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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be irritated that people on here assume mortgage means security

93 replies

Purplepoodle · 27/09/2014 17:34

Several times on aibu people have gotten very uppty with people who have mortgages. They seems to assume it means instant security, an asset ect. Its bugs me as I have been called out myself in threads for commenting and having a mortgage BUT I'm in huge negative equity, I can only afford to pay the interest which is likely to be the situation for a good few years. So no I dont feel privileged that I have a mortgage, it feels like a chain around me kneck.

OP posts:

Original poster

Purplepoodle · 27/09/2014 19:16

Ok private renting does suck but is a mortgage property better than being a council tenant? (Assuming you get a house of course)

OP posts:

MaryWestmacott · 27/09/2014 19:19

Dreaming - I can imagine those letters are scary, but if you miss one mortgage payment it's very hard for a bank to repossess on that alone, although one missed rental payment would get most landlords serving notice.

While it's shit not to be able to pay for your home, if that home is rented you will be out a lot quicker than if mortgaged, and indeed most people who miss one or two mortgage payments don't lose their homes, the same cannot be said for renters, who then might find they can't find anyone else willing to rent to them.

Negative equity is shit, but it only really matters if you want/need to move. If you can sit right for 5 years, most people will be back in the black. If you can't pay, banks have to prove they tried to work with you and help you, landlords don't.

dementedma · 27/09/2014 19:24

We got our first and only mortgage relatively late in life and at current repay!ment rates, will still be paying it when we are into our late 60s, assuming we are both still working! Worries me to death.

Mintyy · 27/09/2014 19:25

If you have a mortgage and lose your job, you will not receive housing benefit to enable you to carry on paying and living in your home, whereas if you rent and lose your job you will.

Very broadly speaking, that is.

MaryWestmacott · 27/09/2014 19:28

Minty, you can for interest part, most banks will be reasonable and let you go interest only.

MaryWestmacott · 27/09/2014 19:33

Dementedma - but if you were renting, you'd still be paying after that, and towards the end, you own more than you owe, if you didn't need a property that big once dcs had left home you could sell up, using the equity to buy a smaller place outright after clearing the remainder of your mortgage debt.

And if there's inflation, your mortgage payments stay the same so in relative terms, what you will be paying out will be less - whereas if you rent your rent would probably go up with inflation.

ChickenFajitaAndNachos · 27/09/2014 19:37

With a mortgage as long as you can pay that home if yours. With renting even if you can pay your rent and are a perfect tenant you can still be asked to move out. So yes I do think having a mortgage offers a level of security.

ilovechristmas1 · 27/09/2014 19:50

i will bet money that all the people with mortgages have had sticky times throughout the course of the term eg unemployed,sickness,seperation (i have had all these)and getting the DWP is bloody hard work but i would still rather have a mortgage than rent

you will not just get repossessed after a few missed payments,there is a process and it would take awhile

compare that to your landlord just wanting his property back,he will get possession quicker than a mortgage company

so on that example the home owner would have more time time to prepare than the renter

Fedupnagging · 27/09/2014 19:50

We were in exactly the same situation as topseyt at the same time and in a similar area. We did exactly what topseyt did too. I remember many sleepless nights wondering how on earth we would ever get ourselves out of negative equity.

Over the years we had a few redundancy scares and many years where we had no spare money at all and more sleepless nights.

Now, we have just about paid off our mortgage and worry much less.

What I am trying to say is, if you can possibly hang on in there, you will benefit in the end but I do get how hard it is.

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 27/09/2014 19:50

I've always felt more secure with a mortgage than renting.

Although the mortgage has been pretty scary at times - I wouldn't want to have that sort of mortgage:income ratio with kids.

dementedma · 27/09/2014 19:54

Its only a flat Mary so can't really downsize anymore. But I take your point.

MrsBigginsPieShop · 27/09/2014 20:22

It is more secure. It's an investment and I'd rather be paying my mortgage than a landlord's. Plus factor in stamp duty, search fees and legal costs and you are looking at way more than '£2k' a move.

HighwayDragon · 27/09/2014 20:34

I've had to move 3 times in 4 years due to private renting, costing about 2 k each time, so yes a mortgage meams secure roof thst wont be tugged from over me with 8 weeks notice.

Laquitar · 27/09/2014 20:43

Well the bottom line is that if you are not a high earner you will be struggling wether you rent or you own.
So why do we antagonise each
other?
Both situations are good if you earn good money and a nightmare if you dont.

It depends where you are aswell. I am in London and it is very bad time for renters so i dont envy them. On the other hand as a home owner you can advertise your 'spare' room and it will be let very quickly.
And i am not even talking about our friends who bought in Walthamstow 3yrs ago and they are now laughing. A renter doesn't see his money multiplying like this.

But as i said i dont see why us -with no high income-turn against each other.

Downtheroadfirstonleft · 27/09/2014 20:45

A mortgage gives greater security of tenure. It may not make you a profit (though that is very likely over the medium/ long term).

Laquitar · 27/09/2014 20:47

As for housing benefit you have to constanrly culculate if a new job or overtime or promotion will be worth.

As a mortgage payer it is more straight forward to better your situation. (although not always).

windchime · 27/09/2014 21:34

OP, there was a piece in the Time today about elderly people who have to sell their own homes to finance the cost of their stay in care homes. Their kids inherit nothing and the council take it all. I suddenly felt quite smug at being a renter. No longer does renting mean 'money down the drain'.

Momagain1 · 27/09/2014 22:03

For us, the security came not only from removing the risk of needing to move, but from fixing our housing costs via the mortgage. Our housing cost stayed the same for the 12 years we owned our first house. Meantime dh income increased by half again. if we had been renting, we would have been paying more than 3 times that, or would have had to move into a much smaller place, and/ or moved out creating a need for another car for an hour long commute. And our rent still would have gone up by 2 times.

To some extent, our utility expenses were also stabilised, same house, same heating and other appliances and habits, year after year.

(This first house was in the US when a fixed rate mortgage was standard. Different here, now, I know.)

I also never realized how much mental effort I had put into moving every few years up until I didnt have to do it.

rallytog1 · 27/09/2014 22:05

The good thing with a mortgage is that if you stop paying it, it would take many months and probably years before things would get as far as repossession. If you're in difficulty, the mortgage company will generally try to help you, as it's too much effort and risk for them to go down the repossession route. You also can't be booted out of your home because the mortgage company decides they could make more money by selling the property at a higher price to someone else.

Momagain1 · 27/09/2014 22:08

Windchime, I dont see having the asset that you can cash in, in order to choose your nursing home instead of taking whats on offer, as a waste. In fact, I consider that one of the points, part of the overall plan, of investing in a home. i can transfer the value of that into care when care is more necessary than a house.

My children better make their own plans, not hope for a windfall at our death.

Thefishewife · 27/09/2014 22:14

We had a council house just brought thank god

We had rats in the walls which they would do nothing about and we were told if we touched the walls we would be charged

We had no eletric for the last 3 months in my kitchen I have a baby and we were told maybe before Christmas if were lucky we would be seen

Our mortgage is only 200 more than our rent and this house is ours in a place were we actually want to live

We can decorate how we please with out fear and also don't have to worry that at any given day the council could re home us or make us move

CareBearWithFangs · 27/09/2014 22:39

OP did you say you were on an interest only mortgage?

Just wanted to clarify as some posters were saying that at least once you've made the final the payment the house is yours. If it's an interest only mortgage once you've made the final payment you will have only paid all the interest you will then have the full capital amount to pay. If you can't your home could then be repossessed. So OP is right a mortgage does not automatically mean security.

CareBearWithFangs · 27/09/2014 22:41

Rally the difference there is that once your repossessed and have to move you still owe all the money you borrowed. Repossessed homes don't often sell for what there worth and whatever is left over still has to be paid.

Thefishewife · 27/09/2014 23:01

If you fall behind with the council not only do you still owe the money you will never be re housed by them again also if you give up a council home for any reason they will not re house

You if yous sell a home rent for a while the banks don't Barr your from buying when your fortunes change the council do

rallytog1 · 27/09/2014 23:17

Well of course bear, but the point I was making is that it's a damn sight more difficult to be repossessed by a mortgage company than it is to be evicted by a landlord.

As long as you go to the mortgage provider as soon as you're having difficulties, they will generally do everything possible to not have to repossess your home, because it's just too much hassle and cost for them. It also takes many months, meaning you have plenty of time to work out your options, get professional advice etc etc. Possession proceedings are also very often halted at the last minute.

However, tenants get evicted all the time, often for no discernible reason and with as little as one month's notice.

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