Advice on house buying (divorce)

[Movingontoidontknow]

Hello,
Can anyone point me in the direction of someone who could give me advice on mortgages/and, generally, what sort of house (post-divorce) I can afford. Independent, so as not to sell their own product.

Family home has sold so I now need to find somewhere else. Divorce not finalised as we were waiting to sell the house. Mortgage free (and have been for years) so I want to look at what I’m happy to spend, bearing my age (approaching mid 50’s). I get a pension lump
sum at 60 (roughly £80-£100k) so, if I need a mortgage, I’m hoping to get a longer term one so that the monthly payments are less and I can pay it off at 60 with the lump sum.

I will gave £120k from the family home and the houses I am looking at range from £150k to £225k. One I like is £195k but so don’t want to pit myself in dire straits and I still want to be able to afford trips away etc. If anyone can recommend a bank that does these types of mortgages for the over 50’s, let me know!

Speak to London & Country, they’re a nationwide whole of market adviser and they don’t charge fees. They’re excellent & I’d highly recommend

Do remember you really need a financial order with divorce for finances to be finalised. Is that all done and dusted?

it may be worth contacting a few mortgage advisors to get an up to date view of your situation. I used the l and c calculator in my divorce and wish id got proper mortgage broker advice as what their calculator said was not correct when it came down to the nitty gritty.

Yes I second this. They were great with us

We have a financial order in place.

You should already know your mortgage potential based on your individual income? As this can help decide on your financial split.
I had an online meeting with Halifax this week. If your government pension age is 66 use this as your final mortgage date but you could then change in future or pay off early.

https://www.charcol.co.uk/

Charcol are excellent independent mortgage advisors. No affiliation for any provider.

When I divorced I initially spoke to the mortgage team attached to my Estate Agent. I was advised by a woman there who was so good I’ve used her for two moves and a remortgage

my current mortgage runs until I’m 70+ (though will sell and be mortgage free by then). So I’d start there.

I have a good income but I’m not willing to spend all of my disposable income on a mortgage, at my age. I want to enjoy life a bit. I’d already overpaid our previous mortgage and paid it off early so really could do with different ideas on monthly payments depending on what the house prices are (and see what I’m willing to part with). I’ve had too many deaths around me over the last few years, including all my siblings and best friend, so I don’t want to end up
struggling financially on my own. I want to go away the odd weekend, have a holiday or two each year. Losing people (all who never made it to retirement) has given me a different outlook on life.

My pension is in 2 parts. One I get at 60 (and I will reduce hours around then) - with a lump
sum that I’d use to pay off any remaining mortgage - and the rest at 67.

When I spoke with Halifax, the repayment quotes she gave me were the same as there online calculator. Have you used their calculator? You put in the price of the house you like and your deposit and it will gave you repayment examples.
For example if i borrowed £75 000 with £90000 deposit I'd pay back £390pcm.

Like yourself I need to decide what I can afford. First time I have been on my own financialy.

You need to use a financial advisor and a mortgage broker to identify your options. You have an income and a good pension provision. It seems housing costs are reasonable in your area. A modestly decent lifestyle is achievable.

But you aren’t wealthy. Like many people who divorce your wealth has been hit and your living costs are going up. What you could have done with two incomes and all your assets won’t be achievable.

So you need to be realistic. Most people would like to go away every weekend but we can’t afford it. There are lots of things that would make my life better that I cannot afford. I’m not that rich and I don’t control the cost of living.

Not used the calculator yet but will have a look, thanks. I am conscious the payments will be higher as I’m in my 50’s now so that’s playing on my mind.

What age do you expect to work to?
How much monthly repayment are you comfortable with?

Use a repayment calculator like this one:
www.hsbc.co.uk/mortgages/repayment-calculator/
For example, borrowing £80k over 15 years @4.5% would cost about £600pm. Just use the slider to change the number of years.

Yes, luckily, house prices are not crazy here (unlike the south). At the moment, I have about £1200 a month disposable income. I usuallly have a long weekend away every 3 months (my job is stressful and I find this helps with that). I do tend to buy stuff I don’t need so I do need to rein that in. My car bills come out of my disposable income and the holiday. I don’t want to end up
paying £900 a month on a mortgage (been there, done that) and have very little left. I think my mental health would suffer tbh.

I am starting to wonder if I should buy cheaper and get something better at 60 (when I’d have the lump sum available). Just for the extra security.

In your position I’d be very tempted to buy in cash a place I can afford outright. So maybe it’d be a nice 2 bed flat at your cash budget of £120k (if that’s feasible where you live).

No stamp duty etc so your only costs are moving costs, same when you’d upgrade property in a few years with your extra cash of £100k.

Then any income you have is yours to spend on whatever you like, no stress, no mortgage.

Eg. Invest a portion of your spare monthly income for these next few years (medium risk) then you make cash with your cash, and with the rest, after bills, go out with friends, holidays, weekends away etc = Bliss!

I think I‘m leaning towards that as I really don’t want to run the risk of having hardly anything left each month, especially as I’m on my own and have no family left (apart from my 2 children). The kids are 21 and 17 now, one already at university and the other about to apply for university later this year. The older one also has a part time job so he doesn’t ask me for anything (he’s always been super sensible with money).

I hadn’t thought about investing any money but I suppose it’s an idea. I get another pay rise in August so I will be bringing more in later this year.

I can get a 2 (sometimes 3) bed for less than £140k. I’m away working 2 days a week atm but I don’t want a high maintenance house (I detest gardening). I’ll have a look around!

This is not an answer to your specific question, but if you want to take control of your financial situation and learn about how to manage your money and potentially invest some too, I highly recommend the Rebel Finance School videos on YouTube. They also have a website and Facebook page. All free and such a good place to start.

I'm going to get an interest only mortgage where the monthly payments are approx half what they would be on a repayment, so the mortgage man has quoted me £250 pm. Yes, I know you never pay it off, but why do you need to? That will leave me plenty to go out and enjoy myself.

Retirement is much easier if you don't have a mortgage to pay for a start.
Also the lender will expect repayment at the end of the term. You may not be able to repay at that point and you may not wish to move. It can put you in an incredibly difficult position.

There are loads of online calculators that will give a pretty good idea of how much you can borrow and how much it’ll cost each month. You can play around with it to get to a figure you’re happy with. Takes 10 mins.