OMG my father in law gave us an amazing offer today

[RosieLeaLovesTea]

OMG my father in law gave us an amazing offer today. He lives part time in HK and has made some property investments and sold some. Today we had a video call and he is offering to pay off our mortgage! Wow! What an amazing offer.

Our mortgage is not that high because we bought a doer upper 10 years ago and have been doing it up. It’s risen in value so we have a good amount of equity.

My DH have been talking about moving to a more expensive house in an area with better schools.

If we did this we could probably afford to rent our house out and make some decent money on it because the mortgage is low.

What he would give us would be approx 50% of new house value and we would she a bigger mortgage than now.

I am struggling a bit with the choice cause being mortgage free at 43 feels so freeing!

What would you do?

Lovely offer. Enjoy op !

Great offer. Decide which would work out best for you in the long run. As per PP, keep the 7 year IHT issue in mind.
We have also been decided to give money to our DC when they need it most. I would guess that your FL's financial adviser has told him to off load some of his cash. Best to spend it, as they say 'no pockets in a shroud' otherwise too much of it will go on IHT on his death.
Also...think twice about becoming a landlord...I am... and it is a massive pain in the arse. Planning on offloading my last rental property next year.

If stay in the house and save the money saving by not having to pay towards a mortgage/rent. Seems odd to have the chance to be mortgage free but choose to move, being a landlord is more work than it seems and isn't easy money.

This is wonderful news op! Ignore those who are always looking to suck the positives from the air. There will always be someone worse off than ourselves. That's unfortunate but it's life. It's no reason to decline any offer to make life easier for ourselves!

What a lovely FIL you have ❤️🥰

@thisplaceisweird

Probably not show off about it on a site where many of the users are struggling to get through the next hour.

Hairshirt itchy?

Say thank you very much and take it?

I'd stay in the current house.

Save surplus income yo create passive income streams.
Go part time or retire early.
Live the good life.

“Probably not show off about it on a site where many of the users are struggling to get through the next hour.”

Get a grip.

My mother couldn’t afford to put the heating on when we were children - I’m not triggered by people talking about central heating

Assume you’re all over the Christmas board scolding people frivolously discussing presents or Xmas food? FFS

How wonderful to hear of someone's good fortune instead of all the doom and gloom that's out there! How marvellous for you!!

I would 100% buy the bigger home and rent out your existing one. That will give you the biggest ROI and set you up nicely.

Good luck!

You’ll have to pay tax on all your income on the rental. Would that change your decision?

I’d do whatever made you the most stable and access to decent schools.

If you’ve missed normal application dates and are moving kids mid-year, you may not be able to get places at a new school in a good area-they’re often oversubscribed.

Some posters on here are just downright weird. Are only poor people allowed to post?

It’s great to hear some good news as MN can be quite a depressing place but I do think it was slightly insensitive to post.

OP posted it the same day she found out so there was no actual need to post it as her and her DH would need a few days to discuss things and it probably won’t be sorted until after Xmas anyway and this time of year is the most stressful time for the majority of the population.

It’s like when people post their massive piles of presents for their DCs knowing they have family and friends who can’t afford to do the same - it’s slightly insensitive.
But I guess some people don’t realise that some people can’t afford basic necessities, let alone luxuries.

@withlotsoflove

If this happened to me, the last thing I’d do is post on MN. What an odd audience! Tell your mates - surely they are more likely to be happy! The poster who has been criticised for being negative is right. Life is tough for many people, some not eating & struggling to keep warm. It’s lovely this has happened- but come on…

I was the first negative poster. I'm happy for the OP, not jealous! I have everything I need and more in life.

I'd spent 10-15 minutes going from sad thread to sad thread, from domestic violence to poverty and sadness around Christmas and this was just so jarring, particularly the attitude which a pp correctly identified as breathless naivety.

You are so very lucky op, enjoy it, would a wonderful gift and thoughtful fil. Wish my own dad could be as generous. He made more in interest this year than dh earns pa (and he’s on an above average wage) yet thinks giving me the odd £50 here and there makes him the most generous dad who walked this earth!

People post about all sorts of things. I don’t read it unless I want to- works well for me. It’s daft to come here just to criticize.

Good news OP, the psychological benefit of being mortgage free would need to balance with the thought that you feel you could have a better house/location or whatever. Just clarify with your FIL and tell him what you had been planning.

As for the "you can't post when people are struggling" comment. How bizarre. I mean we all know that there are people who are struggling but it seems to be okay to post about private schooling, holidays, big gifts, new cars, going out for meals etc etc etc. As soon as it's vulgar old cash though then stop or you might offend someone.

@thisplaceisweird

Probably not show off about it on a site where many of the users are struggling to get through the next hour.

So if something good happens to someone they must keep it a secret and never share it - even anonymously. They are only allowed to talk about neutral or terrible things that have happened to them? Because that's what you enjoy reading?

In which case, why did you click on the title?

Congrats OP! No advice. X

The OP was looking for advice too, not just posting for the sake of it - even though there is no problem with that either.

Congratulations! Great news

What a lovely offer! I would choose mortgage free and enjoy the extra disposable income each month being able to choose the nicer food, holidays, days out, paying into pension etc rather than increased bills/management/stress that comes with a bigger house.

Plus it's security if you lost your job/health etc But depends if your current home is everything you need.

Brilliant Op so pleased for you. Don't let the joy suckers piss on your chips.

I'd spent 10-15 minutes going from sad thread to sad thread, from domestic violence to poverty and sadness around Christmas and this was just so jarring, particularly the attitude which a pp correctly identified as breathless naivety.

So you come on here to go searching for threads about awful things happening to people, and berating others who are excited about great things happening to them?

Those of us who aren't fortunate enough to have 'everything we need and more' don't need you getting all offended on our behalf thanks very much. We aren't some sort of pity project ffs, and we are more than capable of being happy for others, or not clicking in a thread if we don't want to read it.

I'm quite sure there's a whole genre of books based around true life sad stories if you really need to get your entertainment from the misfortune of others.

@withlotsoflove

If this happened to me, the last thing I’d do is post on MN. What an odd audience! Tell your mates - surely they are more likely to be happy! The poster who has been criticised for being negative is right. Life is tough for many people, some not eating & struggling to keep warm. It’s lovely this has happened- but come on…

I’m the opposite, I would think twice before telling anyone I’m real life, money is such a divisive issue. Lots of people would struggle to be pleased for you in real life and would resent you for having money fall I’m your lap like this. On an anonymous forum if people are jealous you can switch it off and walk away. People post on here about all sorts of issues, some relating to poverty, others asking opinions on new kitchens etc. Those posters don’t seem to get accused of being insensitive to people struggling with kitchens that are falling apart. I don’t understand people objecting to this thread. I would stay put for now, either pay a chunk off the mortgage or put extra into pensions or other investments. I think it is a difficult time to move as the housing market is very hot but guess that would make it easier to sell.

OP, I would ask on moneysavingexpert forums

Would suggest you don’t rent your house out because you’ll have to pay CGT on what you’ve made on it over the past ten years for a start.

Also, rental yields on a net basis aren’t really all that great, even without a mortgage. Depends where you live but 4-5% is about normal, and the stock dividends can pay similar amounts. People used to do BTL etc because of the combination of outperforming capital growth and high yields, but neither of those are as dependable now. Agency are quite high (around 8-10%), maintenance is not insignificant, and over time you’re not likely to make huge gains over what you would in a well diversified portfolio.

Personally I’d take the equity out and start piling it into ISA funds each year, you can do £20k each every year. Then you can access when you need / want. Then at same time, you could put much more of your salary into pensions as it’s tax free up to £45k a year to do so, plus you get employer contributions and tax free growth. Use some of the cash from the house to boost salary.

At your age putting substantial amounts into pensions is one of the most important things you can do.

Nb - not a financial advisor