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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask if you own your home outright, how much is it worth?

107 replies

Ujjj · 07/07/2024 20:59

I’m trying to work out whether we are being idiots by not just downsizing to be mortgage free. DH seems to think mortgage free means settling for less in most cases as you could just go on and on borrowing for bigger. I like having a reasonably big house but with that comes a hefty 250k mortgage. Are those mortgage free usually owning less than 500k homes? We are in our thirties for context.

OP posts:
SlebBB · 08/07/2024 07:29

Yes smaller, but I have two at £250k and £300k, both owned outright.

CormorantStrikesBack · 08/07/2024 07:29

I’m mortgage free, house is worth maybe 250k. Am in the north, it’s a large Victorian 3 bed semi. Yes we could have had the bigger, 4 bed detached but i didn’t want the bigger/longer mortgage.

Killingoffmyflowersonebyone · 08/07/2024 07:25

I think it massively depends on location, job and what sort of house you want.

I’ll be mortgage free by 40. Three bed semi. ‘Nice’ area of Kent. DP and I could upsize but we don’t want to or need to. House is (currently) worth £700K. We’ll only have one child and he can’t WFH so we won’t need extra space etc. I WFH but use the dining table because it’s just me and I’m closer to food that way

On the other hand my parents live in a four bed detached worth £900K and only paid it off a few years ago (60 at the time)

sleepyscientist · 08/07/2024 07:17

Our goal by 40 is to have a passive income big enough that it cover whatever mortgage we need for the house we want. Is that more viable option for you than being mortgage free?

Moveoverdarlin · 08/07/2024 00:20

Paid ours off in the last six months. Worth about 950k. I’m 43.

SiobhanSharpe · 08/07/2024 00:15

Mortgage paid off in our 50s. Moved house a couple of years ago, cash buyers. House now worth about 750k.

WonkyPicture · 08/07/2024 00:11

£200k, mortgage free. Just bought stbexh out, so it’s mine all mine!!! 4 bed detached but I’m in the NE.

Lilacapples · 08/07/2024 00:09

We have been mortgage free since our mid 30’s. First two houses were bought, extended, renovated and sold which left us with a very small mortgage on our 3rd home which we paid off. Husband is a builder. I think the house is worth around £500k although not had it valued .

LokiCroc · 08/07/2024 00:05

We'd have been mortgage free in a £280k house 3yrs (age 39) ago if we hadn't moved up. We are working hard to pay the new one off (worth £380k) in the next few years before I'm 45.

Racingadmin · 08/07/2024 00:04

Mortgage free by 40 . House is a big standard 3 bed semi in the SE worth about £450k.

We bought 20 years ago for £200k and decided that mortgage free was more important than upsizing . Now dc are grown that seems an excellent decision and we will probably only leave if needing care in old age

Pumping the mortgage money into isa and pensions so we can carry on having plenty of fun money once dh retires in next ten years

Spendysis · 07/07/2024 23:51

not quite mortgage free have £39k to pay in the north west so cheaper houses worth £325k 3 bedroom semi but 3rd bedroom is small I am 47 can’t wait to be mortgage free however wished we had moved to a bigger house and stretched ourselves more when dc were younger I was part time for a long time but as they are nearly 23 and 19 now there doesn’t seem much point in moving to a bigger house in the same area as hopefully they will be moving out in a few years and I mean that in a nice way they are welcome here for as long as they want to be

GenerousGardener · 07/07/2024 23:48

Mortgage free. DH got a life threatening illness, critical illness cover paid off the mortgage. If you don’t have this cover, I urge you to reconsider. House worth about 400k.

SlightlygrumpyBettyswaitress · 07/07/2024 23:43

Mortgage free at 48. Now 56. House is worth £550 ish. Have pondered getting a mortgage to buy a bigger house/better house but can't tell you how glad I was I didn't during covid and seemingly being the only person in the UK unable to claim a penny in assistance.

Femme2804 · 07/07/2024 23:32

I’m 35 and DH 45 we mortgaged free our primary house just a month ago. Our house valued for £500k in cambridge. We still have mortgage for our buy to let house though. Planning to repayment that house now.

Mabris · 07/07/2024 23:14

Aged 44. DH 60 Mortgage free, house worth 600k and also own 2 rentals both mortgage free worth 300k each. We have been very frugal over the years, focusing on paying off the mortgages and minimal holidays. Now we are able to enjoy the fruits of our labour. DH would like us to sell all 3 properties and move to a a more remote location in a different county and buy 1 house for 1 million. I'm totally against the idea.

Whatevershallidowithmylife · 07/07/2024 23:12

Mortage free at 45 - house worth maybe £200k (we're in Scotland so house prices much cheaper). Would love to be detached rather than semi-detached but not enough to want to have a mortgage again. Absolutely love being mortgage free! On a practical level, if we had upsized we'd be selling up due to my ill health now as I have cancer and DH looks after me so yes, the mortgage free years where we holiday'd five or six times a year are fabulous memories now and we wouldn't have had them.

Mariespip · 07/07/2024 23:08

Ujjj · 07/07/2024 21:08

Yeah I guess it depends very much on personal context! I love the idea of being mortgage free but we would have to be somewhere much smaller round here or move somewhere less desirable for the same size house

I’m in a similar position to you OP. We’re mid-late 30s and bought in an expensive area for the schools. My oldest hasn’t started primary yet and we’re now re-evaluating whether to stay here with a mortgage or to re-locate, reduce/lose the mortgage and potentially work a bit less to be with the kids more. Our mortgage repayments are around £1200 but will go up by the end of the year, it’s a dilemma because we’re not sure where else to go (we have been looking).

Propertyshmoperty · 07/07/2024 23:01

40yrs old, mortgage free, house worth £400k. Bought at the end of the last slump in 2013 and overpaid massively as we were both working full time, no kids and cost of living was relatively cheap. However about to upsize so will have a mortgage again. We have a child just about to start reception and this house is a little bit small (tiny kitchen with only space for an undercounter fridge, no freezer) with the rising cost and hassle of building to extend we may aswell just upsize (although we've upsized considerably in the end). Will have a £300k mortgage but we also have savings too so if we lost our jobs we'd be fine for a good while without defaulting.

It's all personal, can you service the mortgage without compromising the lifestyle you want? Do you like your house and neighbours? Do you like the area you are in? If the answer to all those questions is yes I think you would be daft to downsize to be mortgage free in your 30s. Xx

Logimind · 07/07/2024 22:53

We paid off our mortgage when I was 41 and DH was 44 (we’re a decade on now). House worth approx. £550 - £600k. We bought it in our mid twenties for less than £100K though (spent more than that on extensions and improvements since, but even so…) - that was a big factor, as was not moving up the property ladder as our household income grew.

Never particularly prioritised it - pension was always #1, followed by living comfortably.

outdamnedspots · 07/07/2024 22:53

Mortgage free, early 50s, home value is 750k.

Rugby1971 · 07/07/2024 22:51

Mortgage free at age 37, now 53, house worth £250k. Used spare money to work part time since aged 45 and travel the world. Also take unpaid leave to live abroad for a few months during the UK winter. £2500 “fun” money left every month after bills.

GRex · 07/07/2024 22:48

Numbers are meaningless in this type of thread, the point is what you can afford and how much space that gives you.

We have been mortgage free for some time; it has suited us for maternity leave, part time working with no risk etc. Putting more money into property might suit some, but we prefer not having to worry about bills. Sounds like your and your DH are not aligned on life plans, so you need to seek out a compromise.

ISeriouslyDoubtIt · 07/07/2024 22:46

Bought outright 30 years ago at 31. Lived in same house since then, 4 bed detached now worth about 500k, over 4 times what I paid. No intention of moving.

OptimisticMermaid · 07/07/2024 22:39

Downsized to nicer area. House worth 300k. I’ve been mortgage free since i was about 40.

Blackfluffycats · 07/07/2024 22:19

We aren’t mortgage free but we are mid 30s and have a house worth 400k with 200k equity (midlands). If we wanted to be mortgage free we could get a 3 bed semi but we would be sacrificing the lovely privacy and location that we have now. We can afford our mortgage relatively comfortably so why would we live somewhere less desirable just to be debt free?

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