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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask about life with no rent or mortgage....

213 replies

broadstairs14 · 10/12/2018 18:06

I'm in the fortunate position of being a "homeowner". If I look a little more closely, the bank owns much more of my home than we do. DH and I have had a lot of discussions recently about trying to get our mortgage paid off early and being mortgage free really appeals.

I know two people in real life who inherited/ were gifted money at a young age and owning a house outright seems to have given them a huge amount of freedom and choice.

If you are mortgage free and still on the youngish side, how does this affect your life? Is it worth making sacrifices in other areas and really pushing for this? I'm looking for some inspiration to spur me on but also worry that I might be building it up and maybe it doesn't have such a huge impact all of the time.

OP posts:
bertielab · 10/12/2018 19:01

We were and then got divorced. I own a massive house and but do have a mortgage - my children however, all have a house each paid off and currently rented for them. These houses will be gifted to them when they are 18 and off to university (if they are going) -the idea is that each house is currently rented and the rent will pay for their 'living costs' whilst at university after university they can sell the house and use the house as a large deposit as a new deposit or travel and use the rent to live off or whatever they wish. But they won't have to 'save' to buy a house or have a mortgage.

The idea is I will be mortgage free in 10 years and the house will be worth a lot of money. If they want to sell it -and split the house early (it has different sections) to live in (big enough for them all to have a bit) provided one of them gives me a granny annex -they can have it.

I aim to be house free and my children to long have my money by the time I'm in my 60s - no tax for them or me.

Original poster
broadstairs14 · 10/12/2018 19:01

sockunicorn I am terribly sorry for your loss and at such an incredibly young age. Nothing is worth that x

OP posts:
minkies11 · 10/12/2018 19:01

@Broadstairs - we have had to sacrifice holidays and new cars but our plan was 4 to 6 years of making maximum over payments each year but keeping with the security of a fixed rate mortgage. I also keep a 'cushion' of money equivalent to 4 months + salary but this is only due to the insecurity of being self employed!

bertielab · 10/12/2018 19:02

PS I don't want long holidays abroad -I want a camper van in my retirement -my dogs and travel!

Original poster
broadstairs14 · 10/12/2018 19:02

bertielab will you adopt me?

OP posts:
allthgoodusernamesaretaken · 10/12/2018 19:02

sockunicorn Flowers you were young to lose your husband, how sad

lavs · 10/12/2018 19:04

Hey! We also own our home outright but only due to my husband selling his (quite small company) years ago and taking on a more local, far less well paid job-which I'm so pleased about (coz we're like 50+ and would rather have a hubby that I love than the insurance payout!)
Howevs, if ur gonna do it, don't totally pay off ur mortgage as it gives you very little chance to get credit in the future. We have an offset mortgage which hasn't been amazing when it comes to borrrowing for the business! Not well off by any means but comfortable! Only one wage as I was retired 20 years ago. Money is not everything but peace of mind means you can sleep at night! 😬

lavs · 10/12/2018 19:05

Oops I mean 'has' been amazing... not hasn't! X

Butchyrestingface · 10/12/2018 19:06

Having recently sold my home, I am renting at the moment whilst I pursue a masters in another city. I intend to buy again once the course is over and will be mortgage free.

Before I cleared my mortgage off, it was very small. I think it gives you more choices. I have no pension though, so will have to try and pay some of the money that I would otherwise spend on a mortgage into a pension pot. #joy

YearOfYouRemember · 10/12/2018 19:06

Unless your mortgage is £20 of course not having one is going to make a difference even with other bills to pay Hmm

Always overpay. So many advantages.

Original poster
broadstairs14 · 10/12/2018 19:07

Thank you. Yes I have heard that it can be better to keep a tiny mortgage for the purposes of credit and future borrowing. I just don't think I could resist clearing the little blighter if I had the means to do it!

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Dontsweatthelittlestuff · 10/12/2018 19:07

We were mortgage free by our late 40’s. Made little difference to our lives until my husband died a few years later. He died knowing I was secure and that I wouldn’t need to use the life insurance to pay off a mortgage and could use that money as a investment. And as I don’t have a pension of my own when the time comes it will supplement my state pension.

Youngandfree · 10/12/2018 19:08

NC for this. We had ours paid off on one property but making one extra payment a year at least. We then used that as a buy-to-let bought another with cash we earned from abroad and a small mortgage which we then did the same with and paid that off. That was by the time I was 29 and OH was 36. We are now building and will probably take out a small loan or mortgage to finish the project. It’s been nice but got harder as we had kids etc.

sackrifice · 10/12/2018 19:08

We are due to pay ours off in few months. We bought the house 11 years ago, so have more than halved our term and saving loads in the interest. We have overpaid almost the whole time.

Original poster
broadstairs14 · 10/12/2018 19:09

I am sorry for your loss dontsweatthelittlestuff x

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 10/12/2018 19:09

We have no mortgage. I am 50 and dh 54. To be honest we don't seem to have felt like we had an extra £800 each month once the mortgage was paid off but I think that is probably because we were approaching an expensive time in our live ( kids going to Uni etc). the one difference/ freedom it did make which has impacted massively on my life has been the freedom to escape a very stressful career which I continued in for many years whilst the children were young, and which made me very unhappy. once the mortgage was paid off a couple of years ago I was able to switch to a different career which was much lower paid but I am very much happier for doing that.

minkies11 · 10/12/2018 19:10

@satsumaeater - second your comment on choices. There is a lot to be said for having the freedom to have small monthly payments that don't jeopardise the security of your house if you lose/ change your job. Dreaming of the day I can work part-time!

Baffledmummy · 10/12/2018 19:10

Were just recently mortgage free in early 40s. The day we paid off the balance we were ridiculously excited...it had been a goal for us and we had actively overpaid. Felt brilliant and the peace of mind it brings is lovely. Early retirement is next on my hit list...

Aridane · 10/12/2018 19:10

At high interest rates it is a hugely advantageous position to be in.

*At low rates it could actually work in your interests to keep your mortgages and use the money you would have paid off to generate additional income elsewhere./

What investments generate a return of more than borrowing rates of interest?

CherryPavlova · 10/12/2018 19:10

We overpaid and really stretched ourselves. This allowed us to buy other property to let and to move up the housing ladder. Hard at times but it has left us in a very comfortable financial position as the children are going through university, setting up home and beginning to plan weddings. We should be able to retire in a few years without much drop in income.

Aridane · 10/12/2018 19:11

(partial bold fail)

Original poster
broadstairs14 · 10/12/2018 19:11

youngandfree and sackrifice they are both inspiring stories. I really wish I could have found a way to buy a first property sooner, I feel so late in the game having just hit 40 and still owing £145k.

OP posts:
AbbieLexie · 10/12/2018 19:13

You should look on the forum on MSE about paying your mortgage off earlier. We found it really helpful to encourage us to pay extra towards our mortgage. Lots of encouragement and support there. We just wanted the option of having lower monthly payments if we had a problem in the future.

Original poster
broadstairs14 · 10/12/2018 19:14

I stalk the MSE forum about mortgage overpayments all the time! Some people on there have incredible discipline, it is inspiring.

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Badbadbunny · 10/12/2018 19:20

We saved hard to pay off our mortgage early (after 11 years) and it's been massively worth it. It's enabled us to work fewer hours and have a much better quality of life - very liberating not having to give half your wages to the bank every month. Well worth 11 years of scrimping and saving to overpay it and see the interest plummeting year after year.