If you've paid your mortgage off how old were you when you did it and how?

[Tulipsy272]

Just daydreaming about being mortgage free. I've just turned 40 and would like to do it by the time I'm 50. It's doable but it would take a huge amount of budgeting. I think it would be worth it in the long term though. I think we'd have to over pay as much as we could each month.

How old were you?

We lived in a cramped flat for longer than we needed to and bought in a property slump (94). Having had to cope with interest rates shooting up from 71/2% to 14% we made paying off the mortgage a priority.

We lived with a lot of faults and limited furniture. We both had consulting-style jobs where we could volunteer to work away from home on projects (so minimal utility and food bills) for big chunks of time for about 5 years and commuting costs were replaced by travel expenses.

It's a lot less stressful when one or more of you gets made redundant if you have minimal outgoings.

Just to add tjstvin my circle of friends, it isn't usual to pay your mortgage off before 50 (or 60?) although most want to. We were lucky and DH bought a very cheap doer-upper but also haven't got the size and expense of house that our friends will have when they pay off their mortgages in the future.

Ours was paid off last year aged 47. We took out the mortgage when we were early twenties and also overpaid.

Endowment
2 small inheritances
Redundancy
Over paying monthly reducing term each time
Over paid with annual bonus
Buying well within our means and haven't moved since
No huge home improvements

Paid off at 43. 8 years early.

43, but then we decided to move to a bigger and better house. No regrets and the kids love it.

We paid ours off today! 53 and 56 respectively. We'd have paid it off earlier had we not remortgaged to fund some home improvements a few years ago.

I'm 40 and overpaying a set amount each month. I'm a bit confused about overpaying as I think it sits in an account alongside the mortgage and can be withdrawn anytime, unless I paid a lump sum in which case it reduces the payment. So the bank is making interest off my overpayments .

I'm also saving and I'm not sure what I am using the savings for yet but keeping options open.

37 when my lovely husband died, also aged 37. I’d rather have him back and an 100 year mortgage. Seeing as I can’t, I’m very thankful we had a bit of life insurance which paid off the house, meaning I can afford to work part time. It makes bringing up grieving kids alone a little easier.

53. Huge relief. We divorced a year later. Gave me freedom to buy wherever I wanted

Paid it off in February

I'm 41 and husband 43

We bought your house in 2014 and it was our first property

Husband is a overseas oil worker so on a decent salary and he has been goog at saving the last 6 years

42 but DH owned his own house down south and sold it to move up north with me so was able to pay outright because of the difference in house prices.

31 and 37. First time was my second house (sold my first which was rented to pay off mortgage on the second), then moved to a bigger house and paid that off too. Worked hard and spent very little in my 20s. Husband had a house when I met him at 29 which we rented out for a while.

Parents helped me to buy my first property by stumping up half the deposit and some lump sums (matching my overpayments). I'm very grateful to them and hope some day to do the same for my kids. The benefit of having had money from them whilst they are still alive is that they know we're financially secure and can enjoy visiting/staying with us as we've plenty of space.

35. Bought the house at 26 and we overpaid the mortgage from the first payment, our income trebled over that time so our overpayment went from £70 a month to over £1000 a month. That was last year so not in a dim and distant past when houses were 2x a salary, and it's been really beneficial to not have that payment during the current crisis, but I do think we'll take on a mortgage again next year or the year after to move to our forever home so we'll probably have another 10 years or so at that point.

39, single parent. Lost my parents. Used inheritance to pay off mortgage.

We were lucky with our old house selling price that we could put down a large % of value of the house and mortgage the rest. Payments are fairly low and we should be mortgage free in 10ish years. I'll be 44.

35 years old husband was 38, took out a 35 years mortgage, paid it off in 12 years. Nothing extravagant, over paying each month it soon adds up

37 the first time, sold to buy bigger house and looking at 47 the second time.

Lots of luck at being in early twenties in late 1990s when properties were affordable on a single salary. Over paid a bit and put pay increases into increased payments but also guzzled coffee and been on holidays.

I'll be 45/46 when it's paid off. We overpay every month. We still go on holiday though - I wouldn't want to give up everything just to pay it off.

As interest rates fell in the last recession, we kept up the repayment at the previous rates, so knocked 7 years off the term. As the additional payments came straight off the capital, even though it was just €30 odd each month, it added up over a decade both in. Reducing capital and reducing the amount of interest owed.

44; we had a small mortgage as we had never traded up and very sadly lost a close family member and were able to pay of the mortgage with the inheritance.

Mid twenties the first time - at the time we both had well paid jobs, some family assistance and then we had an inheritance which paid off the last bit. Then we moved and paid another small mortgage off in our early thirties after we’d bought a bigger house. We won’t move again, at least not up the ladder, so now focusing what we would have spent on mortgage payments on pension instead.

51
Am surprised how many have paid off so young.

We did it by always over paying. I took out my first mortgage when interest rates were 13%, and, every time the rate dropped, we kept the payment what it had been before - working on the principle we'd been managing on that, so might as well keep paying it.

@AndyBarbersIntern

I think people reading this thread need to realise it is not usual to pay off a mortgage early and you’re not an abject failure if you can’t

I needed this!

48. Original mortgage was for 30 yrs at 32. Had a govt savings scheme but overpaid mortagei instead. Interest rate also helped 16.5% at first ..3.5% at end. Difference was 300 per month kept paying it. Rate in 1992 was pure hell. Best desicion ever.

No mortgage at age 49.

Luck and timing played a large part. Bought my first flat in the mid nineties when prices were rock bottom. Bought in Hackney which was considered an absolute dive at the time, I can't tell you how much it has changed since then, it's so expensive and trendy now!

However made a large profit on that one and then on every property since just because of the start that first flat gave XP and I really.

Then subsequent separation from ex meant I moved out of London and was able to buy mortgage free from equity.

As a single parent it has given me such peace of mind.