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Buying A House

Started by monkfromhavana, July 13, 2021, 01:13:00 PM

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TrenterPercenter

You can use these also that are free had few people use them and they were good.  Might be a good idea for an initial mortgage.

https://tandcmortgages.co.uk

Just remember as much as people dress it up romanticise and complicate buying a house you are basically taking out a big loan.  However the loan is "secured" on the thing you are using the big loan for, which means the faster you pay it off the less money wasted on paying the loan; so bigger deposit is always better (though remember there usually about 2k in solicitors etc you'll need as well).

I would also try and take a mortgage that can be serviced on one wage but don't fret about house prices dropping or rising; on purchase you move into the market so travel with these ups and downs (if it all crashes we are all f**ked equally).  Don't touch interest only or leasehold.  Think about how long you would ideally like to stay in your property and base your mortgage term around that (there is very little diff on APR at the moment) you'll work out that the deal is the bank is basically going to lend you money but fleece you regardless; longer term mortgage lower payments but more interest over time, shorter term higher payments but lower interest over time but then you'll need to pay to remortgage. 

Don't worry about it, it is a big tenancy agreement with you as the tenant and quasi-landlord until you can wrestle it off the bank.  nowhere near as complicated as people like to make out.

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: peanutbutter on July 13, 2021, 02:34:15 PM
Anyone have any experience getting a mortgage as a contractor? I could stand to make a lot more money that way by the looks of things.

Not directly, but peripherally through work so I have a bit of knowledge and experience. 

CAVEAT - this was six or seven years ago (possibly even eight) so things may have/probably changed since then...

You need to be a registered company AND be a member of the construction industry tax scheme before you can apply for a contractor's mortgage (I think they're called developer's mortgages now).  I had no involvement with the company registration bit, but the CITS registration took about six months.  After that, the admin for the actual mortgage was epic - it made the domestic mortgage process seem like ordering a takeaway on Just Eat in comparison.  That being said, the money coming through and completion was much quicker.

There was also a full building survey that had to be carried out on completion (otherwise you defaulted) to confirm ALL works met the then-current standards.  I know it wasn't free, but I don't know how much it was.  I'm also not sure if that's a general requirement for all developer's mortgages or if it was unique to us as we were a public sector body with a private sector development partner.

Unless you're thinking of becoming a full-time developer, I would guess it would either not be worth the hassle, or you might not meet the criteria.


Echo above RE changing house prices - you only need to be mindful of them if you're buying or selling.  If you're not then you could be in huge negative equity, but it wouldn't matter cos you're not looking to move.  We went into fairly serious negative equity in the last housing crash in 2008/09, but we just carried on paying the mortgage as normal and came out the other end.

MojoJojo

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on July 13, 2021, 02:46:34 PM
Mortgage brokers have access to a shit-load more mortgages and offers than banks and building societies, which only tend to offer their own main packages.  They don't even always do that - we're with Lloyds for our mortgage and when we were looking to move last summer (prior to Mrs Nose being made redundant putting the kibosh on it) the best mortgage available to us was another Lloyds one, but it was exclusive through brokers and we couldn't get it direct from Lloyds, but it was .5% lower interest rate than the cheapest direct bank or BS one, and still cheaper even taking into account the fee.

They can also get around a lot of restrictions that banks and building societies can't, and can usually squeeze a bit more money for you.

Unless you have a massive deposit and enough income to comfortably cover the mortgage you need without issue, I would ALWAYS recommend going to a broker (obvs do your research to make sure the broker isn't dodgy).

My experience was the opposite. Broker offered us a mortgage, I said this co-op one is just better, they said co-op won't deal with brokers, so we went direct.

This sounds obvious, but you have to include the fees in the cost. People only seem to talk about the interest rate, but often you only get the lower interest rate by paying a large up front fee. This is especially true as interest rates are low and you are borrowing a relatively small amount. It's really worth putting everything into a mortgage calculator, seeing how much you pay over the term and seeing how much you'll still owe at the end.

Shit Good Nose

I can only go by our experience last summer, as the last time we did a mortgage prior to that was when we moved to this house 16 years ago.  But none of the banks or building societies we spoke to last year could offer us anything directly that was better than what we could get through brokers, even (as I said) taking into account the broker's fees.

TrenterPercenter

Brokers will likely get you a better deal because they know how to play around with your deets; they are also good if you think you are going to struggle getting a mortgage (if you are self employed etc..) but yes there is a cost involved.

Quote from: Blinder Data on July 13, 2021, 02:49:21 PM
Yes, keep on top of your solicitors. Bought a house last year for the first time in a comparatively stress-free manner, but even so it felt like nothing happened for weeks until a few days before the exchange when suddenly various documents and processes were demanded of me ASAP. This lack of forward planning on behalf of solicitors/estate agents has probably been made worse by the bonkers state of the current market.

And I echo advice to go for a mortgage broker unless you know your onions and tell white lies about your health etc. I stupidly gave an honest answer when taking out life insurance about how I used to smoke infrequently, which seemed to add £25 per month to the bill.

I third the Solicitors point. Keep at them.

Also read documents carefully. Our Solicitors ballsed up the postcode on our paperwork and it delayed things for ages.

robhug

The solicitor thing is true, I was told by an actual solicitor that they don't really prioritise conveyancing as its just not as profitable as the other shit they do, so when other things do come up it just gets pushed down the list.

The only way to get round it to ring them up once or twice daily chasing so they think your that much of a pain in the arse they'll do it just to get rid of you.

Pancake

Quote from: monkfromhavana on July 13, 2021, 01:13:00 PM
So, my partner and I are in the lucky position of getting enough money together to get a 10% mortgage on a house (6k from my mum after she died, her parents in Poland lending us 6k and us saving 8k - not sure why I feel the need to tell you that but it sets the scene).

Any got any useful hints, particularly about mortgages as we know naff all frankly. Why are there so many mortgage advisers? They all have access to the same information and deals and whatnot, so why are there so many? If you pay more do they give you a wink and get the good stuff out from behind a curtain? I'm guessing it's a way the system works so that the maximum amount of people can grift the most out of you, but maybe that's just me being cynical.

We've got a free initial meeting with some guy who looks about 12 later today where he's going to tell us "how the mortgage process works with him". My boss's gf is friends with him however and they were satisfied with him, so I'm guessing he's an alright chap.

Anyway, all tips are welcome, including ones about vetting properties by seeing if the letterbox is suitable for pissing through.

I've used estate agent approved free mortgage advisors and paid for independent ones. In my experience the free one is fine, but the paid one was useful for being a bit more creative when it came to buying a place we could only just afford. His fee of £300 was also worth it's weight in gold as he would work around our schedule (work, kids, schools, nurseries and all that shit) where the free one wouldn't.

One other nugget for ya: don't make any assumptions about what you can afford, my fag packet calculations were off by about 50 grand which suddenly made the area we were looking in very eligible.

Ferris

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on July 13, 2021, 02:08:33 PM
The one piece of advice I would give to any buyer - first time or otherwise - is to avoid pre 40s houses like the plague, unless you are 100% sure that everything like heating and water pipes have been replaced, there's a modern style boiler, a damp proof course has been put in, gable walls have been pinned to the frame, the roof timbers have been replaced or at the very least treated, the internal walls adjoining your neighbour/neighbours are up to current fire safety standards, and the electrics have been done.

Or get a very thorough inspection, and accept you will likely find some of this stuff needs to be updated regardless. Some of it you can live with (the leak in the kitchen ceiling when it snows, the built in dishwasher that doesn't latch closed so you can open it and fling boiling water and soap everywhere), some you can't (lead pipes with a toddler, half a shed in the back yard, single pane windows when it is -30c outside and they're painted shut when it is +32c as it was last week).

Our gaff was built 1918 (previous property was destroyed in the largest man-made explosion in history, fact-fans, so we're fairly sure of the date) and everything you've mentioned is wrong and needs replacing, or we've shelled out to replace it. Boiler/furnace, wiring, lead pipes, sump pump (don't ask), windows, random piles of rubble and old foundations, the lot.

Not a huge deal for us (well, apart from the eye watering cost of it all) because this is our home and explicitly not a financial investment, but we decided to keep a float of cash when buying it because we knew there'd be stuff wrong (and there is). As much as you should try and put the mad deposit amount down, you should also hold some cash back for when you inevitably find everything that is wrong with the place.

TrenterPercenter

Got a Victorian terrace circa 1910 on the go here and I have to say I agree with Ferris here; modern builds are what to look out for as sure the older properties can have some quirks but they are structurally brilliant.  The exception here (which I think is SNGs point) is old cottage-type builds that are quite notorious for causing problems.

Paul Calf

Quote from: monkfromhavana on July 13, 2021, 01:13:00 PM
So, my partner and I are in the lucky position of getting enough money together to get a 10% mortgage on a house (6k from my mum after she died, her parents in Poland lending us 6k and us saving 8k - not sure why I feel the need to tell you that but it sets the scene).

Any got any useful hints, particularly about mortgages as we know naff all frankly. Why are there so many mortgage advisers? They all have access to the same information and deals and whatnot, so why are there so many? If you pay more do they give you a wink and get the good stuff out from behind a curtain? I'm guessing it's a way the system works so that the maximum amount of people can grift the most out of you, but maybe that's just me being cynical.

We've got a free initial meeting with some guy who looks about 12 later today where he's going to tell us "how the mortgage process works with him". My boss's gf is friends with him however and they were satisfied with him, so I'm guessing he's an alright chap.

Anyway, all tips are welcome, including ones about vetting properties by seeing if the letterbox is suitable for pissing through.

Almost everyone you meet via this process will be an incompetent money-grubbing shithead.

touchingcloth

Quote from: FerriswheelBueller on July 13, 2021, 05:16:31 PM
Or get a very thorough inspection, and accept you will likely find some of this stuff needs to be updated regardless. Some of it you can live with (the leak in the kitchen ceiling when it snows, the built in dishwasher that doesn't latch closed so you can open it and fling boiling water and soap everywhere), some you can't (lead pipes with a toddler, half a shed in the back yard, single pane windows when it is -30c outside and they're painted shut when it is +32c as it was last week).

Our gaff was built 1918 (previous property was destroyed in the largest man-made explosion in history, fact-fans, so we're fairly sure of the date) and everything you've mentioned is wrong and needs replacing, or we've shelled out to replace it. Boiler/furnace, wiring, lead pipes, sump pump (don't ask), windows, random piles of rubble and old foundations, the lot.

Not a huge deal for us (well, apart from the eye watering cost of it all) because this is our home and explicitly not a financial investment, but we decided to keep a float of cash when buying it because we knew there'd be stuff wrong (and there is). As much as you should try and put the mad deposit amount down, you should also hold some cash back for when you inevitably find everything that is wrong with the place.

Our house was a 1906 brick-built semi in Salford, and we knew that even though it predated building regs that those sorts of properties in that area tended to be well built.

We had a full survey plus an additional damp and an additional structural survey done before we bought. The original surveyor flagged that the gables walls weren't tied, but the structural engineer looked at them and went "pffff, that wall'll still be there when you're planted", which was ace.

There's no way I'd consider a modern mass produced home. The roof timbers in our place were massive slabs of hardwood in great condition, whereas they say Wimpy homes built within recent decades can need their roof frames replacing within 30 years, sometimes much sooner.

But definitely definitely definitely get a full survey before buying, as one thing that flagged up for us was potential dry rot. The subsequent damp surveyor said it was dead and not liable to come back, but I was glad they found it as one house I grew up in was fucked by dry rot to the point that the back and side walls of one corner needed to be removed and rebuilt and the floors/ceilings replaced on both storeys in about four different rooms.

monkfromhavana

Well, meeting went well. Advisor is independent and went through the whole process of buying a house, likely fees for each step of the way, potential problems etc. £150 before he puts in the formal application, rising to potentially £500 if there's problems with credit scores etc. Mortgage provider pays him 0.4% per £100,000. Said he will help us in dealing with the estate agents if we aren't comfortable.

I appreciate that this was basically a sales call, but pretty happy.

The Ombudsman

I'd avoid new builds for many reasons. I'll probably never be able to own a home (unless someone leaves me enough for a deposit) but I've known a good few people who have bought new builds and every single one had problems. Some utterly farcical, like plumbing the toilet cistern into the hot water (really).

One thing definitely to check for is if you buy the land the house is on or if you have to pay ground rents. From what I understand, most builders retain the land and charge ridiculous ground rents as a way to recoup more money.

mothman

The day I actually bought our house fifteen years ago, an old cove I worked with gave me some really good advice for the new home-owner: pay your energy bills monthly. That way you're not getting a massive bill every three months. It may be obvious, maybe it's a common thing nowadays, but for us at the time it was a new way of doing it. And it's been a lifesaver on quite a few occasions. Good luck MFH!

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: mothman on July 13, 2021, 07:25:14 PM
The day I actually bought our house fifteen years ago, an old cove I worked with gave me some really good advice for the new home-owner: pay your energy bills monthly. That way you're not getting a massive bill every three months. It may be obvious, maybe it's a common thing nowadays, but for us at the time it was a new way of doing it. And it's been a lifesaver on quite a few occasions. Good luck MFH!

Very very few suppliers offer quarterly billing for domestic these days, and the tariffs for those do tend to be slightly higher than monthly as well.  But yes, absolutely go with monthly billing, and if you get a house with pre-payment meters get them replaced ASAP as pre-payment tariffs can be as much as double regular tariffs.


RE the house age thing - I should clarify/reiterate I didn't say "buy a new house", I said avoid anything pre 40s unless you're absolutely sure there are no issues with a period house and it has been thoroughly checked.

The Ombudsman

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on July 13, 2021, 08:05:41 PM
Very very few suppliers offer quarterly billing for domestic these days, and the tariffs for those do tend to be slightly higher than monthly as well.  But yes, absolutely go with monthly billing, and if you get a house with pre-payment meters get them replaced ASAP as pre-payment tariffs can be as much as double regular tariffs.


RE the house age thing - I should clarify/reiterate I didn't say "buy a new house", I said avoid anything pre 40s unless you're absolutely sure there are no issues with a period house and it has been thoroughly checked.

I think they ruled pre pay meters have to be in line with standard tariffs. I have PP for electric and gas and hate it. I understand for some they are useful, but having to keep a constant eye on the balance is a pain and I can't top up a months worth as the maximum is £49. Landlord wants them kept so they don't get lumbered with a bill if a tenant does a runner.

Ferris

Quote from: The Ombudsman on July 13, 2021, 07:12:03 PM
plumbing the toilet cistern into the hot water (really).

Lovely warm tods on the way out the door. Marvellous - the height of luxury.

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on July 13, 2021, 08:05:41 PM
RE the house age thing - I should clarify/reiterate I didn't say "buy a new house", I said avoid anything pre 40s unless you're absolutely sure there are no issues with a period house and it has been thoroughly checked.

Yeah I think everyone's agreeing tbh - get an inspection to avoid surprises, and even then be prepared to pay money to fix stuff (or live with it for the time being and save up to fix it later) because there absolutely will be stuff that goes wrong with it.[nb]When we got the lead pipes replaced, an ashen faced plumber informed us that the sewage outflow was an exposed pipe in the basement, and it was resting "about 5mm" into the external supply. Translation - if a heavy truck had gone down the street, the pipe could drop out of the thing it is supposed to be soldered into and sewage could be rapidly filling the basement with us having nary a clue (he fixed it for no charge which was nice of him). We also have a pony panel setup that an electrician refused to touch, and our sump pump in a room that had flooded 4 years ago was held together with parcel tape. Last week we found 8 foot of live wire coming out of the wall outside, over the property line, and just resting in a neighbour's garden borders that has quietly rested there unbeknownst to our neighbour since at least 2009, though presumably it has tasering the occasional raccoon. I have dozens of these stories, the chap who used to live here was a slightly mad man.[/nb]

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: The Ombudsman on July 13, 2021, 08:23:48 PM
I think they ruled pre pay meters have to be in line with standard tariffs. I have PP for electric and gas and hate it. I understand for some they are useful, but having to keep a constant eye on the balance is a pain and I can't top up a months worth as the maximum is £49. Landlord wants them kept so they don't get lumbered with a bill if a tenant does a runner.

I think that only applies to the tariff for the actual electricity/gas - I think non-commodity costs (i.e. standing charges) are still way more expensive.   Mind you it has been a few years since I've needed to look at pre-payment meters as we got shot of our last ones at work in early 2018.

The Ombudsman

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on July 13, 2021, 08:32:11 PM
I think that only applies to the tariff for the actual electricity/gas - I think non-commodity costs (i.e. standing charges) are still way more expensive.   Mind you it has been a few years since I've needed to look at pre-payment meters as we got shot of our last ones at work in early 2018.

Ah, could be. I know I was away for two days yet still used £4 of power. Seems a lot for a fridge/freezer. Getting smart meters installed as the gas meter has a failed battery and they won't replace it, have to have new meters. See what that says.

Anyway, sorry to derail the thread. If you do get PP meters I'd get shot as SGN says.

TrenterPercenter

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on July 13, 2021, 08:05:41 PM
RE the house age thing - I should clarify/reiterate I didn't say "buy a new house", I said avoid anything pre 40s unless you're absolutely sure there are no issues with a period house and it has been thoroughly checked.

In some places it's not just the house but the land it is on with water levels and subsidence; I was just taking it as read that everyone gets a full survey on a property before buying it.  Victorian era build are generally always excellent structurally but yes vulnerable to dry rot depending on how recent the flooring has been updated.  We had some damp from a now redundant fireplace that the previous owner had hidden so didn't get picked up by the survey; this was really easily remedied by putting in a damp course which cost about £600 including re-plastering - that has been the biggest bit of work by far we have had to have done structurally.

Consignia

Quote from: Blinder Data on July 13, 2021, 02:49:21 PM
Yes, keep on top of your solicitors. Bought a house last year for the first time in a comparatively stress-free manner, but even so it felt like nothing happened for weeks until a few days before the exchange when suddenly various documents and processes were demanded of me ASAP. This lack of forward planning on behalf of solicitors/estate agents has probably been made worse by the bonkers state of the current market.


Oh boy reading that reminds me I did have a nightmare with conveynce soliciters a couple of year back. Because it was my first dealings with house buying, I went with the estate agent's soliciters. Big mistake. They were based about 40 miles aways from my town so dealing with them was pain. I didn't know the exact progress but each time I rang them it was "just waiting on the last few searches", if they ever bothered answering my calls. It got so much to the point the sellers were getting really pissy and putting pressure on me via the estate agents. My personal solicitor went on holiday without telling me she'd arranged both the exchange and completion on the same day, me only finding out when my mortage provider sent me a text saying "the money has gone to your solicitors, enjoy your new home" the night before. So I had to take a couple of days of work, one to fill in all the paper work, get it signed without time to fully check everything[nb]I got a couple of people to help check everything, but still...[/nb] and then peg it down the dodgy A-roads and back, and then the next to find how to transfer the fuck ton cash from my accounts into the solictors when they forgot to send the details. But at least by 4.30 it all completed and I was able to collect the keys. All was good.

Until I found the fucking sellers had taken all the fixtures such as curtain rails with them and left me with a broken boiler. I tried getting the solictors to look into the boiler issue, but they never got back even after trying loads of times, and I just gave up and ended up with a new boiler anyway which has been more effiecent.

My house is all great now, but the solictors were really worst part of the process, in which I expected the estate agents to be.

Ferris

Our lawyer mis-spelled my name, got my wife's completely wrong, and had the wrong house address on the deed. We had to correct her three times, and she still submitted the wrong deed document to the city. She also sent the wrong amount of money to various people so we ended up paying 200 quid of back taxes that the previous twat owed, but our lawyer had already given him all the money and he'd fucked off with it (fair enough) and she stopped returning our calls and emails.

Charged 500 quid for the privilege as well. Useless.

Congtrats on managing to get your deposit together.  I can only speak for my own experiance, but essentailly our independant mortgage advisor was worth his weight in gold. 

We needed quite a big income multiple to get the place we wanted, and after going to various other online brokers and direct to banks themselves we couldnt get what we needed.  Somehow our indpendant mortgage broker managed to get us a deal with a bank that itself said  wasn't possible when we spoke direct to them, so i do think certain brokers have access to specific mortgage deals that others havn't.  It does pay to shop around.

Other word of advice is stay away from the likes of purple bricks, both buying and selling, as thier solicitors are garbage. 

Emma Raducanu

Is anyone here mortgage free yet? Has it altered your life?

I'm saving as hard as I can go be mortgage free within 5 years. I honestly see it as the promised land and plan to reduce my working hours when I get there and therefore imrove my life immeasurably. We took out an initial 30 year term as it was vastly cheaper than when I'd been renting but then I became obsessed with the idea of paying it off so I've been maxing out the overpayments.

TrenterPercenter

#55
Quote from: DolphinFace on July 13, 2021, 10:06:39 PM
Is anyone here mortgage free yet? Has it altered your life?

I'm saving as hard as I can go be mortgage free within 5 years. I honestly see it as the promised land and plan to reduce my working hours when I get there and therefore imrove my life immeasurably. We took out an initial 30 year term as it was vastly cheaper than when I'd been renting but then I became obsessed with the idea of paying it off so I've been maxing out the overpayments.

I was hoping to do something similar but my partners business has been really impacted by covid so it's not been possible.  How long has it taken you with overpayments to be nearly mortgage free?

TommyTurnips

I bought a house back in march, one thing I will say that hasn't been mentioned yet, and is something to look for, especially if you haven't bought before is avoid chains. A chain is basically where the house you are looking to buy still has someone living there who is looking to buy a different house, and you can't move into their house until they've moved out. It means everyone in the chain has to move house on the same day and it can be very hard to choreograph. Chains add a lot of time onto the buying of a house. Our advisor told us about a client of his who had been living in a hotel like Alan Partridge while he waited for the house he was buying to be vacated. We got very lucky as the man who owned our house was moving into a rented property so the house was sat empty for two months before we moved in and the flat we were moving out of was rented so we didn't have to do anything to sell it. Look for houses that say no onward chain in the description. Or ask the estate agent if the house is part of a chain.

Oh and the house we bought came with those prepayment metres for the gas and electricity. I got rid of them as soon as I could. I hated that anxiety while at work as I wondered whether I had enough credit on the things as I tried to run them down as much as I could before they were replaced by a smart metre. The gas one was behind a door outside so that was a potentially cold rainy journey outside that I could do without with a metre box key to check if the gas was about to get shut off. Also having to make regular trips to the post office to buy top ups and having to queue up behind morons buying lottery tickets wasn't fun at all.

IsavedLatin

Quote from: Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle on July 13, 2021, 09:30:49 PM
Congtrats on managing to get your deposit together.  I can only speak for my own experiance, but essentailly our independant mortgage advisor was worth his weight in gold. 

We needed quite a big income multiple to get the place we wanted, and after going to various other online brokers and direct to banks themselves we couldnt get what we needed.  Somehow our indpendant mortgage broker managed to get us a deal with a bank that itself said  wasn't possible when we spoke direct to them, so i do think certain brokers have access to specific mortgage deals that others havn't.  It does pay to shop around.

Other word of advice is stay away from the likes of purple bricks, both buying and selling, as thier solicitors are garbage.

Another vote for an independent mortgage advisor; ours pulled various levers in the background (I seem to recall she was able to factor in my partner's pension arrangements as something that could be used in our favour) and got us a far higher multiple than I ever thought was possible. Made the difference between a demoralising hunt that had consisted, to that point, solely of absolute shithole conversion flats, and allowed us to even consider the decent, freehold house we bought.

We went for not the highest level survey in the end, settling for the middling one (home buyer's report?). We moved in and discovered a few oddities and things that needed fixing, but as Ferris says, every property will have figaries that you have to deal with. To be honest, as a first-time buyer, I think the home buyer's report was the right level of intel for me; I dread to think how I would have dealt (not well) with quite the amount of intel you get from the more comprehensive reports.

When you get as far as viewing properties, while you'll never be able to know anything for certain from viewings, give some thought to the neighbours: it might be useful to consider (for instance) whether you are signing up to live beside a total tip, as I have done.

Ferris

The other thing (look at me dispensing wisdom like I'm the fucking oracle - I'm not at all) but don't be put off by places that you have issues with. Every house has some kind of quirk and unless you discover a few million down the sofa you are going to be making compromises.

Figure out a few things that are important to you and if a place ticks most of those boxes, carry on like it ticks all of them, because realistically no place will so that's as good as it gets. I saw some total fucking lemons when looking at houses. One was going mouldy from the damp in the middle of an august heatwave (good luck with that in a November snowdrift). One had a pellet stove and puffins painted on a full wall in every room of the house (the bedrooms had two puffin walls. I mean, honestly).

Alberon

Quote from: DolphinFace on July 13, 2021, 10:06:39 PM
Is anyone here mortgage free yet? Has it altered your life?

Yes and yes to a degree.

I bought my first house in 1998 for 68K and sold it twenty years later for about 210K. It was a Victorian terrace and very solidly built. Needed some work on the roof and a new bathroom, but that was about it. My family had never been rich, but never properly poor, but around then Dad retired from his main job, but kept working for a couple of years leaving my parents with some surplus cash. So after my first fixed term on my mortgage was up my parents lent me the rest and I paid that back interest free in five years rather than another twenty year mortgage.

It meant when Mrs Alberon and me bought our semi-detached just out of town we could go mortgage free again in just seven or eight years. I still owned my old house renting to a friend for most of that.

Being mortgage free has allowed Mrs Alberon to get out of her job in corporate travel which she was desperately unhappy in and do something far less well paid but more rewarding. And we're still in the position to save some money each month.

I've been very lucky and I know it. The housing market had crashed each time I bought and my parents helped me out massively. Our quality of life would be much lower if we were having to pay eight or nine hundred a month on a mortgage.