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Original poster

The dream of being mortgage free...

126 replies

InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest · 05/10/2021 15:06

I would love to be mortgage free. The idea that if I lose my job or things go pear shaped financially I may lose my home, terrifies me.

Can I please ask how old you were when you paid off your residential mortgage? Or what age you will be when you think you will have paid it off? I'm in my late forties at the moment, live alone, am the sole person paying my mortgage, and have another 20 years to go...

OP posts:
Bloodybridget · 05/10/2021 19:07

After my DM died and her estate was settled, I was 55.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 05/10/2021 19:08

Should have mine paid off by the time I'm 50. I'm 31. Single parent on a low wage but I live in a cheap area, my 2 bed house cost £100k.

RainbowMum11 · 05/10/2021 19:11

I paid mine off at 36 and no intentions of moving again - the house is big enough for me & my daughter and we love the area.
To be fair, we could have paid off our mortgage before but we were each able to sell the FMH and each buy a smaller house mortgage free when we divorced.
We have been lucky with moves to do-er uppers and we have always overpaid the mortgages as much as we possibly could when we could which has led to this, no parental loans or anything, just fortunate with the moves we have made and the work we have done.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General money
snugpea · 05/10/2021 19:11

I'll be 57 but hoping to overpay and have it cleared a bit before then. Single as well

Ginger1982 · 05/10/2021 19:18

We paid ours off this year, 38 and 41 but due to family circumstances.

RumHoney · 05/10/2021 19:19

I'll be late 40s. Currently 43 and I could probably scrape together the money to pay it off but the interest rate is low enough that I'd rather leave my other investments alone. I make some overpayments but not as aggressively as I could and put money in my pension/s&s ISA instead.

TheSpiral · 05/10/2021 19:21

@InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest

I am really impressed at how many people seem to have paid their mortgages off by their mid forties. This thread has certainly given me the motivation to push hard towards being mortgage free.

I get the idea that investing atm makes more money - and I do have investments. But investments can hit rough patches, industries can go belly up, etc. so I'd rather pay back the loan. It will give me a lot more peace of mind.

I am 46 and we have just paid ours off. But in all honestly it is nothing to do with how motivated or hard working we have been, and we certainly don’t earn lots of money. It is more to do with DH buying a cheap flat in a dodgy part of London in the late 90s, the area becoming gentrified in the ten years we lived there, being able to sell it for the price of a four bedroom house out of London, and recently having a small inheritance. It’s circumstances.
AnyFucker · 05/10/2021 19:25

I was 48. Two beloved members of the family had to die to enable it, unfortunately Sad

Seemssounfair · 05/10/2021 19:46

Got first mortgage at 22 years old (flat), moved to house using equity from flat as deposit at 33 years old (should have done earlier). Bought house well within means and mortgage was around 18 years - paid off 6 years early at age 45 saving a fortune on interest and also the repayment protection plan.

We overpaid as regularly as often as we could and we also had a few lump sums we have put in - 2 small inheritances, redundancy, mis-sold endowment compensation, mis-sold PPI compensation (probably added up to around £50k-ish). No large home improvements.

Prioritised mortgage over luxuries such as expensive holidays, wedding, new cars etc.

Focus is now on Uni for ds and saving for whatever hits us now in our mid 50s (probable redundancy/period of unemployment or alternatively retirement early 60s if possible).

clartins · 05/10/2021 19:53

Myself and DH took out our 25 yr term mortgage on a 5 year fixed rate. When that fixed rate ended we paid for another 5 yr fixed rate, the repayments went down but we continued to pay the same amount as the previous 5 yrs. Next fixed rate we booked was a 10 yr fixed because the booking fees had gone up considerably and it was the same fee for 5 or 10 years and if I’m honest I begrudged the fee and figured in another 5 years it would only be more money. At this point we added £10000 to the mortgage which effectively wiped out everything we’d overpaid and adding £10k took repayments back up so we weren’t overpaying anymore. After a couple of years we increased our payments by £25 and did the same again at 5 years so we were now paying an additional £50. At the end of the 10 years we just went on the standard variable rate which was lower than the fixed rate so we kept repayments unchanged. I was 25 when we took out our mortgage and remember thinking omg I’ll be 50 when we pay this off! We paid the mortgage off when I was 48, best day ever. Even if you can only afford £5-10 anything you can overpay, do it, but don’t forget about living your life too.

MoiCnoi · 05/10/2021 20:07

I've just read this thread and gone back to the OP!

OP these threads always bring out the tales of aggressive overpayment and inheritance! Which are lovely but probably not representative.

For counterpoint we are doing a blend. Some overpayment but not at the expense of living. Living most of your life mortgage free isn't an option for most.

CaptainCorelli · 05/10/2021 20:11

We will be 51 if we can continue to make overpayments at the current rate, 53 if not. We had an extension on our current home rather than moving and when we came to remortgage doubled our monthly payment to pay it off quicker. If we’d not extended we would have paid off in a couple of years - 45 now.

FillyerBoots · 05/10/2021 20:16

Paid mine off at 40 due to inheritance and overpaying just a bit every month and a pay rise. Overpaying just a bit, even 500 a year makes a huge difference.

There’s a calculator on moneysavingexpert.com.

Now got another one. Interest rates are v low and we wanted more space.

DustyMaiden · 05/10/2021 20:22

At 55 took from pension pot to clear it.

Howshouldibehave · 05/10/2021 20:25

Hopefully we’ll be 50 (me) and 55 (DH).

Littleelffriend · 05/10/2021 20:25

I was mortgage free at age33, now have a mortgage of £150k on £325k

wombatspoopcubes · 05/10/2021 20:59

60ish but we only needed a mortgage for half of this house. If things go pear shaped we can downsize to be mortgage free. That is also a good feeling.

toocold54 · 05/10/2021 21:01

I’m 32 and have never had a mortgage. I am hoping to get one in the next 5 years but it probably means I’ll be around 60 before it gets paid off.

buckeejit · 05/10/2021 21:41

I was 35. Helped by fil but I bought when I was young so had a small mortgage before I met dh. Not great career but good life now & I don't really worry too much about money which is nice.

Jmaho · 06/10/2021 09:34

@Keepitonthedownlow

Haha going by this thread the average mortgage free person is about 40.

In the real world a lot of people are taking out 30 year mortgages at age 30+.

I'm one of them, but I'd like to be mortgage free by 60, if possible.

I work in mortgages and would say the majority of applications we are seeing right now are long terms taking the applicants right up to retirement. And lots of them are based on a retirement age of between 70 and 75. I feel for anyone trying to get on the property ladder in a lot of parts of the UK. Having said that a lot of applications are from people who are renting and are saving for a deposit at the same time. The longer terms often mean that the mortgage will be less than their rent and they will then we able to save on top. Most people I know have a mortgage and will do until their 60's. The only ones that don't or won't are friends who have had substantial parental help both getting onto the ladder and moving up and in life generally or friends who bought years ago and have stayed in their first house I don't worry about having a mortgage into my early 60's and potentially beyond if we move again. It's only when I see posts like this where I get a little jittery. Paying your mortgage off early seems to be really important to so many people. Don't get me wrong it would be nice but not possible for the majority. We might overpay further down the line but would rather build up some savings to help my children get on the ladder if at all possible. Some people earn enough to do both or have had help along the way or will get big inheritances. Not going to happen here. Also if we do live again and increase our mortgage further and take an even longer term we would definitely downsize before retirement anyway
TheUnbearable · 06/10/2021 10:43

We were 38 and 40, DH had taken a risky investment as had I which paid out. It was a hold your nerve type of one. He had lost 25k a couple of months before. This is 16 years ago so very different times.

Neither of us have ever had an inheritance as not favourite child.

Hen2018 · 06/10/2021 11:09

I paid mine off last month!

3 years early and I’m a lone parent in my mid 40s.

I recommend starting a thread on the moneysavingexpert mortgage free forum. I overpaid £17,000 in 2 years to clear it.

Original poster
InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest · 06/10/2021 15:09

I'm finding the answers to this thread very inspirational. I will certainly look at overpaying as much as I can!

OP posts:
userxx · 06/10/2021 15:45

Yep, overpaying has taken years off my mortgage. Its just over £13k now and the end is in sight....... unless I move and saddle myself again!

Original poster
InTheNameOfAllThatIsHonest · 07/10/2021 18:56

I had a chat with a mortgage broker and if I limit my spending significantly (while still paying into my pension and other investments), I could pay off my mortgage in ten years. That will still take me to nearly 60 years old though. I guess I should focus on the fact that at 60 I will then be able to travel and generally treat myself with the money I won't be spending every month on my mortgage!

OP posts:
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