Would you move if mortgage free now?

Ok so I'm currently mortgage free living alone in a good size 2 bed terraced house with parking for 3 cars and it's just 5 yrs old. I thought of moving to detached to retire in the next 5 yrs @ 60 but this would mean getting another small mortgage of £97K.

Would you do it in the current climate? Neigbours are nice both sides 1 has a dog which can be a pain sometimes. Can't decide........Opinions pls

Thanks

Pete

 

We are mortgage free, currently in a 4 bed detached, double garage etc. I am 60 later this year, we are looking to move next year - but downsize.
It is more to do with looking to the future - then in 10 years i will be 70 and have a 4 bedroom house to maintain.
Would i move at my age and take on a mortgage - no way

 

Thanks for your reply, my only worry is what neighbours I may get when the currrent one's move on. Being 2 bed properties (with a foot print of a 3 bed) they are prime young couple type homes. Although I guess I could get a nightmare couple in a detached property with 4 kids in the garden + a dog and a trampoline Working shifts (days & nights) makes life difficult as well

 

That is always the risk,
If you stay and the decent neighbours move out
Move and your new neighbours are an unknown quantity and even then if they are decent they could move 6 months after you move in

 

Yep things like this never used to bother me neither did the whole "what if", but as i'm getting older I find the human race seems to be so unconsiderable these days. This is why I work with robots

 

I or should I say the wife and I purchased a large 4-bedroom house with a large garage in a nice village not far from Brize Norton in 1993 with intention of selling it and downsizing to a smaller property when I finally retired. We considered it an investment as it was a bespoke house built by a local builder. We paid off our mortgage in 1997 after leaving the RAF but I was forced to retire after having the dreaded Bowel Cancer in 2003. We are still in it because when we thought it was time to move, we found that downsizing put us into an area where the housing is more condensed and not to our liking.

To be honest bmwzoom, we find good neighbours and a nice neighbourhood that makes you feel comfortable are very important.
By the way, we are both 80 in a few weeks' time, so we have made everything comfortable for ourselves and now have a Mediterranean rear garden with many pots and a good quality Astro turf lawn. We also invested in PV panels in 2010 (large FiT payments) and also have Worcester Bosch Thermal water heating panels (2009) on the roof to heat a larger than average water tank.
The upshot of all this is that in general when we factor everything in, our energy costs are virtually zero especially as on 12th May this year, we had a Tesla Powerwall 2 fitted. Since this date, we have only had to pay the standard daily charge on our Smart Meters (SMETS2) (plus 2 days of off-peak power) for the gas and electricity.
The only downside is that we are in Band F council charge that works out at £204 per month.

I would stay put if you are comfortable and happy with your environment and can afford your proposed lifestyle when you are living on a pension.

 

If you DO move, keep in mind that proximity/access to good Health Services will be important as you age .

One of life's inevitables

 

You are mortgage free and comfortable where you are.
The Country/World seems to be heading to Hell in a handcart !
Stay where you are lad.

Kindest regards
Carl.

 

Yep spot on there

 

My thoughts exactly

 

An interesting dilemma. Family and neighbours are generally the two things that don’t come with a choice….! Having had some pretty hideous neighbours over the years I know what a strain this can cause, we sold up in 2012 because the neighbours attached to our Victorian semi were utter scum. Cut down a hedge between our front doors without asking, played music until the early hours, had loads of young mates round, parked across the front of our house etc. Caused massive stress for my wife, we sold up and went into rented to give us time to make an informed decision.
As we are both in our second marriage the mortgage merry go round was started again, I’m 51 and still have 15 years or so left on ours. But we are very happy here, no thoughts of leaving for some time to come. Partly due to being detached, big bonus, and having lovely neighbours on the one side.
My in-laws live in a 1920s house with a ridiculously massive garden, both are 85+ and should have moved somewhere more manageable years ago, but wouldn’t listen to us. Now they really regret it as the house is high in maintenance, heating etc, and the garden is a massive headache. This has taught me to be careful and plan in advance.
Only you can make the choice, but I’d say sometimes things happen for a reason, go with your gut.

 

@Wynne71

Thanks for your input, I have no real reason to move to be honest the dog can be a pain sometimes but that can be said of the same if it was in a garden next to a detached property. The neighbours are great both sides as i'm terraced, the issue was really a case of "what if" later down the line if either side moves out, having said that being mortgage free gives me the freedom to change jobs from 12 hr days & nights that i'm on now with a 100 mile round trip each shift to something a little closer on days and obviously take the pay drop. I have had neighbours like you describe before but thankfully not now, my annual fuel bill now exceeds £4K for work alone so something else to consider as I do over 20K miles a yr as is the current situation in the world

 

How nice to be mortgage free, still some years to go yet for me and years I keep pushing back due to me buying cars that are almost the remaining balance of our house. Hey ho...

From my perspective, why 97k specific to remortgage. Is it to compare an average of going detached in the area you are in now?

Is the dog next door the issue (it won't be around for ever) maybe the neighbours won't either, but then you don't know who might move next door. If you plan to retire, you'll be spending more time there!

Your new property you move to, you may have more issues, sometimes it's better the devil you know.

Have you considered to sell and then rent, dead money I know but if the values fall and crash you may just pick yourself up a more desirable place...

In short, only you can say if you want to move. Deep down, your head and heart will hold the answer as replies on here will more likely comparable to other good peoples personal circumstances and experiences

 

It is ultimately, your decision, whilst you can be influenced, it has to be an informed choice!
We’re mortgage free and spent the tail end of last year looking at new builds, which would not necessarily mean a mortgage.

The past couple of years, has given time to reflect on what’s important,
At mid forties, I’m aligning to leave Oil industry with family intact, which is a rarity,
A N other 2467 days of work should see me with feet up albeit, it’s now getting hard differentiating between work and toes up!

I’d first make a short to long term plan of where you want to be, if it’s carry on working by all means move, very much your choice, though look at what you’ll be doing and the unrecognised mental stress your job has, would it be better taking a less pressing role and kick back!

Having just declined the promotion I had worked so hard for, I’m playing the short game, banking pennies and hoping to enjoy life in few years to come.
If a new house shall bring happiness, that’s a totally different consideration
If the neighbours are intolerable, most definitely time to move
I think your best poised with where you are, you don’t need the hassle of regret!

 

Thanks to all for there comments so far (makes a change from car stuff ). Every point is valid singvolgel points about neighbours in the garden even tho you have a 4 bed detached even more so. My job is no longer stressful but I do 14 - 15hr days and nights including the travelling which can be exhausting as despite trips to the gym I'm not getting any younger. The neighbours are good the dog can be a pain as I said but this I think is primarily because of me trying to sleep during the day when on nights, so more my fault really as if I was working normal days then this would not be an issue. I guess unless you purchased in the middle of nowhere neighbours and surroundings will always be a factor and as I'm getiing older I'm less tolerable . With every bill arriving through my door including a price increase like us all this is also a major factor and unfortunately I can't see things slowing on that front, it won't be long before derv is £2 a litre down here in essex. Lots to think about and once again thanks to everyone for there comments, keep them coming if anything else springs to mind.

Cheers Guys

Rgds

Peter

 

Lucky enough to be mortgage free at the age of 37 following the sale of a business. Now 54 and vowed and haven't ever re-mortgaged despite some low times income wise.

We are building a house within our garden so are downsizing from 5 bed detached to a 3 bed detached which is super insulated and should cost pennies to run and designed to be as maintenance free as possible. This then gives us a chunk of money to invest and relax a bit more. Mrs Mad has long covid and hasn't worked in the NHS for over 2 years so she may get retired off soon and our income reduce so the extra money is welcome. One kid flown the next and the 2nd off to Uni in 2023. I too have seen too many older folk leave it too late to move and then regret it. As stated planning is everything. Live life to full and always have something you like to do in the diary to keep you happy. Sometimes assets and wealth do not bring you those things.

Neighbours here are great apart from one but they are far enough away to ignore.

 

Have you tried earplug’s
These are a marmite solution
Most people don’t like them, but they’ve never given them chance to get used to them due pain in the ears… but if you can tolerate and get used to them they are a very useful tool… I used them religiously after 30 years on shifts of 12 hrs, days and nights…
I also wouldn’t rule out moving nor a small mortgage…. You’ll probably offset the fuel bill. If travelling less.. As mine and the wife’s is now running close to £800 per month… but without travel we cannot work… and earn money for cars and hols …
my in laws have the perfect small bungalow…
South facing garden overlooking open countryside
Good neighbours on either side.. maint free back and front garden… and most noticeably detached…..
my idea of retirement heaven along with a giant caravan in wales and a home made motorhome for European road trips in the spring and fall….. so you can never say never….
Have a look around , research and see if anything floats your boat…. If all else fails you can always stay put… and nothing lost or gained…..
Good luck..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

we live in a very average two bed semi in a small Welsh town and we were lucky enough to be able to buy outright when we moved here 25 years ago

and for us no rent and no Mortgage for the last 25 years has meant we could enjoy a lot of trips to America and some fairly nice cars because most of our income was ours to spend as we wish

if i was in your shoes i would stay put for now and save all the money you would be spending on mortgage payments and anything more i could afford for the next five years. i would also top up up my personal pension contributions to the max i could afford and then see where i was in five years time

it is sad that we are getting a very poor interest rates on savings at the moment but if the interest rates continue to rise we may see a better return on savings

 

To be honest the more I re-search on the property concerned the more I'm inclined to stay put even tho I reserved it off plan back in Sept 2021! Only just been allowed to view the build and to be honest was totally disappointed with the location and the fact that Wimpey are now building behind it. Thankfully no exchange of contracts (as they keep moving the completion date) but I have sold mine so it would be an upset for my buyer but I have to put myself 1st for once. Things have changed so much since reservation, this is not the 1st time I have purchased off plan but the last time was a much smoother experience these days developers just don't care about the customer and don't realise the impact when moving dates around particularly when the mortgage rates are now climbing again. My current offer is low but that is due to expire now before yet another estimated completion date so this add's another 1.5% to the monthly figure along with the cost of living increasing almost day by day. They have already had 2 buyers pull out and I dare say a few more will do the same. It has certainly not been an enjoyable experience this time around.