Mortgage Payments - WHat Do Feel Comfortable Paying

[norrahe]

You have to leave your Shed.

HTH

FTFY

[sasguru]

All going well I'm mortgage free in September

Have nice house and not planning to move again. Thank ****** for that.

Well done. What you planning to do? Life can become so much more creative when you don't have to pay rent/mortgage, provided you're not greedy for "things".

[russell]

Im about to downsize (smaller flat in same good area) which will mean I will have a tiny mortgage which will be paid of in less than a year. Done the big house thing, but unless you have a large family you only use a few rooms. Once we are mortgage free will be taking 3 months in the summer off every year spending it in Greece where we have property.

[Scoi]

£3k a month just sounds unbelievable to me and i assume a lot of others who dont live in London. I'm 30 mins by train from central London in a 2 bed house worth 130, renovate and pay it off in 5 years then never have a mortgage again. Everything would feel so much better not worrying about a mortgage and the size of the warchest can be drastically reduced meaning lots of time off between contracts with no worries at all.

[Old Hack]

Ah, but the SE is also the busiest, stressiest part of the UK; fine for working, but someday you'll want to leave and live somewhere more easy going, and that's where I think you'll find some real bargains in about 10 years as the boomers leave their houses for homes or the grave.

Mitch, sorry but this is a pipe dream. People die and are born all the time, and these houses are still changing hands. The only places seeing real house price changes are outside of the South East. I saw a friend sell a house last week for £675k that he bought for £625k in 2010. Not much change, but change. There will always be more demand in the SE, whislt it has the better paid jobs.

I have 3 houses in the SE, which I am putting up for sale next year, and I will be mortgage free.

[Lockhouse]

Well done. What you planning to do? Life can become so much more creative when you don't have to pay rent/mortgage, provided you're not greedy for "things".

I've learnt things don't make you happy, it's people that make you happy.

I'll be taking more time off for sure. It's just nice to have the pressure off really and be able to throw a sickie or two if I feel like it.

I should add we can't take long holidays at the moment as my 85 year old father-in-law lives in our annex and can't be left for more than a week or he forgets where he lives. Otherwise we'd be travelling.

[Old Hack]

I've learnt things don't make you happy, it's people that make you happy.

I'll be taking more time off for sure. It's just nice to have the pressure off really and be able to throw a sickie or two if I feel like it.

I should add we can't take long holidays at the moment as my 85 year old father-in-law lives in our annex and can't be left for more than a week or he forgets where he lives. Otherwise we'd be travelling.

Great point, and I must admit, I have only recently had the epiphany myself, which is why we're gettign rid of the investment properties, getting completely straight on a nice bit of land in the SW. Getting a bit more back to basics, and spending much more time at home, choosing the contracts I want, that are local, and not worrying idf I dont work for a few years if I dont find the right role.

[Martin@AS Financial]

Owning your own residential home and it being mortgage free is the ultimate way to be. I am advising my clients to pay down their mortgage as quickly as possible through overpayments whilst the cost of money is still historically low.