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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Worth getting a mortgage again?

18 replies

Hattythehamster · 24/04/2025 09:12

We have recently paid off our mortgage at a fairly young age. However we are now looking to move house as when we bought our house 4 years ago, I was pregnant with number 2. Since then we have had a surprise (but very loved) 3rd baby and we feel like we need another bedroom. Apart from the bedroom the house we live in is lovely and great for us. No options to extend at the current house. We have found a house that we both really love, however with stamp duty, etc, we’d probably need to get a small mortgage again. I’m prepared to go for it but my husband is reluctant as we’ve just got rid of our old mortgage and gives us more leeway for extra expenses, kids school fees,etc (when the youngest 2 go in a few years). What’s everyone’s opinions? Change our budget and go mortgage free or get a small mortgage and go for the dream house? AIBU to say we should get another mortgage when we’ve just got rid of one?

OP posts:
Agix · 24/04/2025 09:23

Small mortgage, dream house. Having more space and a nice house in a good location is good for the kids too.

TheArtfulScreamer1 · 24/04/2025 09:24

If you're still youngish I'd be inclined to get another mortgage for a bigger house. With 3 young children your need for space is only going to increase in the coming years, if you had 3 late teens who were getting ready for things like Uni etc I might have a different opinion.

AmandaHoldensLips · 24/04/2025 09:37

I'd go for the small mortgage with a view to throwing every spare penny at it and paying it off early.

randomchap · 24/04/2025 09:57

Does each child have their own bedroom?

How secure is the family income? If jobs were lost how well would you cope with a mortgage?

LadyLeapFrog · 24/04/2025 09:59

Almost paid off our mortgage at 30 but would definitely have a mortgage again for the bigger dream home. Our home is a priority for us so maybe put into perspective what is a priority for you and your family.

Twiglets1 · 24/04/2025 10:06

I don’t really get the obsession with paying off a mortgage in your 30s.

I would definitely go with a bigger house more suitable for 3 children especially if that would only involve a small mortgage.

Original poster
Hattythehamster · 24/04/2025 10:14

randomchap · 24/04/2025 09:57

Does each child have their own bedroom?

How secure is the family income? If jobs were lost how well would you cope with a mortgage?

Yes they all have their own bedroom but no spare bedroom so if my parents come to babysit we struggle as they want to stay over and go to bed. Also the youngests bedroom is a lot smaller than the other 2 and feel like as he gets older it will become an issue.
Mortgage would be small and could be covered if one of us lost our job by the other whilst looking for a new job. My husband concern is the school fees increase. However our youngest is one so we have a while to go before he goes to school.

OP posts:
butternutsquashed · 24/04/2025 10:15

How secure are your sectors and what’s the spread of pay? If it’s all reliant on one parent working then it’s a huge risk. This is what happened to DH family when he was young. They were very well off, private schooling, horses, huge house on a private road, share in a second home, housekeeper. Then when he was 16 his Dad lost his job, major recession. They managed to struggle on and pay school fees for 2 more years so DH finished his schooling. Not sure what the fees were then but that school is close to 40k PA now. The strain of keeping it going had an awful effect on his parents marriage and they divorced when he was in his second year of University.

We did pay off our mortgage in our thirties but remained in our home, a bit more space would have been nice. But as I joke I have one arse and it can only sit on one chair at a time if I have other chairs in an unused room what use are they to me. It meant we had no spare room till DD moved out.

giddyauntie123 · 24/04/2025 10:15

A mortgage is probably the cheapest money you’ll ever borrow. Go for it !!

butternutsquashed · 24/04/2025 10:18

Sorry cross posted with your update, as 3rd child was a surprise is there a biggish age gap? How long till the first is probably off to university?

I wouldn’t put myself out financially to have a spare room for parents visits and didn’t. Ours came twice a year as a huge distance from us and we managed, sofa bed plus sometimes they stayed in a local hotel.

Original poster
Hattythehamster · 24/04/2025 10:22

butternutsquashed · 24/04/2025 10:18

Sorry cross posted with your update, as 3rd child was a surprise is there a biggish age gap? How long till the first is probably off to university?

I wouldn’t put myself out financially to have a spare room for parents visits and didn’t. Ours came twice a year as a huge distance from us and we managed, sofa bed plus sometimes they stayed in a local hotel.

Our children are 7, 3 and 1. So a while before any of them are going off to uni/moving out,etc. There are other reasons apart from the extra bedroom we think a move would be good now too mainly to do with the area we are in and future proofing us. The next move would be the forever home. We did think this one was though. The loan to value of the house would be very low, around 10%.

OP posts:
flipent · 24/04/2025 10:29

How quickly could you realistically pay off the small mortgage?
Mortgage free must be an incredible feeling - but given that this doesn't happen until late in life for a lot of people - making the move now and being mortgage free, in your forever home in a few years feels like a no-brainer to me?

Twiglets1 · 24/04/2025 10:39

Another consideration if you are planning for your children to attend private schools is that their friends are likely to live in good areas/expensive houses.

It may seem superficial to care what other people think but for me this would be another reason to improve the house you live in if you can afford to.

Personally if money was a bit tight I would prefer to buy an amazing house in catchment for a great state school but that’s personal preferences of course.

Davros · 24/04/2025 10:52

giddyauntie123 · 24/04/2025 10:15

A mortgage is probably the cheapest money you’ll ever borrow. Go for it !!

And you won’t be able to get one when you’re older. I wish I’d left the door open when I had one because it’s very hard for me to borrow anything now

Dogaredabomb · 24/04/2025 10:58

I wouldn't move for a spare room. You can give your parents your room and have a really great sofa bed in the lounge.

randomchap · 24/04/2025 11:15

Could you get a house with an extra bedroom but not with a mortgage? Maybe one in a less convenient area or one that needs work doing? That way you get the extra room without the mortgage?

Admittedly I'm very risk averse and would not take on another mortgage now I'm mortgage free.

JaninaDuszejko · 24/04/2025 11:59

We bought a bigger house in our 40s (mortgage on previous property was almost paid off). Our 3DC were all at primary school, now they are all teenagers and the extra space (we got an extra bedroom, bathroom, sitting room, a driveway, a garage and all the rooms and garden were bigger than in our previous house) has made a massive difference and makes life much easier. The kids like having a sitting room to entertain their friends and it is great having an extra bedroom. We'll be paying off the mortgage into our 60s but since we haven't overstretched ourselves I'm quite happy to do that. We prioritise paying into our pensions.

JaninaDuszejko · 24/04/2025 12:10

Dogaredabomb · 24/04/2025 10:58

I wouldn't move for a spare room. You can give your parents your room and have a really great sofa bed in the lounge.

I think the need for a spare room depends on circumstance. Both DM and MIL are widows and wouldn't visit us if we didn't have a nice room for them that they feel comfortable in, they don't like staying in a hotel alone. They both live quite some distance away and stay for several weeks when they visit, I wouldn't want to sleep on a sofabed for that long when I'm working and have guests. A larger house also means we can have more guests stay over, e.g. we have room for my brother and his family to stay at Christmastime (adults in the spare room, kids in the playroom). Finally, the spare room has a proper desk space with 2 screens so it's used for WFH and also by the DDs who, despite having a desk in their bedroom, prefer to do revision in a different room from where they sleep. We very much use the 'spare' room all the time.

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