Downsizing to pay off mortgage

enzolondon1

Looking for advice for those who had done similar. We have 81k left to pay off the mortgage. Still a substantial amount but thinking of moving to a smaller properly, closer to the city to enable us to potentially pay off the mortgage.Long term we're not planning on staying in our part of the UK (expensive part of the UK). We both work with low-average salaries in public sector roles. Obviously the market isn't active at the moment but worth looking into do you think? 

Brie

It's always worth looking to see what might be affordable where you are versus where you want to go to short term and long term.  Think about what you can do without (that extra bedroom, garage, garden) and what is essential (off road parking, proximity to public transport, pubs etc).

savingholmes

I'd also suggest going to view some of the smaller properties if you can. I'm downsizing and it looks fine on paper but when you go in you might find your reception room sizes are much smaller than you are willing to live with - rather than it being just about the number of bedrooms. You are also likely to need a radical declutter unless you are already minimalist. Think about how you would cope with entertaining etc.

edinburgher

Closer to a city can offer interesting possibilities if you're open minded. Dropping a car/all the cars, using more public transport and walking, having access to more public parks etc. so not feeling the need to keep a garden going, faster and more reliable broadband. Lots of little things that mean your lifestyle can be quite different, some of which I'd welcome again at the right time in our lives. Like most people, we lived closer to the city when we were in our 20s and slightly further out as we started a family in our 30s. Now in our (early) 40s and can see the appeal of both worlds.