Mortgage free or forever home?

Zerforax

housebuyer143 said:

Having just made this decision and left mortgage free life for a mortgage and much larger, better house in my mid 30s, I say mortgage and better house!

You only live once and if your current house isn't what you want to live in then being mortgage free in it isn't that great.

No doubt you need to be happy in your home, especially when everyone is spending even more time at home than before after the pandemic.

Gycraig said:

Me and partner earn 60k between us but no kids, couldn’t imagine owning a house worth 200k never mind 700k guess it depends on location, can get a nice 3 bed for 200-220k where I live. 

Also that “dream home” eventually just becomes your home and you end up looking a little bit up the ladder again, can’t beat the good old hedonic treadmill

Everyone is an individual so will all have different priorities. The crazy jump in the house market recently has definitely made houses seem unfathomably expensive!

Agree with the last sentence. I remember someone saying a decade ago to me that as your wages go up, your taste just goes up proportionally (£20 dinners, become £40 then £60 or cheap holidays become more expensive etc!)

jonnydeppiwish! said:

We did that 10 months ago, exactly the same scenario. We’ve spent a few £s on updating the 3 bed semi to how we want it and, at present, are very content.

We save a good sim each month, though at the moment, this is being spent on holidays and things we’ve always wanted to do.

Mortgage free every time - we also both now work part time so enjoy a 3 day weekend every week!

Working part-time does sound very nice!

I've not responded to every post as I agree with the sentiment that there is no right or wrong answer. Me and my partner seem to have somewhat different ideas as to what would be our ideal "forever home" which doesn't help.

lookstraightahead

babyblade41 said:

At the end of the day you still sit down to watch TV in one room , go to bed in another  & maybe cook in the kitchen 

I would always choose mortgage free 

This is so true!

housebuyer143

lookstraightahead said:

babyblade41 said:

At the end of the day you still sit down to watch TV in one room , go to bed in another  & maybe cook in the kitchen 

I would always choose mortgage free 

This is so true!

Although, it is infinitely harder to do these things and enjoy them if you are crammed into the space with 4 others. Space is nice to have if you can.

Ramouth

Is there a middle ground?  Larger house than you currently have but not your dream home so less mortgage?  This is what we chose to do.  We were mortgage free in our last home and could have borrowed 300k to get a bigger house but chose to only borrow 110k to get a similar house to the one we had but in a better area.  In your case it might be a bigger house in the same area if space is what you need.

lookstraightahead

Ramouth said:

Is there a middle ground?  Larger house than you currently have but not your dream home so less mortgage?  This is what we chose to do.  We were mortgage free in our last home and could have borrowed 300k to get a bigger house but chose to only borrow 110k to get a similar house to the one we had but in a better area.  In your case it might be a bigger house in the same area if space is what you need.

This is what I would do as well. 

We put most of our equity into this house but kept some back and took out a small mortgage.

onylon

I think another factor is any other savings/investments you have. If practically all your savings are tied up in the house then it may be better to put your extra cash into an ISA and/or pension rather than a mortgage.

Tiglet2

A forever home is only a forever home while it meets your needs.  One day you might have different needs and your wonderful forever home is no longer suitable.

I do think that somewhere in the middle is best.  Interest rates are rising, the cost of living is rising and kids are expensive, so do think about how you would manage in this situation.  If your house is too small then you are young enough to take on a bigger mortgage over 25/30 years to get a bigger property, but don't leave yourself too short to enjoy some family holidays and days out.

FreeBear

babyblade41 said:

At the end of the day you still sit down to watch TV in one room , go to bed in another  & maybe cook in the kitchen 

I would always choose mortgage free 

But you still need space for the (adult) toys - No, not those sorts of toys...

Got a garage here for the big toys, and really need to convert the dining room in to a proper darkroom sometime. Mortgage free, child free, and no partner to worry about.

markin

Every one seems to be jumping to the conclusion that 'dream home' means Bigger!  An extra 50k - 200K could find a better location, a better view,  a nicer area, Or as simple as a bigger private garden

RelievedSheff

We are in the 30-40 age bracket and moved into what could be our forever home a few years ago. The aim is to be mortgage free in the next 10 years.

That said if the right house came onto the market and we could comfortably afford it we would possibly make the jump and buy it. But it would have to be a pretty special house to move us from here.

We live in an affordable part of the country where wages are above average so a budget of above £400k would get you a very nice house.