to get first mortgage after 40?

[ivebeencalledworse]

Mortgages are not something I know about. I am totally ignorant of them. I've lived without one my whole life. I came from a broken home with no guidance on how to be an adult. I left home at 18 and made my own way, which included debt, poor relationship choices, alcoholism, recklessness, and finally an abusive relationship and had to start all over again with a baby.

Don't get me wrong, I managed well enough, worked, remained functional.

But now at 40 my life is totally turned around because I married a wonderful, responsible, and loving man who adopted my child and we've been happy for five years.

He's younger than me and ambitious. He's supporting us while I use my income to pay off debts, which is going well. I aim to be debt free in the next few years.

I have a council home but my family want a better life so we are talking about a mortgage together.

I have a lot of research to do but when I say I'm ignorant I mean I'm starting from scratch.

Any glaring things I need to know would be gratefully received.

Am I "too old" or anything? Will my bad credit history (even if I am debt-free) be a real issue?

Also, I'm a freelancer with a variable and small income. I will not be going back into full-time employment. My maximum earning will be £1,000/month.

I genuinely never thought I would even be thinking about a mortgage but life has never stopped surprising me.

I appreciate input.

How much are propertiesnear you?
At 12k per year
That s maybe 36k mortgage
Do you have big savings?

He makes £40K a year across two jobs.
We are building an ISA but as yet nothing, but we are not thinking of getting a mortgage next week, but over the next few years.

We are especially waiting to see what prices are like after this period where they are quite high.

We are thinking of joint, but then I really don't know. I could just go on the deeds?

You are not too old for a mortgage. Im 43 and plan to get my forever home with a big mortgage in the next 12 months. You can get mortgages with many lenders up until 80 years old. Only advice I'd give is go and see an independent financial advisor, many are also mortgage advisors. They will tell you what you can and cant afford and guide you through process

Definitely speak to a financial advisor if you can, OP:

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/getting-financial-advice/

I’ve known several people take on
a mortgage in their 40s so it’s definitely not impossible. Good on you for turning your life around so impressively - that can’t have been easy.

The key thing is that mortgages are usually 25 years. So you need to be able to consider if you can keep up the repayments for the next 25 years and I think the lender needs to be satisfied you can. This doesn’t seem insurmountable.

If you start a mortgage at 40 - realistically 45 if you need complete paying off debts and save a deposit, you'd be 70 when it was repaid, assuming a 25 year term. Then you'll be mortgage free - if you continue to rent, you'd still have rent to pay in 25 years time.
Additionally, rent will tend to increase in line with market values - your mortgage will continue to be based on the value of your property when you purchased it.

Well that's not strictly true since my husband, potentially, realistically, will be the one paying it off as he is the one embarking on a big career and plans to make lots of money. While I'm stagnant, I did full-time for a long time and I am happy in what I do now and can manage it, mental health-wise.

It's the only way we can move really. I wouldn't go from social housing to private rent, that would be very silly.

Thank you very much @Ushkin I grew up when I had my child, as many of us do.

I'd stay here but it's just not the life my husband wants to live and I'm along for the ride, which will benefit our daughter, so it's all good.

If you're in a council home, do you have right to buy?

Yes, but I don't think this is the route we will go down.

The house is lovely and would be very cheap compared to other places in the country, but very expensive for where we are. It's a "bad" area (although in reality it's actually fine at the moment) but things can change.

I'm not sure what the point would be of buying this home when we actually want to leave as soon as possible and bring our daughter up in a better area and have much more space for us all, we want a dog, and have other animals, and would love another child, ideally.

@ivebeencalledworse can you not buy your current house cheap to get on the property ladder if you were to sell in a few years and then buy another house im sure you would make a profit from it

What age is your husband?

are his career aspirations realistic?

for example is he already in a field with a promotion path laid out?

i say this beciase you sound quite starry eyed about him - which is lovely. But live your life for where you both are now - don’t hold out for some huge promotion of it might never come.

i am Sure you have used the Jonnie calculators to see how much you could borrow and what that will cost.

it might be better if the mortgage is just him if you have significant debts.

you should both get your credit reports and start addressing any red flags now.

I was in my late forties when I got my first mortgage as was DH - we are both self employed and financially precarious. You should both be on the mortgage - two of you will increase the amount you can borrow. The bigger your deposit the better too of course.

We found an independent financial advisor who 'fast tracked' our mortgage application - which meant there were fewer checks than if we'd gone directly to the mortgage lender. (We had tried a couple of mortgage lenders directly with no luck.) We included in our income from WFTCs plus child benefit and gave income for our best year (our annual income fluctuates). Your DH's solid income will help enormously as will his younger age.

Good luck with this and congratulations on this turnaround in your life. It's lovely chipping away at a mortgage on your own home instead of paying rent.

Oh, and do get life insurance. In fact if you don't have it already you and DH should get it now - if only for long enough to secure your position and get DC to adulthood. Unexpected deaths do happen and they can capsize the best laid plans. I say this from experience.

Good luck though. Exciting!

Online calculators not Jonnie calculators🤣

The point is that you get a massive discount which will mean that if you then sell in a few years' time you will be in a much better position to get somewhere in the area you want.

Sure, it’s never too late and you’ll be in a better position.

Okay, I'm trying to get my head around the point in that.

So we buy this, own it on mortgage, then sell up (and get back only what we paid into the mortgage because it wouldn't be paid off?) or would we get the entire house price even if we had time left on the mortgage? Then use that money to deposit on our dream home?

Or

Save for a deposit and deposit that on our dream home?

Why is the first option better? (and have I got that completely wrong?)

Done! And that's exactly my plan is to pay them off so I won't have any debts in a few years' time.

Starry eyed? No, I just appreciate how great he is, sensible with money being a big aspect because I messed up big time in that area and he's kind of bailing me out. It's not a "I love him so much" deal, even though I do love him, but I'm far too jaded from the past to ever be like that again. I love and respect him that's all.

He's ten years younger and training to be an accountant. the mortgage being just in his name is an option we've discuss and I don't know if that would be best. I don't particularly want a mortgage but that could just be me not knowing how important it is.

Honestly, I know. I'm trying. I just cruised through life and now I'm trying to sort it out for my daughter.

If you do buy your council house double check what the restrictions are. A family member bought theirs and if they sold within the first 4 or 5 years of owning it, they owed a percentage to the council. If I remember correctly it decreased each year but it’s probably different for different councils.

Thank you, that was obvious now you've said it, silly me.

It would be cheap yes, and it could well make a profit. But I just thought that signing up for a 25 year mortgage then selling up in five years would not see us receive the price of the house back, but a reduced amount?

I am going to learn about this but being lazy late at night so appreciate your help.

Yeah I do think it's a step we would prefer to miss out to be honest, the red tap is immense.

We were on benefits for a while, got off them. Now we want to get out of social housing, social mobility and all that.

really appreciate your comment, great food for thought. Like I said he's sensible. he has life insurance and got us all medical insurance a few years back.

Great tip about the advisor. ta!

A right to buy? I'd jump on that and snap it up if you can

your debts might be a problem. A friend had £2k credit card debt that she was overpaying to clear it off asap, she could afford the overpayment. It went against her with mortgage provider as they classed it as an ongoing high debt repayment even though she’d have cleared it in 5 months

I'm going to work hard and get them completely cleared before we apply. It's doable and it's being done :) I've got plans and am overpaying.

Yes with right to buy you do need to remain in the property for a period of time.

You will get the council house at a discount if you buy it so when you will sell it, you will be able to sell it at the actual market value which will give you loads more money for the dream house.