taking on a 400k mortgage age 42

[gf4567hfdd]

We are considering moving into a larger family home from a flat which would increase our mortgage from 250k to 400k, sadly house prices in London are so high. A we're both 42, this would extend out mortgage until our mid 60s. I read on here how people hope to be mortgage free by 50 or 60, so would this be foolish of us?

We were in a lovely 4 bed house and had paid off our mortgage. Last year we (age 49 & 46) sold that house bought our dream house in the country and took on a 20 year mortgage for 110K

However we earn well and hope to have it paid off within 5 years but if something happens with jobs, health etc we can sell this house and with the equity buy another house mortgage free.

I've always been very risk averse but we said fuck it let's give it a go and I haven't regretted it for one minute, I love this house and the location. We also did need the extra space for all the dc and their boyfriends/girlfriends who seem to live with us so everyone is happy.

Would I have bought this house if we didn't have enough equity in it if something happened? No not at the time as it would have seemed too risky and I wouldn't have known what's it like to live here.

Oh I'm under no illusions that I'm the winner here - of course longer mortgage terms benefits the lenders! But I live in an expensive part of the South East, am a pretty average earner, and need a house big enough for my family to live in. I'm not entirely sure what the alternative is here?

We could have paid off our mortgage in our mid-40s if we had stayed in our old house, but neither of us loved it so we moved and took out a 400k mortgage instead. We hope to have it paid off well before we retire.

I took out over 400k and we are 120k combined and highly likely to increase as I am bottom rung of pay scale (NHS) at my stage and DH not at all earning his full potential as currently part time studying. So there, you cant make blanket statements as individual circumstances vary so much!

@Iamthewombat you have very strong feelings about housing and mortgages.

I do get that - the market is bonkers. But I do t think you are helping OP here. I do t think the level of borrowing is particularly reckless. Only she knows what her other outgoings are, and what she prioritises.

I assume you either bought your home a very long time ago or rent?

not all of us can take a principled stand on the housing market. Yes we can decide not to buy bit to rent. Or we can decide to stay in our starter homes. But, I don’t want to.

we all have to make judgements on our own finances and lives. You can’t just sneer at the housing market and tell people it’s their fault for buying houses.

I think that's the problem. In London while I understand that the market is messed up but if we don't take on a higher debt then we'll be in our flat forever. And yes it is crazy to think that you only get a flat for 600k. Sadly we also haven't made the 100,000s on the flat that people talk about here. It's all rather depressing.

We're the same, we always think of the worst case scenario and could one of us cover the mortgage if one of us couldn't work.

The poster was @DenholmElliot1 and she said that the OP should be starting to think about paying off her mortgage, not that everyone should expect to pay off their mortgage aged 42. I think she’s being unfairly maligned. I assume that posters frustrated by high property prices are taking out their ire on her.

Not the ‘why do you care so much?’ gambit again. I’m interested in finance and economics, that’s why.

Re whether my posts are helping the OP: she asked for opinions, and she got mine. If she were rich enough not to have to worry about borrowing an extra £150k on top of an existing £250k debt, she wouldn’t be asking for opinions. So we can assume that she doesn’t have loads of spare cash to throw at a big mortgage debt.

I neither rent nor bought a very long time ago. It is possible to debate questions like this without having skin in the game.

Am I ‘sneering at the housing market’? Since it’s inanimate, I doubt that it will take offence! What I do find surprising is that so many people are rushing to load themselves up with extra debt to buy the assets whose prices are fuelled by the extra debt. So yes, by borrowing more, people are pushing up the prices of houses and impoverishing their future selves. Future generations will laugh at us for this.

We took on a mortgage (about £350K) in our early 50s - going from a mortgage free house to one with off road parking and a garden.

It was absolutely the best decision for us. It's improved our quality of life. Our view was that if it all went tits up for some reason we'd just sell and downsize earlier than we thought.

It's fine for us and our earnings and we plan to pay off to retire at 60.

We took on a £336k one at 50 and 49....

We paid ours off in forties. It gives a definite sense of security in uncertain times.

But the difference is that we were in a house that worked for us. If your housing doesn't then now is the time to leap rather than leaving it.

We are due to pay off our first mortgage in 4 years (currently mid-40s) however once it is paid off we are going to upsize so will be starting a new mortgage at 50yrs old although will have the full equity in current house. So I think what you are doing is fine.

I’ll assume that your username is ironic. Even without interest, paying a £350k mortgage over ten years will cost £35k a year, and that’s after tax. That might be ‘fine for you’ but if it were fine for the OP she wouldn’t be asking for views on whether she is wise to increase her current £250k mortgage to £400k.

Her household income, divided between her and her husband, might be £115k (I think that’s what she said) but after tax that’s a lot less. She’s taking on a £400k mortgage, over 25 years, aged 42. A good rule of thumb for mortgages is that with interest, you pay at least double what you borrowed. £800k over 25 years. That’s £32k a year.

Of course, inflation can reduce debts over a long period but not by that much. That is a heavy financial commitment during a period when you might want to step back a bit from work, go part time, etc. Or travel, which you won’t be able to afford to do because you’re servicing a massive mortgage.

We're the same, we always think of the worst case scenario and could one of us cover the mortgage if one of us couldn't work.

But the OP may be able to manage that

Due to divorce, I bought a house three years ago aged 50 and will be paying my mortgage until I'm 67! I would LOVE to be able to say I can pay it off sooner but realistically there isn't a hope. Unless I win the lottery which I dont do

I'm 44 and our never mortgage is going to be c£450/500k. We didn't buy until late 30s and we are in London and need a minimum of about £800k to buy where we currently are. We'd have a decent deposit and it doesn't phase me.

We could move out of London and live nearly mortgage free but we don't want to!

@Iamthewombat fair point for the OP. But I was more adding our experience in as Mumsnet tends to be of the view that paying off the mortgage is the be all and end all. We will be clearing the remainder off with investments/pension payout etc. The numbers work for us.

We decided that being mortgage free/small mortgage wasn't as important to us as the quality of life from a new house. And that we could afford it.

We got our first mortgage 2 years ago... aged 45&46. It's a 25 yr one...

I've just had a look at the current rates and it is scary especially if rates go up. i just feel like we're totally the squeezed generation. high house prices and high interest rates. the problem with the flat is that its not on the ground floor, looking around me - my parents and parents in law's mobility is so poor, they cannot manage stairs. but a ground floor flat is basically the same as a house somewhere else

It's so hard isn't it?? What would the monthly payments be vs your take home pay? I'm worried we're over stretching ourselves too.

We are going to stretch ourselves with our next house move but, scary as it is, we don't want to live the next twenty years in this house, so there's not much choice.

We are banking on the fact that our careers are still building, so we've not maxed out our earning potential, and that we could cut back on other spending if the mortgage payments go up significantly as a result of interest rates.

It's a gamble, but so be it.

so our current take home after pensions is around 6.5k per month - so am assuming that we can overpay while our low interest rate deal is still valid. I guess paying out 2k out of 6.5k is ok. but that assumes we stay together, can work etc. In my job, I can certainly work until retirement. DH is perhaps less certain. But by the time we hit 58/60 the kids should be gone which should free up some money

We took out a 425 k mortgage 5 years ago first time buyers at 47 and 51... we took it out over 18 years so husband would be 69 when paid off. But if a struggle for the first couple of years which was softened as the rules on stamp duty changed the week we exchanged and completed so we go £5000 back I think. But Being the age we are we have both been promoted and our wages have increased... mine has doubled as I am now full time, children where 12 when we moved here.
Best decision, we remortgage in a couple of weeks and we have been able to pay off 10% a year the past 2 years, we also have a bit more we can pay off with the remortgage and we can afford to decrease the length of the mortgage so instead of 13 years left to pay it will be 10, our monthly payment is less as well.
So basically plenty of time x
Good luck.

@sleezeandwineparty interesting, how much family income do you have? Sounds amazing