To sell my house because I want security at this age?

[burnth]

I’m 38. My mortgage is 270k, I pay 1k a month. Single and probably always will be (no desire for a relationship after some pretty awful ones…)

I had the house valued last week and it’s come back at 495k with a suggestion of marketing it at 525k.

I hate owing so much. Current term is 30 years so I will be 68 technically if it’s ever paid off. I will be gifted 50k later this year and may have some other inheritance down the line but who knows.

I want to buy somewhere with my equity and feel secure. All my family are saying it’s a stupid idea, that if I continue overpaying it will soon drop (I overpay 300 a month) and that in the longer run the house will make more money than a smaller one and I can downsize later on with more equity to either use or keep as savings.

I feel so confused. Most people I know don’t have a mortgage by now and this feels huge. Well it is huge. What would you do?

I would compromise somewhere in the middle. A smaller step down and keep a smaller mortgage.

I’m 44 and I don’t know anyone who lives mortgage free.

trust your instincts. It can be hard to take big financial decisions when you are single. People who give advice are often in couples and have no idea of the really of shouldering all the financial responsibility alone.

it’s a big mortgage - but how big are your monthly payments in relation to your income?

I was nearly mortgage free at 40, but bought my dream home three years ago and have spent a lot of money renovating and extending. I love it - it’s a four bed with a beautiful garden and it sparks joy every time I come home! It will be paid off when I am 62 - sooner with overpayments. I don’t have as many holidays as I did before I moved - but I have traveled a lot and I get to enjoy my beautiful home every day!

But we are all different / follow your joy!

I’m 46 and most of my peers have a mortgage. At 38 I think you’d be foolish to downsize. Your home will get paid off and you will have a big asset if you keep paying. Also, you’re down on the idea of a relationship, but in all likelihood you will have another.
you might have children yet. I’d stay where you are . Let the house make money for you

I'm thinking you move in a very niche circle if at 38 most people don't have a mortgage. Downsize by all means, but live where and with what makes you happy. Live by your rules not anymore elses. Over the bet long term investment in the stock market has done slightly better than property.... Plus you can increase or reduce payments to stocks and shares ISAs etc depends on your financial situation. Whereas a mortgage because it's your home is trickier to flex (you'll always be paying for accommodation) if your financial commitment to keep a roof over your head is lowered you've got more wriggle room

Why did you buy such a large house as a single person? Just curious.

In your position I would totally downsize and be mortgage free. I have been since 38 and it's an amazing and freeing feeling.

Btw I upped my pension contributions, opened a LISA and then used the remainder I paid towards mortgage to enjoy life- mostly holidays!

Hi,
just thought I’d share what I recently did, if it helps.

Sold down south for £415k with £265k mortgage so took £150k equity.
house was ex council 1950’s ugly but nice inside and large semi, with nice garden and walking distance of the town centre - but on a corner position of a busy junction and always noisy.

Bought up in the NW Lake District a 5 bed, 4 storey Victorian terrace overlooking the sea, with west views so sunset over the sea every day 😍

I now never have to worry about a mortgage and live in natures paradise! So I’d say go for it!

The lack of financial stress if life changing for me xx

Of course it’s an issue. Prices are depressed, her possible buyers are fewer in number due to interest price hikes. Downsizing is particularly less profitable in a falling market.
she’s not operating in isolation.

Me and DH did something similar about 10-11 years ago @burnth (Sold a house we bought in the 1990s - a large-ish 4 bed detached,) and after the sale, we had almost £200,000 equity in it.

With the equity, we bought a small-ish 2-bed detached bungalow, and had over £30,000 still left. We were only in our early 40s, and mortgage-free, and with a savings pot sitting in the mid 5 figures.

It was a great decision. Especially with the crazy mortgage rates rises! It's less than half the size our house was, and the bills are so much lower, the council tax is lower, and it's easier to clean and maintain! The garden is quite big, and we have a garage. It's perfect! As I said, great decision!

Same here! 46 with £180k outstanding on our mortgage just now but about to do a serious upgrade and will probably end up with a mortgage of around £650k! Loads of reasons why we’re making such a big jump now and it is a lot of debt but we can afford the repayments and the increase in our quality of life will be huge for the whole family. Plan is to stay there until our kids have properly moved out and use the equity to buy something outright.

It’s all about what gives you peace of mind I think. I have no issues with having a mortgage and it doesn’t play on my mind in the same way as having credit card debt would do for example. But I completely get that the OP doesn’t like having a mortgage and feels different about owing that money. There’s no point in carrying on having a mortgage if you don’t have to and it would improve your quality of life/peace of mind to be mortgage free. I think we can get too fixated on houses being investments rather than homes.

The average age for paying it off is 61 ( was in the news yesterday)

So late 30s is highly unusual.

I think you’re being daft. That’s a normal
amount to owe at your age - you’re only 38!

You say you are single - is it just you, or do you have children ? As if just you or you and one DC I would absolutely look into selling and buying a two bedroom property . We have never upgraded the house we bought when first married and our low mortgage meant we always had cash available for holidays and other fun things - plus we were able to pay it off early .

To be looking at completely mortgage free you would need to get something for less than £200k - but even if that's not possible, you could certainly come out with a much smaller mortgage and you could both put into pension savings and also use for enjoying yourself .

Yes prices are lower, but that also means buying for less as well as selling for less so it’s all relative. And properties ARE still shifting. We are in the process of selling and buying - we were only on the market for 8 days

OP. PLEASE come back and explain how everyone you know is mortgage free.

It’s not relative when downsizing, it beneficial when upsizing and detrimental when downsizing.

Yes properties are shifting (my FIL has just bought one), but the market is still slower.

Due to making regular overpayments, then receiving a small inheritance, I paid off my first mortgage when I was about 38.

I have another mortgage now though! It was either that or stay in a one-bedroom flat my whole life.

Re. downsizing, I suppose it depends partly on how much the value of your house is likely to increase over the next few decades. Is your location always in demand, for example?

Also, this probably matters less in the general scheme of things, but are you in a high council tax band? Most areas of the UK are seeing significant council tax rises, so living in a property that’s too big for your needs can cost you a fair bit over the years.

It depends what sort of person you are. Are you the type who would save the mortgage equivalent in long-term savings? Or are you the type who will spend it all on clothes and holidays? If you are the former then I think it's okay to sell up but if you are the latter I think it would be really foolish.

I don't really understand why you wouldn't do it. You're in a house that's too big for you paying a grand a month. What's the argument for staying put?

I would keep it going.

I considered buying a smaller house outright about 20 years ago and decided to go the other way and take on a bigger place with a huge mortgage. Now the mortgage is paid off, the house is worth double what the smaller one would have been. So if I sell this, I could buy a nice place for the same price as the smaller one and bank the rest of the equity (400k) for my early retirement.

If I had bought the smaller one, no way would I have saved £400k. I’m an idiot with cash and would have probably spent it on shoes! Plus, if the market settles again in a couple of years, your house value should increase - in 8 years, ours has increased by 250k. All relative ofc but generally it’s a good investment.

As long as you can afford to do things you like to do, and have a decent pension, I would invest in your property for now.

Just remember what an estate agent promises as a sale price might not happen.

If it will give you peace then go for it.

Why not?

why should single people not have a home office and a dressing room and a guest bedroom!!

often you also need to buy a bigger house to have a decent garden.

i have heard this a lot on mumsnet - single people should live in very small houses. I will flip the question-if we can afford it and want it - why not?? Why
nit have the luxury of space? No one asked a rich couple why they want to Live in a mansion -the answer is because they can!

If I were you I would wait a few years to have more equity and make more money from the sale. You are quite young still, presumable many years of working. I would wait at least 10 years.

If you're too tight with money, can you rent a room?

In 10 years time I would sell and downside, and hopefully you still have spare money for retirement.

I know a few women who sold their large house just before retirement, got a nice apartment (3 bed) and still had a lot of money left to use for their own retirement.

It’s totally fine to want to be mortgage-free - neither reasonable nor unreasonable, just a matter of personal choice and no on else’s business!