AIBU to think that if your in your mid 40's you should be thinking about paying your mortgage off, not taking one out for the first time?

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow]

My friend announced the other day that she is going to save like mad to get on the housing ladder. She is 45 years old. Surely in your mid-forties your thinking about paying off your mortgage, not taking one out for the first time?

AIBU? does anyone else think that boat has sailed?

She's only got a minimum wage job by the way, hasn't suddenly had a windfall or anything.

Am I nasty for thinking this? I haven't actually said anything to her, just thought it was strange and wanted to hear your views.

You sound very judgey.

Not everyone goes to University at 18, gets their first job at 21, falls in love at 22, buys a house at 23, gets married at 24, has 2.1 children and lives happily ever after paying their mortgage off by the time they are 50. Life doesn't work like that for most of us.

Good for her I say. A decent friend would be supporting her decision and encouraging her. At this rate we'll all be working until we are 70 so she will have 25 years to pay it off (to fit your template of what is normal and acceptable).

Why on earth do you care about this?

YBVU. Unless you are providing a time machine so she can go back and buy a house at a time that's acceptable to you.

Every time you move house you get a new mortgage, or most people do anyway. So are you saying people shouldn't move house after the age of 45?

How many people in their mid 40s are in a position to be paying off their mortgage?

If it had been a 25 year mortgage, she would have had to take it out at 20 - a couple of years out of school. Really? I don't think there has been any point in history where people that age could afford a mortgage.

Some lucky people have a deposit from elsewhere, which lets them pay it off more quickly.

The rest of us have to save up to afford a deposit, then start thinking about a mortgage, then hope we'll be able to pay it off before retirement age.

I'm 39, have rented all my life, have only settled in the town/country I want to stay in in the last couple of years. If we could afford to buy a house I sure as hell would be taking out one.

YABVFU to put it politely.

Neither DH nor I have ever been great earners, nor are we likely to be in our fields of work (poorly paid but we love our jobs); we haven't had generous loans from our parents (DH is one of six, it's hardly likely).

Are you Kirstie Allsop?

I'm rather inspired by people getting these mortgage at older ages - I'm 40, and would like to get my first mortgage in the next 2-3 years.

On a purely practical note, I have a friend in her mid-50s who hasn't been able to get a mortgage because of her income and her age, so the OP isn't totally wrong to wonder if her friend will actually be able to get one.

At 18 I took out a mortgage. By 25 after getting out of an abusive relationship I was practically bankrupt (his debt and he'd remortgaged the equity away) By 30 I now realise I have no hope of getting on the property ladder at 35 let alone 45!

You can plan all you like but you don't know how life will turn out, yabu.

I do think the op is right in a way though... taking out a mortgage in your 40s in this economic climate cannot be seen as a canny investment, the only way is up for interest rates - that will put the brakes on house price inflation - worst case scenario house prices go down and interest rates escalate (like in the 80s) so you end up

a. purchase price higher than possible sale price
AND b.spending out in interest much more than you can sell the house for

e.g. say my £100k house COST me £160K (including interest) so if I sold for what it might be worth - say £140K that is NOT a £40k profit, but a £20k loss.

that is fine if you have bought the house you want to stay in forever AND have no unforeseen circumstances that require you to sell quickly.

I will never own my own home. I am at peace that I will rent for life.

But if I came into a bit of money to get a deposit for a morgage I would. Years ago people could get 100% mortgages but these days you need a 5% deposit at least.

There was no way I could get a mortgage in my 20's. I started a new job fresh after masters degree. Owed a sh*tload of money. I was 31 before I paid off the loans I took out to fund my degree and masters. I was 32 when we took out a mortgage and even then I had to rely on my DH's savings (from his much higher earnings) to pay the deposit. If it was just me, I'd have had to wait another 5 years to get my foot on the ladder, so well on the way to 40.
Its not strange at all. She just wants her own home.

YABU, not everyone's fortunate enough to be in a position to buy a house in their 20's and 30's, even less so nowadays. Good for her. There will be many people who can't buy a house even in their 40's these days.

Years ago - (gosh nearly 40... if interested) as in when I bought my first hovel, you needed a 10% deposit and an interview with your bank manager asking if you planned to have any children because "of course you would no longer be earning then.... "

requirements for a deposit change all the time..

(and the bloomin documents were always in my husband's name!!)

I'm 48 and we paid off our mortgage (25 year term) last month. It feels great. I feel so sorry for people now who just cannot get a mortgage the way we did it back in the day (I was 19 when I got my first one for £19k). Very few people will be in this position in the future, something has to change and if your pal wants to finally get on the property ladder, that's up to her, more power to her.

Well, we have paid the mortgage off.

And we will need to take out another one in a few years.

Justashopgirl You're not comparing with renting though. How much rent would you pay to live in the house you've 'lost' 20K on? If it's more than 20K then buying is still the financially sensible option even if you haven't made money on your investment.

I think it's a weird thing to think. Most people, living with the wage of most people, would struggle to get a mortgage now or 'then'.

My parents didn't get a mortgage until I was 13.

However this (The OP) is typical thinking of a privileged person and it doesn't surprise me that wealthier people would think this.

If you live in London it's very unlikely you'll be able to buy a property before 40, let alone pay it off by then unless you have had a big inheritance, earn shitloads or bought when you were in your early 20s.

I just wish Ireland and the UK were a bit more like many continental countries where renting all of your life is a viable, normal and very secure option. It would take all that angst out of trying to get on the property ladder and feeling that some people are silently criticising you for not owning your own home by the time you're in your early thirties. It would also make it much easier to move around, change jobs, get away from annoying neighbours etc. without costing you a fortune to do so on legal fees, stamp duty etc.

Naive is my guess. Life doesn't always go to plan like you seem to think. Property is so expensive now that people often can't afford to buy whilst they are young because it takes years to save up a sufficient deposit.

I am glad we got onto the property ladder when we did back in 1990, and that was enough of a struggle. It is the reason we are in a relatively fortunate position today. I was 24 and my husband was 27 when we took out our first mortgage. I am now pushing 48 and he is 50. We have owned our current house for 10 years and in that time have had several mortgages on it because whenever one deal comes to the end of its penalty period we check out what the best deals on the market are likely to be and if necessary remortgage.

We three quarters own our house, the mortgage lender only has a 25% stake in it (which is ever-diminishing as we are on a repayment basis). We overpay too, as much as we can afford to, and hope to have it paid off in the next five years. After that we hope never to need another mortgage. We will both be in our fifties by then.

Really?

Retirement age has gone up.
So they'll he working longer and therefore have time to pay it off before they retire.

Isn't the average age to get a first mortgage 38? Or about that? Most mortgages can carry on till your 75, which is probably a reality for many people these days

I think in retirement with a fixed income a fixed repayment mortgage sounds better than rents that could go up and up with no end.

There is still 20 + years to pay it down - and people are working longer and longer.

Unless you’re in a council or HA rental property renting is precarious - 2 months ‘notice before you have to move on.

Took us years to save for the deposit and we earn above min wage.

5-10 % of today’s house prices is actual a huge hurdle to get past – took us till our 30 to get into a place – settled with jobs and money for deposit. So can well believe it can take someone on min wage till mid 40’s to get to the same place.