, but I think you're debating between continuing to overpay or to downsize. Is that correct? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

It makes me think there's a lot of personal questions that you need to answer. But no need to answer them online really.
Do you want to leave your current home?
Would you be happy in the downsized home- presumably it would be smaller and/or in a different area.
What makes you worried about not having the money going forward?
Would you be able to service the mortgage if you retire?

Based on a lot of assumptions that you like where you're living and don't foresee any major life changes ahead then I would stay put. If you (for example) have worries about health, then I would move. 

Either way, I hope you are happy with whichever choice you make and you'll make it work.

jimjames

If you are happy with your current house then I would just stay and clear mortgage. Moving house will also cost money, even if you manage to avoid stamp duty (which seems unlikely if you are only starting to think about it) then you still have all the other costs associated with moving.

You'll also have a house worth less money at the end. Pay off the mortgage in 9 years and if you decide to downsize later then that will free up cash for retirement. Downsize now and you have no money realised just less mortgage. While it's nice to clear the mortgage I wouldn't have that as the main driving factor in moving house.