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.

Given you're going to be living in the house you're currently in for the next what, 5, years, you'd be a fool not to take advantage of right to buy.

Think if it this way, in five years time you can have a deposit of £10k, or you buy your house at discount now, then sell it and have a deposit of £70k.

Which deposit do you think is the better one to have?

No I like domestic work and hate employment so while I realise your summation applies to most, it doesn't apply to me.

Give me 12 hours to keep a home, pick up the child, make the dinner, and do a bit of work over working and sharing housework any day of the week. I'm 40, I've considered this all over a long period and know full well what I like, not that I don't fully appreciate your concern.

As for power - I know, right now I have a lifelong tenancy and to give that up is not something I would take lightly, it also isn't happening overnight, and it can be considered and reconsidered.

End of the day I have a man who wants to live in a dynamic I want to live in, and him being the breadwinner is a big part of that dynamic.

If it all went tits up in whatever way, I am employable and qualified for a few things, but in all honesty what I would probably do is divorce him, claim benefits, and get another council property in an area where they were available. But this is rock bottom of course, a worst case failing all plan.

A £200k mortgage over 15 years is approx £1470.

Excellent point. I will give serious consideration to this.

I didn't realise right to buy was still a thing in other parts of the UK. It's been discontinued here in Scotland. Rightfully so, as there is now hardly any decent housing stock for people to rent from the council/housing associations and individuals are profiting off public housing stock.

Just re debts - having them on record isn't usually a problem, unless there's a pattern that suggests you can't manage life without them.

It's late payments, missed payments and defaults that will bring your credit score down for six years after they happen. So get anything like that sorted out as quickly as you can, and then clear the other debts.

An advantage of buying the council house for now, apart from the profit it would likely make, is that you'd presumably have to be on that mortgage.

Good luck

@ivebeencalledworse

I wouldn’t count on getting a new council house even at rock bottom. Things are SO much worse now than what they were (and I speak as a person who was essentially homeless and still waited a decade).

It worked for my mum she gave up her tenancy and bought with her new husband and all was well that ends well but she made damn sure she was never going back to the council life. You just need your ducks in order but no you’re not too old for a mortgage.

This mortgage broker must have been magical indeed if he or she managed to somehow shrink your loan so that you could pay it off in under 20 years on a low income.

Or could it be that you just bought a cheap place that you could afford? In which case, no relevance to the OP’s situation?

Turkey enthusiastically votes for Christmas, despite widely-reported news of oven temperatures increasing by up to 13%.

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)

See above re turkeys.

@Iamthewombat Sorry I'm confused, but I would love to know what you're getting at with the turkeys thing.

I agree you do scribe this man like he is on a significant career trajectory. Words like business man are odd - surely he wants to be accountant?

he doesn’t seem to be particularly financially savvy for someone training in the financial sector.

also you say he is young. He’s not. He is ten years behind his peers. Which isn’t an issue in itself - lots of people change careers later in life. But remember he has ten years less to enjoy his earning potential.

some people do make it and get the big house etc - but just don’t. and most in the big houses have two big incomes.

I say this as a single earning c £90k. I have a nice house - but my (mainly male) colleagues who are married have a much better lifestyle because they have partners on good wages - teachers, doctors etc.

you need to think a bit more realistically about the future. You both sound quite innocent and immature which so sweet - but more like teenagers starting out rather than mature (and in your case middle aged) adults.

in the 1950s men on a decent wage could support a housewife and have the nice detached house, good car and lovely lifestyle. It’s not like that anymore:

Can I be cheeky and ask you to imagine exactly what you would do in my situation?

the age difference is causing the issue because yes he has big ideas and says he wants to own his own accountancy firm. You're right, it might not happen.

call me what you like but I'm not willing to go into full-time work again. I am willing to bring my earnings up to about a grand doing what I do now and that's perfectly possible.

We both agree our child deserves to grow up in an area where she's more likely to make a best friend called Verity whose parents are lovely and invite us round for dinner parties, than a friend named Shayleigh-Rae whose parents invite her for sleepovers where gets killed - if you catch my drift.

I grew up in such an area and honestly sometimes I wonder how I even survived. I don't want that for my daughter but I was going to live with it and mitigate as far as I could and instil her with values, but she could stand out like a sore thumb in school.

I got groomed around school age (lucky escape for me) along with friends, and my husband is right that if we move outside the city (still cheap compared to rest of UK) she would just have better prospects.

What would you do?!

@ivebeencalledworse

I live in such an area. I mean I wish I didn’t but I do. My kids always make friends with other kids from more affluent areas, probably because we have similar values as parents. Our kids aren’t destined for a life of poverty just because we live here is what I’m trying to say.

It is a bit embarrassing though I guess when my kids friends come round to our house but they pick their own friends so there’s not much I can do about it currently. I just hope I’m not judged too much by their parents for living here.

Forgot to add it’s because their secondary school takes from a wide catchment with a variety of different areas.

Parts of this thread sit uncomfortably with me. Where are you based? Near what city? Exactly when will he qualify?

No one is suggesting full time work. But you should continue to work part time, contribute £1k to the household.

If you don't buy the council house route, when do you think your'll get able you buy? how much deposit are you suggesting that you both will be able to save by then?

No problem. Some posters are encouraging you to get a big mortgage for a ‘forever home’ with a loan extending until they are long past working age (80 in one case!). Or describing how they, with the collusion of a mortgage broker, exaggerated their income to borrow more than lenders would ordinarily have considered a reasonable risk.

Both of those things are foolish, and the posters in question will most likely be the first to cry and demand that ‘something should be done’ (I.e. everyone else should give them money) when they can’t afford the mortgage: base rates are already climbing and will climb further.

Those posters have willingly overextended themselves and have stored up problems for themselves.In other words, they have contributed in a deluded way to their own future problems, a bit like a turkey voting in favour of Christmas.

you need to sit down and make a realistic five and ten year plan.

Look at the neighbourhood you want to live in and the house prices.

calculate how much it would cost to live there and the income you would need as a couple to achieve that.

if your husband isn’t even qualified yet it will be some time before he can start his own accountancy firm. He needs to factor in that he might not earn much in the first months - even a year - until he becomes established. I know a guy who qualified as an accountant in his thirties with dreams of going out in his own. He has his own small business now - ten years after qualifying - and is living with his parents to save on rent while the business establishes. He is really happy - but it’s hard work and the financial rewards haven’t kicked in yet.

in reality you might not have verity as a neighbour until your child has left school - if ever. In my area you are describing areas with £750k plus homes.

getting on the property ladder is a good start - look into right to buy.

I am 42 and first bought when I was 24. I am on my third home and while not in verity’s neighbourhood (🤣) there has been a definite improvement with each move. But that has taken nearly twenty years.

you seem fixated on a middle class lifestyle from a bygone era. I worry your husband will become disappointed when he realises he is unlikely to get a four bed detached on a leafy posh street with a Range Rover. You need to be more realistic.

@Iamthewombat
thank you, what you say makes sense. I don't think overstretching one's self is a good idea at all.

It's difficult to know what to do.

Or could it be that you just bought a cheap place that you could afford? In which case, no relevance to the OP’s situation?

Slightly more expensive than the OPs budget actually…. and you will note that I didn’t say low income. The OP’s £50k pa is not a low income.

So you ‘didn’t have a high income’ and now you didn’t have a low income either? The plot thickens! Do explain what magic the mortgage broker brought to your transaction.

After being on mumsnet lurking for a bit I realise that is low on here.

Here's my main dilemma - I know it's unwise to give up a tenancy, it's secure, I am set for life in some regards.

But, I have married a man who wants to live in a nice house and level up and up - yes, he could be pie in the sky.

So it seems like I have a choice of refusing to move with him because I want to keep my tenancy, and this has been my position for the past few years.

Now I've agreed to think about a mortgage. We then thought about getting it together (which honestly doesn't fill me with joy in and of itself)

Another option is I move into his home, which yeah sounds absurd doesn't it except I'm not an idiot, and neither is he. I'm not love struck and he's not an abuser. So we are discussing it in terms of practicalities but ultimately do I deprive my family of living in a nice home just because I don't want to give up my security?

Or do I buy my home and then we use that for the future?

Yeah, colour me all over the place.

Nonsense!! This 25 years thing gets right on my tits. That was the standard basic example term used by many lenders in the 80s/90s. I regularly do terms as short as 10 years up to 35 years. 25 years doesn't exist anymore except maybe to show examples on websites. And yes I'm a broker.

@GurningGolfer

Based on the OPs financial situation I doubt they'd have the income to fund a 10 year mortgage term