First time buyer - a 35 year mortgage

[AlwaysSomethingThere]

At the Grand Old Age of 34, prob 35 by the time I've found a house and purchased. Slightly terrifying thinking I'll be paying off a mortgage until I'm 70 but I can remortgage for a shorter term in the future surely? Has anyone else taken out a mortgage for such a long period at my age? Maybe 30 years would be better...

We have a 34 year mortgage meaning it runs until my husband is 72.
We figured either we can remortgage for a shorter time as salaries rise and childcare costs disappear, or we will downsize when the children leave home and sort it out then.

Can you even get a 35 year mortgage that runs over retirement age? I'd be mildly surprised that lenders would be okay with that. Not completely surprised (see 2008 financial crisis underpinnings!), but mildly.

You can overpay later , also you may br able to downsize or move somewhere cheaper. Better than renting IMO

We also have a 35 year mortgage that runs until I'm 67. We're making small overpayments as we can (already made enough overpayments to be mortgage free a year early!) and as mango says, our income should rise as our mortgage falls enabling us to make larger overpayments. Personally, until (if!) we get to the position where we can afford to make larger overpayments than we're able to without paying a fee (usually 10% of the mortgage) we intend to stick with the 35 year term as it gives us the flexibility of lower monthly payments if we need it. You can pay a 35 year mortgage off in 25 years if you simply set your overpayments high enough (use an online calculator to work out what the monthly repayment would be for a 25 year term and aim to get as close to that as possible). And remember, every single repayment, no matter how tiny will save you a bundle (at the start of a 2% 35 year mortgage every £1 overpayment will save you £1 in interest over the life of the mortgage!).

Can you even get a 35 year mortgage that runs over retirement age?

I think banks are assuming we're all going to be working until 70...or beyond. Which seems fair enough... combined with a bit of over paying, earning more over 35 years and the ability to sell the asset it doesn't seem unreasonable.

Yeah :/ fair point, if depressing.

Fuck me.How bad is it that house prices are so high
you have to borrow over 35 years.In my day it was 25 years.

Our mortgage was a 36 year term originally, due to be paid off when I'm 71 In reality we overpay as much as possible and the plan would be to downsize to pay it off if we haven't been able to pay it off by the time we want to retire. It has been really helpful to have the option of just paying the minimum payment at certain times when unexpected expenses have cropped up.

Yeah don't panic. We bought our house 2 years ago with a 35 year term due to high childcare it made our payments manageable in the short term, 2 years later we are in a much stronger financial position and can over pay enough that puts us on track for a 24 year mortgage now. The great thing about over paying is if your financial situation changes you aren't bound to it but it has the same effect as a shorter term, you've just got to be strict with yourself of course. Also the more equity you build the better your LTV, ours has improved by 10% in 2 years meaning our interest and payments have gone down meaning we can over pay more, so something else to consider. I'm not planning on having a mortgage in my 60s! Hopefully not my 50s either and we bought at 29.

we just have.
gives us flexibility to overpay when we can and to just pay the 'regular' comparatively low amount when money is tight.

To be fair I could do a 25 year term at the moment but if I buy a house this year I'll have very little left in my savings pot so for the first couple of years I'd like to split what I manage to save every month. 20% towards overpayments and 80% in the savings pot for emergencies and house maintenance etc x

That makes sense, but sit down and work out the sums, don't try to build up huge savings when it makes much more financial sense to prioritise paying off the mortgage. Just as you wouldn't save while trying to pay debts off I'd be careful to prioritise the mortgage, obviously some savings is a good idea of course :)

I just want enough to feel safe so if the boiler fucks it or the roof caves in or if a Tyrannosaurus Rex appears from another realm and puts it foot through my kitchen ceiling I have the funds to replace it 😊

And make sure you pick a mortgage where overpayments aren't penalised in any way. Since overpayment (particularly at the start) is the best way to reduce the expense of a mortgage over its term, some lenders get quite pissy about it.

Replace the kitchen ceiling that is, not the Tyrannosaurus Rex' foot. The cheeky uninvited bastard.

We have a 30 year mortgage, plan is to use the extra to renovate for the next couple of years, then it'll be swallowed up by childcare fees for a few years when DC (hopefully!) make an appearance. After that we're hoping to be able to chuck any extra at overpaying.
I won't remortgage to a shorter term if possible, as that way we can stop / pause the overpayments if needed, rather than having a fixed higher amount due every month.

I got a 30 year mortgage. Couldn’t get 25 on affordability.

Remortgaged onto a 25 after 2 year fix was up after us had a promotion.

I’d rather be on a 30/35 and have the ability to make overpayments then stop then if needed (eg boiler breaks) than super stretched with no flex on a 25.

So banks won't lend 20 or 25 year mortgages on the grounds of ''affordability'' yet they'll happily lend over 30 or 35 years... meaning the person is a actually paying considerably more over the extended mortgage term.

The banks and their puppets in the political establishment really do like their obedient little mortgage slaves to be lifelong these days.

@jemihap not many people can avoid being a "slave" to either a landlord or bank, I know which I'd rather, and which is cheaper for me. I agree though, I feel very manipulated not being allowed a 25 year term when I've been paying more on a 35 year term the last 2 years, but thankfully overpaying negates it.

I have 30 years left and I am 36. I only had 20 years but then I moved to a more expensive house. So I am hoping to overpay at some point, but for now needed to keep monthly repayments down as I am on mat leave.