do i have to keep a mortgage? would i be daft to sell up, move further from the centre and not have a mortgage at all? god that's tempting.

[oranges]

i have a flat that has sky rocketed in value, but i'm really enjoying working part time, and would love to have no mortgage so dh and i could work how we liked. is it madness to just sell up and buy somehting cheaper?

Martin Lewis the so named "money saving expert" from the website of the same name always says to retain a small mortgage even if you can pay it in full.

Reason being if you ever needed access to decent amount of cash it is the lowest interest rate you will ever pay. I think he suggested keeping about £1000 owing because the interest is so low and then you wouldn't ever have to go through the process of getting approval for a loan etc.

We downsized to get into a good school, no regrets as my DS1 starts in Sept in top 0.5% primary school, however we will be moving to bigger house slighter further away with no restrictions on having to live so close to the school to get in!

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