What would you do??

tootallulah

I paid off the mortgage on my London flat, cashed in the endowment as a deposit and bought a second home in the north last October. I took out a £174k mortgage over fifteen years and I found it terrifying! However, in January with all moving costs paid I started to plan and over pay. I now expect to be mortgage free in "about" eight years. I haven't regretted it for a minute though, I love having a house and garden, I have kept my job in London. I do things I haven't done for years, like budget! but it's great. Extra space is a wonderful thing.

Kaz2904

I agree that you are in a very good position and think you should save like billyo for the shortfall between your now home and your forever home.
In this current market you may have difficulty selling and it may become easier as time goes on.
You could start getting your house ready for market and try to live as though you are selling. Keep an eye on properties or have a look around and draw up your wish list. If there is something that is right for you and it comes on the market you can rethink about whether now is the time to jump on board.
The beauty of having the savings in place is that it will save you fees long term because you wouldn't have to arrange a mortgage. You will also have the self satisfaction of walking into the Estate agents and telling them that you are a cash buyer (and knowing you're not lying!).
Might also make it easier in terms of negotiating prices as they would be less likely to tell the seller that you can just ask for more from the mortgage co?

Can't wait until we're in your position but it'll be a while yet and certainly won't be as young as you both are!

TurnaroundSue

We managed to pay off our mortgage in 2000 through part redundancy and selling of shares. We were mortgage free for 2 years, but at that point we were not very good with money and didn't save our mortgage money at all and just put it into living each month. After 2 years decided it would be better to move to a bigger house (from 3 bed semi to 4 bed detached). Was going to keep semi house and rent out, but due to circumstances at that time we didn't keep house (biggest regret in my life) and sold it. Anyway bought new house with smallish mortgage (21k), paid £84k for house which is now worth some £220k and have added to mortgage for an extension so now stands at £40k. Have 6 years left to run, but am hoping to make overpayments, but can only pay off 5% pa so hoping to pay off in 4 1/2 years.

Never regretted moving and using this house for nest egg in future. If it is the house you really want then I say go for it - maybe even think about keeping your own and renting out, which is what I wished we had done!!!

Good luck in whatever you decide and congratulations on being mortgage free.

MidLifeCrisis_3

Draw up a list with 2 columns "Why we want to stay put" and "Why we should move to our dream house" and you'll soon realise what you want to do when you get down to the nitty gritty and find yourselves adding negatives for one column and positives in the other.

Alternatively, it may be wise to get your house valued first, test the market and go from there. If you can sell, put in a silly offer on the house you like and go for it.

Good luck!

MLC

MancBrel

Your out of the Mortgage Rat-Race! Your happy with your home!

That sounds great to me. You will always see a bigger/better house. I would be content with the home I had, and the money I had saved by paying off the mortgage.

It's not a good time to be selling either?

Dithering_Dad

Is there any compelling reason for you to be mortgage free at such a young age?

People generally want to be mortgage free to meet some other objective such as getting a lower paid but more interesting job, or because they are in temporary or insecure jobs and need the security, or because they're aiming to send their kids to private school, etc. etc.

I think you need to look at your reasons for being mortgage free and decide if they are more important than having a nicer, larger or better located home.

Many of us could be mortgage free instantly if we downsized or moved to a different neighbourhood, but we choose to stay on the mortgage treadmill until we find the right house and then start concentrating on our 'mortgage free' reasons.

TSM_2

I am currently at a dilemma which relates to this thread I think. Current situation is I live with my girlfriend and our son in a house which we have a £120,000 mortgage on. We are both 31 yrs old, good earners, and even better savers (in our humble opinion anywayJ).

We have been overpaying the mortgage for the past eight years which has reduced it dramatically.

Our son is three years old in October and we have to start looking at schooling for him. Whilst the schools in our area are good, we are looking into reducing/stopping the overpayment of our mortgage and paying for private education. The alternative is to increase the mortgage to roughly £165,000, pay £25,000ish in moving fees and move into the catchment’s of the school we would like him to go to.

But I figure that the cost of moving would be possibly more than paying for private school for the next 7 years. If I take into account the moving costs and the interest paid on the larger mortgage.

Has anyone else faced this predicament?

And if so….. Any advice to lend?

Thanks

ailuro2

The two issues need to be separated initially.

Decide what education and surroundings you need for your son, then decide the best way to get it. Are the schools in your area that bad? Will he be close to friends from school so he can socialise without needing driven everywhere when he's older? Are there sports facilities available where you are/want to move to?

The list is a long one, but work that one out and you'll be closer to your answer about moving home.

Paying for private school and transport costs etc. might mean going without educational holidays which can really bring kids on and give them a desire to learn more about the world around them.

It is about balance, I hope you find it!

plzhelpmesave!

ailuro2 wrote: »

The two issues need to be separated initially.

It is about balance, I hope you find it!

totally agree! look at all the pros and cons with your wife, and then take the next steps carefully. Private education isn't always as good as it seems to be - children can do just as well in a good school anywhere.

rob78

Thanks for all the advice. i Have decided to wait and save for the house. I will move in the future and hopefully not need much of a mortgage. You never know the house I want at 280k at the moment might be 250k by then and I can avoid the 3% stamp duty.