Reply to: A little bit of good news

[mudskipper]

Excellent. Our fixed rate ends at the end of Jan at which point we intend to do the same with mudskipper manor.

Woohoo, mudskipper manor is now all ours!

[vetran]

Are you sure you've got that spelling right?

Yes he thinks he is the Dog's!

[EternalOptimist]

you'll be amazed how rich you will get and how quickly.

then you will check your age and start worrying about your old age, and start to squirrel

then you will be amazed at how poor you will get and how quickly

[cojak]

ftfy

It's not that difficult; when buying a house, decide how much you want to pay and how long you want to take to pay it off and don't borrow any more than that, whatever the bank say about your house being an 'investment'. They'll try to sell you a mortgage of 4 or 5 times your income; go for 2 to 3 times your income and pay it off with an old fashioned repayment mortgage, not some crazy endowment nonsense. Don't be tempted into buying a huge castle if all you need is a straightforward semi. Don't bother with credit cards, save instead. Never buy a new car; the depreciation costs so much you could get something fabulous for the price of a new Focus. Live well but don't be overly decadent. Keep working, pay off some extra when you can and when you have a little windfall, use it to pay off some more. Not having children makes it easier, but that's your own personal choice and shouldn't really be to do with money.

Are you sure you're not Mr C's secret illegitimate brother?

[Mich the Tester]

Are you sure you've got that spelling right?

Yes. It's ye olde English spelling of 'Test'.

[expat]

Good work - I'm sure a merry christmas will be had at Teste Towers this year!

Are you sure you've got that spelling right?

[lukemg]

they sponsor the prem league...

[MPwannadecentincome]

cool well done done Mr and Mrs Tester!

[Mich the Tester]

Currently our mortgage is 64% of the house value (bank valuation - which in Switzerland is usually lower than the market price). It took some effort to persuade our bank manager that we really do think paying off a large amount of our mortgage is a good idea, but she's managed to wrap her head around it.

The "problem" with Swiss mortgages is tax relief on interest payments and tax on assets - neither of which encourage repayment, especially as you can pass the mortgage on to your kids.

Same in NL; there's mortgage interest tax relief and I'll lose that, but as I see it that's how the gummint encourage you to borrow a huge load of money and then work until you drop.

[NotAllThere]

Currently our mortgage is 64% of the house value (bank valuation - which in Switzerland is usually lower than the market price). It took some effort to persuade our bank manager that we really do think paying off a large amount of our mortgage is a good idea, but she's managed to wrap her head around it.

The "problem" with Swiss mortgages is tax relief on interest payments and tax on assets - neither of which encourage repayment, especially as you can pass the mortgage on to your kids.

[lukemg]

grinch mode on - Congratulations you are now in possession of a very illiquid asset which was the cheapest access to money you are ever likely to get. In addition, you are now likely to have used up your IHT allowance in one go. As a 'leveraged' bet on house priices rising, this was probably a good investment but not as an all eggs in one basket one.
Ok, thats a bit smug and for lots of people its a good idea but personally, I have no interest in paying mine off, although an offset does appeal. I look at all my assets and debts as a complete picture to try to keep the allocation appropriate.
This reminds me of the people at a bank I used to work at who had been buying and keeping shares in the bank for 20 years with no diversification, only to see it fall off a cliff (250k loss in one case....)

[d000hg]

Good-oh. I got a similar nice feeling paying off my student loan the other week but then I'm rather younger I'm now debt free EXCEPT for the mortgage.

[SarahL2012]

its a nice feeling knowing that the roof over your head is all yours. Unfortunately I'm about to move back down south (elderly parents) and - OUCH! - property prices anywhere near a decent train line to London are painful! Back to being a mortgage slave again after 5 years and its going to hurt.......

[doodab]

Congrats

[Platypus]

It's not that difficult; when buying a house, decide how much you want to pay and how long you want to take to pay it off and don't borrow any more than that, whatever the bank say about your house being an 'investment'. They'll try to sell you a mortgage of 4 or 5 times your income; go for 2 to 3 times your income and pay it off with an old fashioned repayment mortgage, not some crazy endowment nonsense. Don't be tempted into buying a huge castle if all you need is a straightforward semi. Don't bother with credit cards, save instead. Never buy a new car; the depreciation costs so much you could get something fabulous for the price of a new Focus. Live well but don't be overly decadent. Keep working, pay off some extra when you can and when you have a little windfall, use it to pay off some more. Not having children makes it easier, but that's your own personal choice and shouldn't really be to do with money.

Sage advice, but too late for me.... I have no mortgage because I have no house, nor any prospect of getting one before I snuff it