Buy the house or pay off mortgage by 42?

[BHFEPP]

Just as the title really. I am 38 and could pay off my mortgage by 42 if all is well (got the bulk ready to pay off in chunks already, haven’t done in full as it’s currently invested).

Anyway…I’ve just found my dream home. Absolutely beautiful and exactly where I would love to be. But, it would mean taking out a chunky mortgage and realistically I would be paying it off for many years to come. Part of me thinks go for it and if I ever have to downsize I can, the other part of me thinks just leave it and accept where I am and what I have. For context current home worth 550k. The one I love is 695k.

20 years is too long.

You would be 62 and hopefully still able to work until then. You'd do better to pay it off now and put more into a pension.

@Catladywithoutacat ?

Twenty years? I’d stay put and go on more holidays. Is dream home bigger? Higher running costs - do you need more space?

only you can decide but I’m late 40s and knackered, facing job insecurity - I’d stay put

Would it not be cheaper to do your current house up?

A few years ago we thought about moving and increasing our mortgage, we decided against it and I'm glad we did. Our mortgage will be paid off by the end of this year before I turn 50.

We are planning on going on more holidays and savings some each month.

Buy the dream house. You’ve got 4 years before you pay off this house if you use all your savings. So it’s an additional 16 years. You can overpay a bit to bring that down.

I guess ultimately it depends how much your existing property costs compared to the new one each month?

we have a £500 a month mortgage and im battling with DH all the time to not pay it off. The reality is that we can do so much more with our income and we would easily absorb £500 into kids stuff and holidays and things each month that we wouldn’t really “see” the benefit in the way id love.

I wouldn’t think twice about buying the dream house.

We’re about to buy our ‘forever home’ (fingers crossed!!) and although it means another 30 years of mortgage (we’re 10 years younger than you), it will be 100% worth it.

I'd stay put. In our late 20s/30s, me and OH remortgaged and made home improvements and moved up the housing ladder. Now in our 40s we are focused on getting our current house paid off and then possibly downsize. Unfortunately paying it off won't happen until we are in our 60s. It would be massively liberating to have it paid off within a few years. As I'm sure lots of people have said on here, do anything you can to the current house within a workable budget to enhance it.

This is such a personal decision. I'm going to pay my mortgage off this year at 37 and I am so excited! I did think about moving to a better house and area, but my current house is fine so I am going down to 4 days a week and going to invest the rest of my mortgage payment to give me flexibility to retire early and continue to go more part time.

Buy the house. For the location & lifestyle if would be worth it to me,

Buy the house

I'm 44 now. Renting at the moment. But I plan on buying a small house on my own in the next 2 years. I'm hoping to do it mortgage free.
It won't be the most beautiful but it will be mine.
I think your mad thinking about expanding your mortgage in your situation

I’d buy the house. Surely, it would mean taking out a quite small mortgage relative to the value of your house if you’re nearly ready to pay yours off. That sounds ideal at your age.

I only bought my first house at 40 and took out a £500k mortgage! It’s a wonderful house and has been a great investment and I’m very glad I did.

You aren’t 70 and nearly dead. You have probably another 40 years to enjoy (or not!) whatever home live in.

That works both ways - you get one life, so be mortgage free while you're still young and use the spare cash to travel and do all the things you've always wished you had the money to do. You don't need a big house to grow old in. I know a lot of older people sat on a lot of equity in houses which are too big but they have been there too long to downsize.

Am torn, would be a lovely feeling coming home each day to a house that truly made you happy. But alternatively, to be mortgage free in a few years gives you more money to enjoy here and now or time to save up for a pension and perhaps retiring early.

Also... another dream house that makes your heart sing may come along in the meantime that isn't going to cost much more than perhaps moving costs.

I would stay where you are and invest in the house , you say the garden is big but not to your liking you could sort that and make it a space you love . I would definitely go for being mortgage free in a few years - all that extra cash to travel , save , have a nice car . Lovely

I’d be thinking of how the extra money would be used. Even if it gave you freedom, would your other life circumstances allow it? Do you need to work, do you have a partner, children or parents who might need your support?

If you buy the house you’re not committed to it till the end of your mortgage but you’re adding more equity to your retirement pot. You could downsize and pay off the mortgage, you could over pay it, there are lots of ways you could make this work financially AND have your dream house.

I was in a very similar position, we bought it. Because the area we live in now is stunning and the house has much more space which is better for us and the kids. It’s all about Weighing it up for what suits you

Are you single? If not, what does your partner think?

If so, how secure is your work considering the threat of AI?

I'd put security first. And work on your house to make it your dream home

Buy it. Enjoy it fir the next 20 years then sell it to live the best retirement you can.

As someone who only bought their first house when they were 37 being mortgage free at this age is incomprehensible to me. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the house of my dreams if I could comfortably afford the mortgage payments, particularly if the current one was a compromise. You have more working years ahead than you’ve already done.

I don't think I would buy the bigger house. Bigger houses mean more maintenance and more heating. We did buy a bigger better house but that was because I got tired of lugging a baby up and down dozens of steps and the thought of lugging two of them was awful. (We live in a very hilly city.) It was a lot easier with the children to have really easy access. We put every spare cent towards the new mortgage and dressed the children in secondhand clothes and drove old but economical vehicles. Honestly, the joy of eventually paying off the mortgage did more for my complexion than vats of La Mer face creams. Unless the move would significantly change your life for the better, I'd just enjoy being mortgage free at 42. Instead of paying interest right up to retirement I'd probably think about a few planned enhancements to your current house and plan a few special holidays. I really enjoy a mortgage free lifestyle and given the cost of living crisis I am really glad I don't have mortgage to pay. My husband had a few health issues and we could choose for him to retire at 62 and that was because we didn't have to meet a mortgage.

We were in a similar situation 4 yrs ago. Our old mortgage would have been paid off now but we took on a 250k mortgage instead.

It's the best thing we've ever done, and we can still be mortgage free in 10 yrs. If it all goes wrong we just revert but in the meantime enjoying our new home to the full.

I would caveat this by saying we did it at the right time with a sub 2% rate fixed for 10yrs.and clearly the market is not as buoyant as it was then

I was mortgage free at 40. Took on a far larger mortgage than you to get to the dream house. Wont ever move again. Having to think about mortgage payments again is a pain, slightly more nervous about what would happen if either myself or DH lost our jobs. But realistically we can afford the payments, still have savings, and enjoy holidays, if I didn't have the mortgage payments I would probably be spending more on jewelry.

Given how much you can/ have paid I think if it’s your dream it’d be crazy not to buy the house!!!