How much did you borrow for your mortgage? Bare minimum or extra for making it a home?

juliebunny

So I'm part way through the moving process. I've got a mortgage agreed, and whilst I do have a fixed rate, I am still anxious over the future.
When I asked the bank whether I should perhaps borrow less, he said 'how will you pay for carpets etc?'

When I bought my first home, I threw every penny into the purchase, and gradually decorated, and bought things. Accepted all donations, got second hand etc. I was truly skint for several years, but just happy to have my own home.

I'm somewhat older now (ahem) and moving from a house that I've got 'as I like it' into a new house that is very much NOT my taste. Honestly can't imagine whose taste it would be, to be honest - BUT the house is otherwise nice, and in a better area and away from my toxic neighbours.

Just wondering what others have done - borrow enough to redecorate and renovate or be more frugal and do it as you go along? 

There won't be much spare cash after paying the mortgage, so big purchases such as new furniture and bathroom renovation could take years. I don't have expensive taste, and have some destructive pets, so it won't be anything high end, just getting rid of the feeling that I'm living in a museum / antique Greek holiday let!

SuseOrm

I borrowed the absolute bare minimum and as I get bonuses little windfalls along the way I put it all into my pension with the purpose of withdrawing it when I get to 58 and spend in the 25% tax free component on clear in the rest of the mortgage that point I will have to beautiful kitchen bathroom bedrooms etc for now we literally just painting it.  

lookstraightahead

I've got a small 19th century cottage which needs a lot of tlc but it's fine to do a bit at a time, we can live in it as is.

we generally buy things from charity shops unless it's impossible. I hate 'new' badly made furniture and in the past I have thrown things on skips / given away just because I've changed my colour scheme (makes me cringe even now).

I'm trying to become more minimalist to help financially, for the environment, and for peace of mind. I've learned to wait.

RM_2013

We have borrowed enough for the purchase no extra but the house is fairly new and well decorated with both a new bathroom and en suite recently fitted.  We do plan to update the kitchen but this will be next year as my husband due to receive a pension lump sum.
we have all the furniture we need to move and any decorating we want to do will be done as and when.  I can often pick up extra overtime shifts at work so usually use this money for things like new furniture or redecorating.
we will have also cleared all other debts from
the proceeds of selling our current house so we are hoping we are in a more comfortable situation than we are at present.
goid luck and enjoy your new home

Rachelredwood16

We've just borrowed what we need to fund the house, not borrowed any extra for stuff.

Do you not have much cash leftover from your sale after deposit, legal fees, estate agent fees etc? Or have you put all of it into the deposit? Can you not use the furniture in your current home? That will save a decent chunk.

With the spare cash, is that based on borrowing more to fund carpets etc or without borrowing the extra? It's okay to borrow extra to fund projects as long as its affordable and sustainable which if you don't have much cash leftover after mortgage and bills etc which I assume comes under the umbrella of "mortgage" that you've put then it's risky as what if something breaks down, or an emergency arises, do you have the funds to sort that? 

Soot2006

We just borrowed for the house, keeping the mortgage as low as possible, and allowing us to use any extra cash for gradual renovations.  Last house, I never really "cracked" DIY, but this time I seem to have developed more skills, so am having a lot of fun doing as much as possible myself while using any savings we manage to make on big things like new windows (one by one!) ...  With what is happening around us now, I am quite glad our mortgage isn't any higher than it needed to be as I don't think our lifestyle will have to change significantly, other than no more "big things" for a while.

youth_leader

We borrowed the lowest amount for our initial mortgage, and about fifteen years later we remortgaged to make some house improvements.  

I got caught out caveat emptor and had spend all of my sale equity on a big job here just after I'd moved in, do keep some savings if you can.

juliebunny

Thanks for the feedback! The sale is actually taking longer than planned, hence I've saved some extra money up. I'm thinking I'll split the difference. As youth_leader said - I'm concerned about any surprises when I move in and so keen to keep a bit back. Not to mention the energy bills coming up...
I just want it to not feel like I'm living in someone else's house for an extended period of time. I am pretty ok at DIY so but less inclined towards it as I get older - might have to dig out those tools though!!
I am actually tending towards minimalism aswell. So much easier to clean!

propertyhunter

juliebunny said:

Thanks for the feedback! The sale is actually taking longer than planned, hence I've saved some extra money up. I'm thinking I'll split the difference. As youth_leader said - I'm concerned about any surprises when I move in and so keen to keep a bit back. Not to mention the energy bills coming up...
I just want it to not feel like I'm living in someone else's house for an extended period of time. I am pretty ok at DIY so but less inclined towards it as I get older - might have to dig out those tools though!!
I am actually tending towards minimalism aswell. So much easier to clean!

I know what you mean. We painted the entire house and recarpeted it all so that it feels more like our own. It has cost 6k, including fixing things that were wrong with the house, sorting electrics, new light fittings and a leaky roof.

MovingForwards

I borrowed ²/3 of what I could have and deliberately found a property within that budget.  

A couple of tubs of trade white, some new door handles and several months of my time transformed the property into a blank canvas. Peaking under the lounge carpet/ underlay revealed laminate, therefore the carpet and underlay went. 

Most of my stuff is from the charity shop when I ended up in an unfurnished rental before buying, some has been donated to me since buying, but it all works as carefully thought out purchases.

I've been saving for a new kitchen/ shower room since moving and will get them replaced at some point; whenever I finish getting the money together.

If the option is putting a slightly smaller deposit in eg 20% instead of 25% then yeah, consider that to do some bits or sit in your new home knowing it's yours and the aged decor will go at some point.

lookstraightahead

MovingForwards said:

I borrowed ²/3 of what I could have and deliberately found a property within that budget.  

A couple of tubs of trade white, some new door handles and several months of my time transformed the property into a blank canvas. Peaking under the lounge carpet/ underlay revealed laminate, therefore the carpet and underlay went. 

Most of my stuff is from the charity shop when I ended up in an unfurnished rental before buying, some has been donated to me since buying, but it all works as carefully thought out purchases.

I've been saving for a new kitchen/ shower room since moving and will get them replaced at some point; whenever I finish getting the money together.

If the option is putting a slightly smaller deposit in eg 20% instead of 25% then yeah, consider that to do some bits or sit in your new home knowing it's yours and the aged decor will go at some point.

Fantastic way of doing things