AIBU to use some of this dosh to repair the house?

[Jackaroo]

We are up a bit of a gum tree, down here in Oz..
Our mortgage has gone up about 1,000 a month (sterling) and understandably this makes life a little tricky. We are v.lucky, but I suppose we also have big problems as a result of being able to afford the initial big mortgage.
So, we have just got a windfall that would completely clear our considerable credit cards. I would prefer to pay off half and fix the roof and the increasing problems all over the house, having not done any fixing of problems for the last 4 yrs.
Any thoughts? My concern is that the quote for fixing is already a damn site bigger than a year ago, also I'm the one who deals with power outs, floods etc., fixed with expensive stop-gap work etc.

Sounds sensible to me - there is no point killing your self to pay a huge mortgage on a house that is falling down. Things like leaky roofs can do a lot of damage and cause more expense.

YANBU.

What, your mortgage has increased by £1000 a month

You would be better to clear your credit cards, as the interest rates can be phenomenal.

If you live in Australia, there is little rainfall so maybe fixing your roof is not a priority - try and start putting some of your income into a savings account then use this to repair your roof when you've saved enough.

If the quote is bigger than last year, is that because the roof is getting worse? If so, it would be smart to fix it properly now if you can because it will only get more expensive.

It would also make it more sellable if you need to go down that route later on.

Lol Lady,oz is a big place. The rainfall here is phenomenal... Hence floodage.
The interest went up something like 8 times since buying..so it's gone up about a third. I've had to stop work because of ds2 ill health, so many things have changed . Should've mentioned we have been careful to keep transferring cards so never more than 5% for a year type offers..

That's my feeling,Zonked, id done all the planning to downsize, which horrified dh, but almost immediately I got offered a job that I can make work, and this lump sum turned up.

I sympathise, we found the 12 buckets carefully placed to catch the leaks in the roof after we moved into our house in Sydney (they had been removed for the inspection) and our solicitor was totally puzzled that I thought maybe the vendors had been less than honest! Caveat emptor takes on a whole new meaning in Oz!

Generally I would say always pay off credit cards first, but if you can keep the interest rate under 5% that is less than any loan you would get to fix the roof etc. There is no point in letting your biggest asset deteriorate around you - not to mention the fact that it is depressing to be paying a huge mortgage and still worry every time it rains whether or not your bedroom roof is going to leak. Also remember to haggle - the first price we were quoted for a new colorbond roof was $40k, I got them down to $30k in the end which is one hell of a saving.