Mortgage options …

Whiterose23

Hope someone can advise. I’m planning to sell up and move to a flat in a different area of the country but may need a very small mortgage to do so.
I’m 60 years old and want to clear my current mortgage but the flats I like and in the areas I want to live are more expensive than I first thought so I may need a loan of around £20,000, for example I expect to have around £180,000 equity once my house is sold but need £200k to secure the right property. I do not want to move into a retirement property as my son will be living with me. 
I’m not sure at this stage whether I would continue to work for my current employer remotely or find a new part time position once I move.
I’m looking into the best way to achieve this and my thoughts are:

Use a lump sum from one of my pensions (I could release around £30k but this would impact my pension later on)

Look at getting a small mortgage to make up the difference (such as an RIO mortgage)

Are there any other ways I could achieve this?

Thanks

Bigphil1474

Could you port your current mortgage over to the new property, then overpay it with any equity you have from the sale of your current property within any limits that there may be? You could do that in one lump sum or over a year for example.

BTW, there seems to be lots of horror stories about retirement properties, so I would avoid too. 

Mark_d

Suppose your current house is worth 250k and you have 180k of equity in it.  The simplest thing would be to port your mortgage if you can.

The service charge I pay on my flat is 1/3 of what I pay on my (interest only) mortgage.  Opting for a house rather than a flat means you could get a much better property/better area for the same cost.  So is downsizing to a flat a good idea?

I'm kind of stuck where I am because I can't move far due to work, and the stamp duty would cost a lot.  But I really wish I had bought a house rather than a flat.

Albermarle

So in fact you are not downsizing ( as per your thread title), but upsizing ( in money terms) !

Whiterose23

Albermarle said:

So in fact you are not downsizing ( as per your thread title), but upsizing ( in money terms) !

Yes, I had hoped to clear my mortgage but won’t be able to quite do that so will need to take a small
mortgage out to cover costs.

Whiterose23

Mark_d said:

Suppose your current house is worth 250k and you have 180k of equity in it.  The simplest thing would be to port your mortgage if you can.

The service charge I pay on my flat is 1/3 of what I pay on my (interest only) mortgage.  Opting for a house rather than a flat means you could get a much better property/better area for the same cost.  So is downsizing to a flat a good idea?

I'm kind of stuck where I am because I can't move far due to work, and the stamp duty would cost a lot.  But I really wish I had bought a house rather than a flat.

If I opt for a house I would have to take out a much larger mortgage, and my aim is to clear my mortgage asap, hence why I would prefer to buy a flat, plus I would then be able to live nearer to the city centre. I’m just not sure the best way to go about it.

youth_leader

Could you possibly qualify for a HA flat?  I meet several tenants of the 'Anchor Housing' flats up the road here and some of them have dogs, so pets are allowed.  Retirement Properties to Rent Near You - Anchor

Whiterose23

youth_leader said:

Could you possibly qualify for a HA flat?  I meet several tenants of the 'Anchor Housing' flats up the road here and some of them have dogs, so pets are allowed.  Retirement Properties to Rent Near You - Anchor

I’m looking to buy rather than rent.

Whiterose23

Bigphil1474 said:

Could you port your current mortgage over to the new property, then overpay it with any equity you have from the sale of your current property within any limits that there may be? You could do that in one lump sum or over a year for example.

BTW, there seems to be lots of horror stories about retirement properties, so I would avoid too. 

I’m not sure how that would work?

SarahB16

Mark_d said:

The service charge I pay on my flat is 1/3 of what I pay on my (interest only) mortgage.  Opting for a house rather than a flat means you could get a much better property/better area for the same cost.  So is downsizing to a flat a good idea?

Mark_d raises a similar point to what I was going to make.  I know you say the cost of the houses are greater than the flat you are interested in but do check what the service charges will be for the flat you are interested in and perhaps also check there is a satisfactory sinking fund already in place too.  Enquire what people think of the management company too.  

Stairlifts are a possibility for houses so don't let that be a factor to deter you from choosing a house but of course it is your choice.  

Whiterose23

SarahB16 said:

Mark_d said:

The service charge I pay on my flat is 1/3 of what I pay on my (interest only) mortgage.  Opting for a house rather than a flat means you could get a much better property/better area for the same cost.  So is downsizing to a flat a good idea?

Mark_d raises a similar point to what I was going to make.  I know you say the cost of the houses are greater than the flat you are interested in but do check what the service charges will be for the flat you are interested in and perhaps also check there is a satisfactory sinking fund already in place too.  Enquire what people think of the management company too.  

Stairlifts are a possibility for houses so don't let that be a factor to deter you from choosing a house but of course it is your choice.  

Hi thanks for your comment. A house in the area I want to move to would be more than £300k, and I want to clear my mortgage and reduce my outgoings as much as I can, hence the flat preference, rather than it being anything to do with future mobility.