Overpay credit card and save the money instead?

[Bibs2014]

Looking to put our house on the market and buy another one but not sure whether it’s better to overpay the credit cards to get the debt down (£17K owed all on 0%) or put that money aside as savings. Currently overpay around £200 a month.

Any advice?

[wowfudge]

Get the debt down. It affects affordability.

[johnd2]

For complicated questions like that ask a mortgage broker.
It will certainly be taken into account by a mortgage lender, but whether it would stop you getting the mortgage you want depends on your other circumstances and the lender.
Are you stretching yourself to the Max for the new place?

[ohdoadoodoo]

Absolutely pay off the debt before you start saving. That 0% isn't going to last forever and the debt is going to cost you more than what having no savings is. 17k is a huge amount to pay off a CC.

[Bibs2014]

John - I did ask a mortgage broker and he gave me mixed messages tbh. First he said rather than overpay, save the extra couple of hundred a month to go towards solicitor's fees. Then he said get the debt down.

He did say that the amount of debt I had wouldn't affect the amount of mortgage he was offering to me.

As for stretching ourselves to the max, we haven't even started looking properly yet, but we may have to if necessary...

[LadyPenelopeCantDance]

Are you looking to take money out of the house to pay the debt? We paid off our debt with some of our equity so it wasn't taken into consideration for affordability when we bought the new house.

Might be worth putting the debt in to the mortgage as it will keep your monthly payments down.

Definitely seek advice.