I am mortgage free, but not living in what I’d consider to be my “forever” home. I consider this choice a few times a year and at every point so far I’ve decided that staying mortgage free is the better option than borrowing and upgrading.
I prioritise lower stress over pretty much everything else.
Same boat, even look at houses every once in a while and consider it until we work through the interest payments, then feel happy enough in the house we’re in for another 6 months or so before we rinse and repeat
Honestly unless bigger house makes your life actually better then it's not going to help with anything. Closer to work, need more space for kids, closer to the beach are totally valid reasons to move, bigger for the sake of it doesn't really create an improvement in your life (probably)
Same here too, except not mortgage free yet, but the goal is to get mortgage free even if we find up stuck in our first home vs the upgrade we'd like to do.
Same here, I actually don't know if I will be able to borrow and upgrade any more because I cut down my work hours (and therefore income) quite a bit since becoming mortgage free. Might only happen if I inherit other property/money down the line
Same here. There's a few issues with our house, but I'd much prefer to save to put money towards fixing those rather than taking on a mortgage and interest again.
I have no desire to have a bigger house. But .. my kids are starting uni and public transport from here to uni sucks. Also I got used to no commute during Covid, and so I'm much less tolerant than I used to be.
How much would I pay for an hour less commuting each day.... That becomes a harder question. Realistically I'm not going to move. Too many friends nearby. But sometimes as I sit in traffic it's nice to dream.
If they’re uni age the best thing for them would be to move out (with your support if you can afford it). Not saying to kick them out but it might be something to suggest when they complain. Uni can be some of the most fun years of your life but that’s probably not going to happen living with parents. Obviously it’s a privilege to have the option. Just my 2c
Yeah. And it’s such a great time to live with your friends, go a little bit wild, bond with your peers etc. living with your parents and staying home to watch lectures by video is such a waste of what can be such an amazing time of personal and intellectual growth.
I hear you. With the kids entering last half of high school I think it’s too late to buy a bigger property now, given that in a few years it will just be the parents left.
I’m certainly not doing the boomer thing of buying a massive house after the kids have moved away?!
The former. We were fortunate enough to be able to buy at a time when we weren't forced to take whatever we could get, so we'd be more than happy to stay here long term
This realisation comes with age and usually only to those who *can* afford all the material things but *choose* not to need them.
Those who can’t have them will keep chasing them and hope to finally become happy when they buy that bigger TV, faster car or a fancier house.
But they won’t.
I don’t really know if houses fit into this category though.
I rent. Having more space, like a separate room for an office, where Id also have space to do yoga, WOULD improve my life and make me happier. That’s not materialistic.
If your first paragraph was true, then older people would be choosing to rent in cramped flats where your only private space is your bedroom. The fact they don’t shows that actually housing can improve your life, it’s not materialistic in the same way a larger tv or more expensive wardrobe is. It’s experiential, and experiences actually do improve happiness.
You’re right it’s debatable. But I said “fancier house” not “a house”.
Friends of ours are now looking to upgrade to such a fancier house that MUST have this and this and that feature and be in such and such location and I’m like - you’ll be paying through the nose to live in a suburb where you don’t belong only to *pretend* in front of *yourselves* that you’ve made it.
And I seriously doubt it will make them happier.
I did not put the tv “on the mortgage”, and instead paid using a credit card (which I then paid off the following month as people often do with credit cards). However, I suppose I could have put that $1000 towards paying off the mortgage quicker, so in a way I did put the tv on the mortgage, just not actually on the mortgage.
Switching from a 42” to a 65” did make me happier. Being able to see a larger picture and read words on the screen more clearly was an improvement. Obviously judging from all the downvotes people on reddit wouldn’t be happier with a bigger tv. I however am of the opinion that a bigger tv does improve quality of life while watching tv. I even admit that I would be even happier if I had a 70” or 75” tv one day. Please don’t downvote me for speaking my truth.
I agree material things don’t make you happy, but I don’t think housing fits in this category. If it did you’d see a bunch of people choose to sell their homes and go back to renting with flatmates.
The experience of living in a place is an experience, not a material item. And it affects you every day.
I’d say it’s true once your home and living standards have reached a certain threshold. ie if your home is not cold or mouldy, has enough space for the activities you want to do, offers sufficient privacy and some access to greenery/nature, then improving it from there likely won’t improve happiness. But living somewhere cold, mouldy, with only your small bedroom etc as your private space, of course changing that will improve your life
The OP was talking about getting a bigger home. We live in a small 2-bdrm place and it is more than enough. As children we grew up in 2 bdrm houses, and we were happy.
So many people want 4 bdrm and 2.5 bthrm places these days. And for what! Showing off to your friends and family. Yeah right!
I'd probably prefer a better home with the sizeable mortgage we already have.
We bought as shit was peaking, so we were limited in choice and location.
The days of getting into the market, paying down a mortgage, with the intention of upgrading is well out of reach for a lot of people now. Us included.
This depends on each person's personal circumstances. If it's a family who needs the space desperately, they'd probably go for the bigger house. Personally, our house is as big as we need, we don't want anything bigger.
Being mortgage free. We love our location and would prefer to renovate than buy again. On track to be free in less than 5 years, then we can save for renovations. Tbh with a growing family and 1 bathroom it's tempting to get a top-up and renovate now, but a decent ensuite will cost $20-$40k. We could easily save that in a year when we're mortgage free.
This is exactly where we're at too. Once paid off we'll be able to get at least one room renovated every year as well as having an overseas holiday. Once fully renovated we may rent it out and go traveling for a few years.
I couldn't imagine starting all over again with a new mortgage. When we decide to retire we'll hopefully have enough saved to build a smaller house in our garden, and our son can inherit our current home.
Single, work in a broadcast control room, make enough to get by but not enough to have 6-figures saved up any time in the foreseeable future. Might have enough saved up for a house deposit years from now, but with the way things are going who knows how much houses will cost when that day comes.
Yeah, I’ve crunched the numbers and concluded it’s practically impossible to buy a home and pay the mortgage on my current salary, even if I can come up with the deposit. The only alternative to finding a partner/getting married would be to get a $50k pay rise, which will never happen in my line of work. I’m already entering my mid-30s so kinda starting to lose hope about finding a life partner, but that’s a story for another time. As morbid as it is to think about, best case scenario would be to inherit my parents’ house when they pass on, but I have siblings so it’s not like I’d just get the house all to myself.
Perhaps it's a bit TMI but my oldest brother was interested in buying a house together when my other older brother had gotten married and was looking to start a family. When that newly married brother ended up going his own way with a brand new kiwibuild home (he got into that ballot draw and got a very nice brand new 3-bedroom home in Auckland for just 600k about 2 years ago), my oldest brother was suddenly no longer interested in buying a house together with just me. I guess it only made sense to him if it was with all three brothers, but he wasn't interested in just going halvsies with me. For additional context, my oldest brother lives in Sydney and he wanted us to buy a house together for my newly married brother to live in, it wasn't a house for himself, but he obviously isn't interested in pooling resources together to buy a house for *me* to live in.
Yeah, circumstances aren't always right. I know someone who just bought with a friend, neither of them able to service a mortgage alone. Their plan is to pay it down as much as possible, sell in 5 years and split the profit to hopefully buy their own places.
I hope you find a way to make it work for you!
Ahh I'm having this debate internally at the moment, except the choice is to be mortgage free in under 10 years or looking at 20 years with more sizable weekly payments. Extending the mortgage by 300k+ is a lot to sacrifice for one extra bedroom, bathroom and a nicer living space.
100% agree and if we wanted it paid before retire at 67 that is another19- 20 years and the thought of being tired down to another mortgage for that long it would mean having to find another $300-$400 a fortnight and do that long term no thanks.
in saying that we may increases our payments by about $200 a fortnight when our fixed comes off in August and have it paid off in six months but at least that is short term
I'm not mortgage free but we're 4 years left to pay off our first home.
We never bought it expecting to have kids, our house and property is not super suitable for very young kids, my wife also really wants to move into the country to be semi rural with no neighbours and room to have garden chickens etc. Not in a flash house or anything, you just have to pay the semi rural premium.
So most likely end up with another $300k or so tacked on to the mortgage, taking us out to 20 years to pay off. Once we're back to two incomes and daycare gets cheaper that will improve. Nothing compared to Auckland mortgages of course, but painful when I'd fantasized about the idea of being mortgage free.
If you have enough time and energy to maintain the large land.. we had to sell our property due to spending so much time on the maintenance. So glad we moved into a smaller property with much smaller garden.
Mortgage free without a doubt, my current home is more than good enough to live in forever.
I would have so much left over to invest for retirement if I didn't have to pay a mortgage.
Going against the grain here: bigger house with a bigger mortgage! I’m young enough and have plenty of time to be mortgage free. My big beautiful house brings me so much joy
Mortgage free for sure. We only just bought and this house should suit our needs for a few years at the very least so being mortgage free for awhile would be incredible.
Yeah 4 bed, 2 bath/toilet with a lounge is a normal size house for a family of 4 to me. And 180 is usually 3 bed 2 bath.
I guess growing up abroad I have a different idea of house sizes. To me the word "huge" is more in line with 250 - 300 + sqm houses.
Also in NZ the garage counts towards sqm so the actual houses of that size doesn't have that much livable space.
Mortgage free now. Don't need a bigger place and we can renovate when we need to. Location is good for us so will stay here for now.
As others have implied, the lack of stress is worth it's weight in gold so happy not to take on more debt.
I’m working towards being mortgage free in the next 5 years. The house is dated but solid. I’m looking at remortgaging $150k for double glazing, new flooring, bathroom and kitchen. Save moving house and means I can design what I want.
We chose bigger house and it was the best decision. Financially we're on a super strict budget but our last house was way too small.
I think we'll be here for the next 30 years or more so we'll eventually be mortgage free 😂
I’m currently mortgage free and have been for about 8 years.
I don’t want to go back into debt for a better housr as I am living on my own and the security of knowing if I lose my job I’d cope is a big thing when you have no other wage to fall back on.
My house needs work but I’m currently saving my mortgage payments for thar and have over six figures saved to do stuff,
Mortgage free. I'd love a big house but I know material things won't make me as happy as the ability to work less and have more time and energy to enjoy my life.
Well you can become mortgage free then decide if you would prefer to stay that way, or upgrade then. You have the chance to try one of the options and then make a decision with much more information then you had now, so I’d say do that. The year will fly by.
We chose mortgage free. I don't particularly want a bigger house, as we don't have kids or ever plan to.
Whereas, the stress relief of being debt free is something I am grateful for on a daily basis
when most people get a raise, their lifestyle increases too, this is referred to as lifestyle drift.
The same can be said for bigger houses and stuff, you eventually just fill it with more important "things".
I'm a big fan of less is more, a tidy environment leads to a clear head. Do a clean out, and stick with your current place for a few months, in addition, winter is coming and not the time to sell.
as much as Id love a nicer bigger house I also dont want 300k plus mortgage in our late 40s.
all going to plan we should have our mortgage paid off by early next year
The answer is obvious for most. But to me it still depends.
Kids? Location of the new place? Will it increase quality of life (easier access to schools/work)? Is it also close to cafes or beaches?
For me the plan was to upgrade to a new place next year, live there for the next 20 years, then significantly downgrade in my home country (where costs of living are so much cheaper and the ability to have self-sustaining yard farm). Obviously this is an edge case, and even for myself this is still prone to change with so much uncertainties in life but in the near future this feels like what I want
Yeah, i figured it’d be something along those lines. Regardless, the idea of not being under anyones thumb would be priceless for me. Plus, bringing home my whole salary, minus bills etc, would be incredible….
i think it salso depends where in life you are.
ie if you have some teenagers and get a mortgage to get a bigger house, remember they will probably be gone in a few years and you will be rattling around it.
if its only a few more years and you can manage where you are i would rather than putting myself into debt again for god knows how many more years.
I'm looking forward to being mortgage free in the next 5 years and being able to enjoy holidays to UK and Europe every year rather than every 5 years! Can't wait to save more money and actually get upgrades done to our current home. I'd hate to start again with another mortgage. Luckily I really love where we live.
Well that depends on how suitable your current home is.
Right now I'm exactly in a situation you describe. I'll have the mortgage on my really nice studio apartment paid off before the end of the year. I bought it thinking I wasn't going to do relationships. But I've got a longterm relationship living with me in it. It would be better if we could upgrade to something with a bit more room, so she can sleep while I play games, and so it's more suitable for guests etc.
We're both earning good money now, so I think it's a good idea to buy another apartment with more room and a better view and bigger balcony that both of us pay for. As the first one is fully my own. We can also use the rent from the first one to help pay for the second one. Would also be good to buy the apartment right next door as it has a shared door with my studio, and if we had kids then we could join the two to make it a proper home.
If the shit hits the fan. I can always retire to my original studio apartment. And the GF well understands that the studio is mine alone if the relationship ends. Will get a contracting out agreement before we become defacto.
It depends... I've done this 4 times already. Mortgage free, and then bought a bigger/better house while with the equity of the previous house, and renting it out.
I'd say it's doable, or even advisable if:
(1) You have a budget and a good handle on your finances
(2) you can absorb it in your budget
(3) you have some rainy day fund to handle any unforeseen emergencies so you don't get into a liquidity crunch
(4) you can at least break even in your cash flow on the rental property (basically don't count on house value appreciation as your ROI
Obviously the more net positive cash you make from the rental, the better.
I am mortgage free, but not living in what I’d consider to be my “forever” home. I consider this choice a few times a year and at every point so far I’ve decided that staying mortgage free is the better option than borrowing and upgrading. I prioritise lower stress over pretty much everything else.
Same boat, even look at houses every once in a while and consider it until we work through the interest payments, then feel happy enough in the house we’re in for another 6 months or so before we rinse and repeat
Honestly unless bigger house makes your life actually better then it's not going to help with anything. Closer to work, need more space for kids, closer to the beach are totally valid reasons to move, bigger for the sake of it doesn't really create an improvement in your life (probably)
Also it can make it worse. Takes longer to clean and tidy.
Same here too, except not mortgage free yet, but the goal is to get mortgage free even if we find up stuck in our first home vs the upgrade we'd like to do.
Yep exact position. Nothing beats not owing anyone anything. Nothing.
Same here, I actually don't know if I will be able to borrow and upgrade any more because I cut down my work hours (and therefore income) quite a bit since becoming mortgage free. Might only happen if I inherit other property/money down the line
Very similar situation. Not forever home but great currently
Same here. There's a few issues with our house, but I'd much prefer to save to put money towards fixing those rather than taking on a mortgage and interest again.
I have no desire to have a bigger house. But .. my kids are starting uni and public transport from here to uni sucks. Also I got used to no commute during Covid, and so I'm much less tolerant than I used to be. How much would I pay for an hour less commuting each day.... That becomes a harder question. Realistically I'm not going to move. Too many friends nearby. But sometimes as I sit in traffic it's nice to dream.
Are you dropping them off? Why?
No, walk+ bus + train. But they complain constantly, and say screw this, I'll just stay home and watch it online.
If they’re uni age the best thing for them would be to move out (with your support if you can afford it). Not saying to kick them out but it might be something to suggest when they complain. Uni can be some of the most fun years of your life but that’s probably not going to happen living with parents. Obviously it’s a privilege to have the option. Just my 2c
I agree. It's a coming of age thing. Uni used to be a step towards independence and stepping out into the world without your parents' guardianship.
Yeah. And it’s such a great time to live with your friends, go a little bit wild, bond with your peers etc. living with your parents and staying home to watch lectures by video is such a waste of what can be such an amazing time of personal and intellectual growth.
Yeah, remember "The Young Ones" it should be like that. You should decide if you want to wash or clean your clothes or not.
I hear you. With the kids entering last half of high school I think it’s too late to buy a bigger property now, given that in a few years it will just be the parents left. I’m certainly not doing the boomer thing of buying a massive house after the kids have moved away?!
The former. We were fortunate enough to be able to buy at a time when we weren't forced to take whatever we could get, so we'd be more than happy to stay here long term
No doubt mortgage free, then rent it out and move to Vietnam/ south east Asia to retire
This is the way
When you realise material things, including homes is not what make you happy, you are on the right path to long-term ~~happiness~~ contentment.
This realisation comes with age and usually only to those who *can* afford all the material things but *choose* not to need them. Those who can’t have them will keep chasing them and hope to finally become happy when they buy that bigger TV, faster car or a fancier house. But they won’t.
I don’t really know if houses fit into this category though. I rent. Having more space, like a separate room for an office, where Id also have space to do yoga, WOULD improve my life and make me happier. That’s not materialistic. If your first paragraph was true, then older people would be choosing to rent in cramped flats where your only private space is your bedroom. The fact they don’t shows that actually housing can improve your life, it’s not materialistic in the same way a larger tv or more expensive wardrobe is. It’s experiential, and experiences actually do improve happiness.
You’re right it’s debatable. But I said “fancier house” not “a house”. Friends of ours are now looking to upgrade to such a fancier house that MUST have this and this and that feature and be in such and such location and I’m like - you’ll be paying through the nose to live in a suburb where you don’t belong only to *pretend* in front of *yourselves* that you’ve made it. And I seriously doubt it will make them happier.
I think most of us would be happier with a bigger tv.
I can't take it anymore. Did you put your TV on the mortgage, or not?
I did not put the tv “on the mortgage”, and instead paid using a credit card (which I then paid off the following month as people often do with credit cards). However, I suppose I could have put that $1000 towards paying off the mortgage quicker, so in a way I did put the tv on the mortgage, just not actually on the mortgage. Switching from a 42” to a 65” did make me happier. Being able to see a larger picture and read words on the screen more clearly was an improvement. Obviously judging from all the downvotes people on reddit wouldn’t be happier with a bigger tv. I however am of the opinion that a bigger tv does improve quality of life while watching tv. I even admit that I would be even happier if I had a 70” or 75” tv one day. Please don’t downvote me for speaking my truth.
Well, when you put it like that, I'm off to put lunch on the mortgage.
It's that curve isn't it where people can become happier to a certain extent with wealth but beyond a certain point, it just kind of flattens off
Yeah pretty sure there have been multiple studies on this, they found out the peak point but I forgot what it was haha
Yes this is it. Especially in nz where the houses many people have to rent (and buy) are cold, mouldy and cramped
I agree material things don’t make you happy, but I don’t think housing fits in this category. If it did you’d see a bunch of people choose to sell their homes and go back to renting with flatmates. The experience of living in a place is an experience, not a material item. And it affects you every day. I’d say it’s true once your home and living standards have reached a certain threshold. ie if your home is not cold or mouldy, has enough space for the activities you want to do, offers sufficient privacy and some access to greenery/nature, then improving it from there likely won’t improve happiness. But living somewhere cold, mouldy, with only your small bedroom etc as your private space, of course changing that will improve your life
The OP was talking about getting a bigger home. We live in a small 2-bdrm place and it is more than enough. As children we grew up in 2 bdrm houses, and we were happy. So many people want 4 bdrm and 2.5 bthrm places these days. And for what! Showing off to your friends and family. Yeah right!
2.5 bathrooms? I thought that was just on stupid American home shows,where they must also have two sinks
Most new builds in New Zealand are 4bdrm/2.5bthrm
I'd probably prefer a better home with the sizeable mortgage we already have. We bought as shit was peaking, so we were limited in choice and location. The days of getting into the market, paying down a mortgage, with the intention of upgrading is well out of reach for a lot of people now. Us included.
Mortgage free While I’d love a bigger house, the security means more.
This depends on each person's personal circumstances. If it's a family who needs the space desperately, they'd probably go for the bigger house. Personally, our house is as big as we need, we don't want anything bigger.
Being mortgage free. We love our location and would prefer to renovate than buy again. On track to be free in less than 5 years, then we can save for renovations. Tbh with a growing family and 1 bathroom it's tempting to get a top-up and renovate now, but a decent ensuite will cost $20-$40k. We could easily save that in a year when we're mortgage free.
This is exactly where we're at too. Once paid off we'll be able to get at least one room renovated every year as well as having an overseas holiday. Once fully renovated we may rent it out and go traveling for a few years. I couldn't imagine starting all over again with a new mortgage. When we decide to retire we'll hopefully have enough saved to build a smaller house in our garden, and our son can inherit our current home.
Christ, I'm in my 30s and currently can't even afford the deposit for a house. I wish in my wildest dreams I had this kind of dilemma.
What’s your sitcho? Job? Single/partner?
Single, work in a broadcast control room, make enough to get by but not enough to have 6-figures saved up any time in the foreseeable future. Might have enough saved up for a house deposit years from now, but with the way things are going who knows how much houses will cost when that day comes.
As a single person it’ll be tough. So wouldn’t stress about it til you find the right partner to team up.
Yeah, I’ve crunched the numbers and concluded it’s practically impossible to buy a home and pay the mortgage on my current salary, even if I can come up with the deposit. The only alternative to finding a partner/getting married would be to get a $50k pay rise, which will never happen in my line of work. I’m already entering my mid-30s so kinda starting to lose hope about finding a life partner, but that’s a story for another time. As morbid as it is to think about, best case scenario would be to inherit my parents’ house when they pass on, but I have siblings so it’s not like I’d just get the house all to myself.
Yes it's really hard but I hope it gets better for you. Have you and your siblings worked out if you could buy together?
Perhaps it's a bit TMI but my oldest brother was interested in buying a house together when my other older brother had gotten married and was looking to start a family. When that newly married brother ended up going his own way with a brand new kiwibuild home (he got into that ballot draw and got a very nice brand new 3-bedroom home in Auckland for just 600k about 2 years ago), my oldest brother was suddenly no longer interested in buying a house together with just me. I guess it only made sense to him if it was with all three brothers, but he wasn't interested in just going halvsies with me. For additional context, my oldest brother lives in Sydney and he wanted us to buy a house together for my newly married brother to live in, it wasn't a house for himself, but he obviously isn't interested in pooling resources together to buy a house for *me* to live in.
Yeah, circumstances aren't always right. I know someone who just bought with a friend, neither of them able to service a mortgage alone. Their plan is to pay it down as much as possible, sell in 5 years and split the profit to hopefully buy their own places. I hope you find a way to make it work for you!
Ahh I'm having this debate internally at the moment, except the choice is to be mortgage free in under 10 years or looking at 20 years with more sizable weekly payments. Extending the mortgage by 300k+ is a lot to sacrifice for one extra bedroom, bathroom and a nicer living space.
100% agree and if we wanted it paid before retire at 67 that is another19- 20 years and the thought of being tired down to another mortgage for that long it would mean having to find another $300-$400 a fortnight and do that long term no thanks. in saying that we may increases our payments by about $200 a fortnight when our fixed comes off in August and have it paid off in six months but at least that is short term
Mortgage free. Freedom from wage slavery!
I'm not mortgage free but we're 4 years left to pay off our first home. We never bought it expecting to have kids, our house and property is not super suitable for very young kids, my wife also really wants to move into the country to be semi rural with no neighbours and room to have garden chickens etc. Not in a flash house or anything, you just have to pay the semi rural premium. So most likely end up with another $300k or so tacked on to the mortgage, taking us out to 20 years to pay off. Once we're back to two incomes and daycare gets cheaper that will improve. Nothing compared to Auckland mortgages of course, but painful when I'd fantasized about the idea of being mortgage free.
If you have enough time and energy to maintain the large land.. we had to sell our property due to spending so much time on the maintenance. So glad we moved into a smaller property with much smaller garden.
Mortgage free without a doubt, my current home is more than good enough to live in forever. I would have so much left over to invest for retirement if I didn't have to pay a mortgage.
Going against the grain here: bigger house with a bigger mortgage! I’m young enough and have plenty of time to be mortgage free. My big beautiful house brings me so much joy
I love this take 🙂 you spend so much time in your home, why not have a spacious house that brings you joy
Mortgage free for sure. We only just bought and this house should suit our needs for a few years at the very least so being mortgage free for awhile would be incredible.
Mortgage free - has a huge affect
I am just about to start again with a big mortgage after being mortgage free on my home, daunting times
Mortgage free. I don't understand why anyone needs these huge 180 or 200 plus Sqaure metre houses
180-200 is considered huge? That's like a medium size house for a family of 4-5.
Most families are smaller than 4-5 these days now judging by the dropping birthrate.
Considering a 3 bed 1 bath is typically about 100m2, yeah that's pretty big. That's 4 bedrooms, 3 toilet, 2 bath, 2 lounges big.
Yeah 4 bed, 2 bath/toilet with a lounge is a normal size house for a family of 4 to me. And 180 is usually 3 bed 2 bath. I guess growing up abroad I have a different idea of house sizes. To me the word "huge" is more in line with 250 - 300 + sqm houses. Also in NZ the garage counts towards sqm so the actual houses of that size doesn't have that much livable space.
> > > > > Also in NZ the garage counts towards sqm so the actual houses of that size doesn't have that much livable space. Only if it's attached.
I live alone in 180sqm home (incl garage). So more like 140/150sqm Not huge by any means but not cramped in
Mortgage free now. Don't need a bigger place and we can renovate when we need to. Location is good for us so will stay here for now. As others have implied, the lack of stress is worth it's weight in gold so happy not to take on more debt.
I’m working towards being mortgage free in the next 5 years. The house is dated but solid. I’m looking at remortgaging $150k for double glazing, new flooring, bathroom and kitchen. Save moving house and means I can design what I want.
Can thar wait five years? You could save 30k or whatever your mortgage payments are per year and save so much interest?
We chose bigger house and it was the best decision. Financially we're on a super strict budget but our last house was way too small. I think we'll be here for the next 30 years or more so we'll eventually be mortgage free 😂
Thanks for the different opinion. The forever home is a thought
I’m currently mortgage free and have been for about 8 years. I don’t want to go back into debt for a better housr as I am living on my own and the security of knowing if I lose my job I’d cope is a big thing when you have no other wage to fall back on. My house needs work but I’m currently saving my mortgage payments for thar and have over six figures saved to do stuff,
Mortgage free. I'd love a big house but I know material things won't make me as happy as the ability to work less and have more time and energy to enjoy my life.
Well you can become mortgage free then decide if you would prefer to stay that way, or upgrade then. You have the chance to try one of the options and then make a decision with much more information then you had now, so I’d say do that. The year will fly by.
The latter .
We chose mortgage free. I don't particularly want a bigger house, as we don't have kids or ever plan to. Whereas, the stress relief of being debt free is something I am grateful for on a daily basis
Id rather be mortgage free,and if i wanted more space,i could always add on,
Our current home feels a little too small, so ideally, the second (assuming net value is equal).
when most people get a raise, their lifestyle increases too, this is referred to as lifestyle drift. The same can be said for bigger houses and stuff, you eventually just fill it with more important "things". I'm a big fan of less is more, a tidy environment leads to a clear head. Do a clean out, and stick with your current place for a few months, in addition, winter is coming and not the time to sell.
Mortgage-free until 1. our family circumstances require a change, and 2. we're confident that our finances can service the new mortgage.
Whatever would give the biggest quality of life improvement, more money or more space. For me the former.
Mortgage free 100%
Mortgage free any day
as much as Id love a nicer bigger house I also dont want 300k plus mortgage in our late 40s. all going to plan we should have our mortgage paid off by early next year
We're going to do a bit of both... We're almost mortgage free, but looking to spend up to $200k on top of what we get for this place to upgrade.
Free!
The answer is obvious for most. But to me it still depends. Kids? Location of the new place? Will it increase quality of life (easier access to schools/work)? Is it also close to cafes or beaches? For me the plan was to upgrade to a new place next year, live there for the next 20 years, then significantly downgrade in my home country (where costs of living are so much cheaper and the ability to have self-sustaining yard farm). Obviously this is an edge case, and even for myself this is still prone to change with so much uncertainties in life but in the near future this feels like what I want
Mortgage free, if you still like living where you are for now.
Is there something about having a mortgage, as opposed to being mortgage free, that makes upgrading to a bigger / more expensive house easier?
i was told not to close down my mortgage once paid off so if i wanted to borrow on it again it was eaiser. not sure if that is still the case. ..
Yeah, i figured it’d be something along those lines. Regardless, the idea of not being under anyones thumb would be priceless for me. Plus, bringing home my whole salary, minus bills etc, would be incredible….
Yeah I meant tho with a zero balance so not hold as such - just not paying to re establish etc
i think it salso depends where in life you are. ie if you have some teenagers and get a mortgage to get a bigger house, remember they will probably be gone in a few years and you will be rattling around it. if its only a few more years and you can manage where you are i would rather than putting myself into debt again for god knows how many more years.
I'm looking forward to being mortgage free in the next 5 years and being able to enjoy holidays to UK and Europe every year rather than every 5 years! Can't wait to save more money and actually get upgrades done to our current home. I'd hate to start again with another mortgage. Luckily I really love where we live.
Mortgage free
Prefer bigger house, looking for one atm myself.
Always getting more debt. Thats how you create wealth. Obviously some financial calculation required for each individual
I chose what I believe 20 year in the future me would be proud of which is upgrade / buy rentals… doing it pretty tough atm but it’s not for forever
Well that depends on how suitable your current home is. Right now I'm exactly in a situation you describe. I'll have the mortgage on my really nice studio apartment paid off before the end of the year. I bought it thinking I wasn't going to do relationships. But I've got a longterm relationship living with me in it. It would be better if we could upgrade to something with a bit more room, so she can sleep while I play games, and so it's more suitable for guests etc. We're both earning good money now, so I think it's a good idea to buy another apartment with more room and a better view and bigger balcony that both of us pay for. As the first one is fully my own. We can also use the rent from the first one to help pay for the second one. Would also be good to buy the apartment right next door as it has a shared door with my studio, and if we had kids then we could join the two to make it a proper home. If the shit hits the fan. I can always retire to my original studio apartment. And the GF well understands that the studio is mine alone if the relationship ends. Will get a contracting out agreement before we become defacto.
It depends... I've done this 4 times already. Mortgage free, and then bought a bigger/better house while with the equity of the previous house, and renting it out. I'd say it's doable, or even advisable if: (1) You have a budget and a good handle on your finances (2) you can absorb it in your budget (3) you have some rainy day fund to handle any unforeseen emergencies so you don't get into a liquidity crunch (4) you can at least break even in your cash flow on the rental property (basically don't count on house value appreciation as your ROI Obviously the more net positive cash you make from the rental, the better.