Unsure what to do!

samps1973

I've been looking all evening at properties. I've got my eye on one its £140k with 148 years lease on it. It's a bit dated but I can sort that over time. It's not good knowing that I will still have a landlord with it having a lease but I can't expect everything with only £140k and being 48. It's far better than I'm doing now. 
I might start posting on the other thread I have aswell because of the mortgage advice. I need to know the next steps now. Solicitor fees etc etc.

Anyanka1

I am sure you would have considered this were it at all possible but is there no way you could move appreciably further out and buy a small house, ideally a freehold one?  Sorry if this is a daft question, John, and I wish you loads of luck with your search.

mark55man

It's really good that your daughter is entering into the spirit of it.  It sounds like you will have more space in the properties you are looking at.  It sounds like you are quite practical, it maybe possible to set the living room up in a way that makes the sofa bed feel more like a bedroom, but also lets you use it when she is there.  I guess I'm thinking of temporary dividers or something you can hang from the ceiling - I know my DDs would think that was fabulous, especially of there was a TV "in the room".

I can't add anything to the advice you have had on mortgages / house buying - you truly have had the A-team on your side. its been a long long time since I took one out. something getmore4less said rings very true.  Basically if you take out a long term fixed mortgage you pay extra over the short term rate and that can give you confidence in affordability.  I did this,  However, for the longer end of the spectrum you are paying quite a lot more, so unless rates rise very rapidly you may be better and more affordable to give for a middle length.  The challenge is with fees whether its better to go for 1x10 year or 2x5 year or 3x3 year etc.  In all those cases Overpaying will help, especially if you can OP enough to get into the next LTV band (ie from 95% to 85%).

In terms of pension, that's good.  But I wouldn't use it to pay off the mortgage as soon as you are allowed access, as generally (especially at low interest rates) even conservatively invested your pot will grow faster than the interest does.  So I would plan on using it as belt and braces rather than a prime way of clearing it.  You can always make a separate decision later.      

Anyway best of luck with your plans.  I know Reading, and it is expensive so as other posters have said you need to trade the cost of the houses with the inconvenience of being a bit further out of the way of your job/clubs/... As your daughter gets older, the clubs will ease down, as she prefers to study or see friends or focus on just one thing

samps1973

I've had the week off work this week and spent most of it studying about mortgages and looking at properties.

The main problem I have with moving too far out the way is that I work 20 miles from reading and would find it very difficult getting to and from work if something goes wrong with my car. Transport links to where I work are not good. In reading there are people who can give me a lift if I need it and vice versa. If I left reading to get to work on the only hus that would get there it takes 2 1/2 hours to get there as it goes around all the other towns and villages along the way and it's worse from other directions.

I'm not sure if it's the overthinking and feeling tired but I'm feeling a bit negative about getting a mortgage now. I guess it's normal to feel that way.
Although my job is very safe at the moment, things can happen. Unfortunately, unemplyment/redundancy cover isn't available at the moment due to covid. I think to have such a big commitment cover for that is important.
Another thing is with overtime I earn £35,000 because I've worked for 21 years for the same company. If for some reason, I lost my job and had to find another thetes no way I could earn what I earn now as not many people around the country do what I do, only a few companies and I would have to do a basic job and earn much less. Although i keep trying to brush the negative thoughts away, they could happen. Then again the whole country could say the same i guess.

Anyway that's the negative bit out the way!
My lender said that by paying extra, the term wouldn't get shorter. So I'm assuming if I'm paying off the capital then if the term doesn't get shorter then the payments must surely reduce over time. If this is the case then in the future I would be able to have a lower paid job as the payments would be less. Hmmm.

samps1973

I'm going to try and keep any motgage chat on my other motgage thread. I just wrote it all out again and unlike my daughter I'm a 1 finger typer 😳🙂...I didn't want to paste as I've talked about other stuff too. I'll try and keep the non mortgage side here 👍

Thanks guys

MovingForwards

Making mortgage overpayments naturally brings the term down, no point asking the lender to shorten it. Have a play with a mortgage overpayment calculator and see for yourself how the interest reduces and the capital paid off increases. This is the one I use:
https://www.themoneycalculator.com/mortgages/calculators/mortgage-overpayment-calculator/#!/dealfinder/mortgages/

Your concern about job loss is normal. I sat with a pen and paper working out all different scenarios, different salaries, how my outgoings would work on a lower salary and various other things. This is another reason for taking the longest term possible, keeps the payment down.

Another thing to do is save a safety blanket of 3 - 6 months outgoings, provides a breather for finding a new job and JSA is claimable for 6 months, regardless of savings. It doesn't pay loads, but helps stretch your savings while getting another job.

If your OT wasn't accepted by a lender towards mortgage affordability, save all of that or split it 50/50 between savings and overpayments.

Commuting is always an awkward one. Cycle as a back up. Train and folding bike. Hire a small car for a couple of days. 

There's plenty of time to make a decision, or even shelve it for a few years, save up more and see how you feel then.

samps1973

@MovingForwards
Thanks again for your help. That's a very helpful post.The best part is the very last paragraph.

 So far I have studied nearly every spare hour for the past couple of weeks, at least I know kind of what's what but I'm feeling a bit burned out mentally. Things aren't as bad as I thought. I have 22 years as it stands as I can do it up to 70, although it would be nice to get it paid before i go shopping for walking sticks. So no stress. A few more months living where I live wont hurt.

Just going to relax and browse the market for properties for a few days. Is it me or does every property you look at have just one thing missing that you want or one thing that you don't want. 😀

MovingForwards

You're in a good position and have a few options; rent for another year or two, buy now and overpay, pay a lot into pension and buy when you reach the lowest age you can draw the 25% pension and use it as a deposit on a shorter term mortgage making overpayments, shared ownership, buy with help to buy equity loan, keep renting and when older put your name on the council list.

Have a look what's around, but use the time to think, plan, work out what would happen in various scenarios, save as much as you can in the meantime and see how you feel every 6 months. Properties come and go all the time. Some days you'll look and think is that is, other times you will be spoilt for choice. 

When looking, try and see past the sellers furniture and colour schemes. Are the room sides good, are the doors and windows in convenient places for doing furniture layouts. Can you live with that navy blue bathroom suite while saving to replace it; it's only a room for the three S's 🤭 Does the kitchen have a good layout and enough cupboards, regardless of the colour tiles, age of cupboards in a few years you'll have enough to change that.

The hard part is knowing what you want /don't what, a list of must have, be nice to have and don't care helps whittle things down.

samps1973

That made me laugh 😅 One of the properties I've got my eye on has a pale blue bathroom suite 🤢. But then again it has gas central heating and a gas cooker which I would prefer as electric heating costs a bomb, I think cooking on gas is better too. The rooms are a slightly odd shape but have plenty of light and the bedroom and living room are miles apart so I could rent the bedroom out if I ever needed to when my daughter grows up and will give my daughter a little privacy when she stays at mine.

MovingForwards

With properties that haven't been updated or done in ages, it's worth looking at architectural salvage yards, see if they will take the old suite away when it's removed or potentially list it for sale yourself, people do buy them have a look on eBay.

I've got sage and don't notice the colour. remember bathrooms are for S, shower and shave 🤣 provided everything functions and the property has potential, it buys you time to save up and replace. Tiles and walls can be painted, as can kitchens.
If you are considering a property that hasn't been changed in a while, head over to the DIY section. There's lots of great ideas, discussions about how to do things and a few of us are procrastinating instead of getting stuck in to paint our urm, unique and interesting kitchens.