Owning your own home

Thanks guys. Sparky we're only a couple of miles from the train station if you fancy a cuppa and cake next time your in the area. On one condition... You bring a wall paper scraper!!

Oh and I'd imagine I'll be a regular contributor to the DIY thread before long.

I'll definitely stop for a cup of tea.

Once you've finished decorating...

So have decided on a nationwide fixed rate 5 year mortgage. With a mortgage term of 20 years. This pushes our repayments almost £200 a month above the 35 year mortgage but the saving in interest and the captital cleared in the first 5 years out weighs that £200.

What about taking the 35yr option and overpaying? Have you run that calc?

Yes if I went with the 35 year mortgage I'd be paying 593 I could then manage the 150 overpay which would take it up to 743 and give us an extra year on the life of the mortgage. But my only worry is you'd get complacent with the 35 year and end up paying that off plus the huge interest on top.

I guess it would make things easier in the short term though. Plus if it happened that a mini spenceey came along we'd manage a lot easier.

Yeah the mortgage length made no difference to my rates so it made sense to go with the longer to make repayments less, knowing I was going to shorten it overpaying. I can see a lot of people wanting to use the extra cash 'now' though rather than using it to save big dollar over time.

I think though that as our house needs work we would be able to do that faster with a 35 year mortgage. Once the house is then done we can then work on overpaying the mortgage. But safe in the fact that if either of us lost our jobs we'd still be able to afford the basic mortgage if we didn't over pay.

Is yours a Direct Debit set up to overpay each month?

^Snap, we are (probably) going to remortgage for a 20 year term and aim to pay it off in 10-15.

Yeah the mortgage length made no difference to my rates so it made sense to go with the longer to make repayments less, knowing I was going to shorten it overpaying. I can see a lot of people wanting to use the extra cash 'now' though rather than using it to save big dollar over time.

OK so I take the 35 year and over pay. Say at least £150 a month.

When my fixed term then comes to an end will my overpayments and my mortgage payments be taken in to account they'll say I've cleared 20k off the property capital and allow me to remortgage on that? Which I could then in turn lower down to 15-20 years?

OK so I take the 35 year and over pay. Say at least £150 a month.

When my fixed term then comes to an end will my overpayments and my mortgage payments be taken in to account they'll say I've cleared 20k off the property capital and allow me to remortgage on that? Which I could then in turn lower down to 15-20 years?

Of course, it's like a bank loan that you're paying off. They won't just say "he's paid off two out of 35 years" and do the sums on that, they'll work out exactly what you've paid.

I know I sound thick asking questions like that Mr. Sparkes but I'm completely new to all this. I like the idea that if we couldn't for whatever reason afford an overpayment one month it wouldn't mean us missing a mortgage payment if that makes sense?

I know I sound thick asking questions like that Mr. Sparkes but I'm completely new to all this. I like the idea that if we couldn't for whatever reason afford an overpayment one month it wouldn't mean us missing a mortgage payment if that makes sense?

It doesn't sound stupid at all mate, it's a bloody nightmare doing all the sums. Good point on the overpayment: you can think of your monthly bill as £X, but with a quarter of X being your voluntary overpayment, so you can scale it back as and when needed.

payments will be taken via direct debit for the mortgage
i paid my excess / overpayments via my online banking as a separate amount
i don't think it's wise to lump them both together in a single payment direct debit just in case you have an expensive month you might miss your mortgage payment and get some black marks on the credit rating .
it was nice to have the option to overpay rather than have a must pay

I think though that as our house needs work we would be able to do that faster with a 35 year mortgage. Once the house is then done we can then work on overpaying the mortgage. But safe in the fact that if either of us lost our jobs we'd still be able to afford the basic mortgage if we didn't over pay.

Is yours a Direct Debit set up to overpay each month?

DD for the minimum and I manually overpay what I can afford at the time.

OK so I take the 35 year and over pay. Say at least £150 a month.

When my fixed term then comes to an end will my overpayments and my mortgage payments be taken in to account they'll say I've cleared 20k off the property capital and allow me to remortgage on that? Which I could then in turn lower down to 15-20 years?

There's some big money related words in the above that I don't understand.

The principal I kind of work on is: at the moment, investments aren't so hot (the ones I can be bothered with anyway) so it's better to clear debt while rates are low rather than invest in something.

The more you pay off your debt the sooner, the lower the overall £ and time your loan will be.

It's compound calculated innit so your debt is worked out probably daily based on what you owe. Hence the 'pay off as much as you can as quick as you can'.

That's my take anyway.

I find these calculators from HSBC really helpful in working out repayments and overpayments:

Repayments - https://mortgages.hsbc.co.uk/repayment-calculator
Overpayments - https://mortgages.hsbc.co.uk/overpayment-calculator

I really like that you can just tweek the sliders and it moves it all about automatically for you

Thanks Drem that over payment calc is great and one of the easiest I've found.

If you move the sliders does your mortgage shrink in real life? Isn't the internet wonderful?

1st is a bit close to the flyover but I've not really gone through there

the location of the 2nd one, is pretty damned piss poor, avoid (I see tallchris has let you know this)

Might I suggest trying the other side of east croydon station, sandilands, lebanon road and down towards Addiscombe, blackhorse etc

don't do towards Addington village....

Yeah avoid Addington 'village', Croydon's not as bad as people (who don't live there) make out. East croydon to victoria or LDN Bridge is less than 15 minutes too.

I'd still recommend Upper Norwood/ Crystal Palace, if you can stretch that far (might be somewhere small though).

I've never really liked Mitcham that much (no offend if anyone lives there) can quite put my finger on why though. Might be that i felt less safe there. some of houses round that Pond on Commonside look nice though.

Might as well throw Carshalton in the mix as well, near the station, not Rosehill or St. Helier.

If you move the sliders does your mortgage shrink in real life? Isn't the internet wonderful?

I read that as 'Isn't the interest wonderful?'

Yeah avoid Addington 'village', Croydon's not as bad as people (who don't live there) make out. East croydon to victoria or LDN Bridge is less than 15 minutes too.

I'd still recommend Upper Norwood/ Crystal Palace, if you can stretch that far (might be somewhere small though).

I've never really liked Mitcham that much (no offend if anyone lives there) can quite put my finger on why though. Might be that i felt less safe there. some of houses round that Pond on Commonside look nice though.

Might as well throw Carshalton in the mix as well, near the station, not Rosehill or St. Helier.

I'm looking at a Mitcham place this Saturday. I feel the same way about the place, but I have a bicycle that can whisk me to nicer places I guess.

Thanks for the tips though guys. Really helpful hearing other peoples experiences.

Just a little warning about "we'll over pay etc etc" Don't rely on it (or increasing wages) as real life has a habit of getting in the way a bit.

Not putting a downer on things just something you have to expect (new white goods, leaks, the boiler going when it's freaking brassic outside... you know that kinda shit)

Times will have to be hard for you to not be able to afford the Welsh national plant.

Just a little warning about "we'll over pay etc etc" Don't rely on it (or increasing wages) as real life has a habit of getting in the way a bit.

Not putting a downer on things just something you have to expect (new white goods, leaks, the boiler going when it's freaking brassic outside... you know that kinda shit)

Oh I understand that completely which is why if we go for the cheaper 35 year option we'll still be able to afford the basic mortgage and if we overpay that's a bonus. If we don't then we'll just be left with the 35 year term. But a 35 term is better than not being able to afford our house and be homeless.

Check your mortgage as some allow overpayments of up to 10% per year and others only a lump sum every two years so you don't get stuck.

I believe that Nationwide is £500 PCM nothing more.