Future relocation and reducing mortgage

A question about : Future relocation and reducing mortgage

We're dreaming of moving to Lincolnshire where we can get (what is to us) our dream home (2-3 bed cottage with lots of land, near the sea). We'd love to do this now, but realistically are looking at a couple of years time.

We can only do this by reducing our mortgage as there is very little work up there, and even less in our current careers (reprographics and design). We know our incomes will be greatly reduced (and we want to start a family), so we need to reduce our mortgage as much as possible to facilitate the move.

Is there anything we can do now that will help? (as well as making overpayments)

In summary:

Fixed rate mortgage will be Ј64k when it ends Feb 07. We currently have Ј11.5k further advance which we will have paid off by Jan 07. Current house value approx Ј170 max.

Joint income approx Ј45k.

We're not sure if it's worth re-mortgaging or just switching deals when the fixed rate comes to an end (Nationwide so we can switch).

If we re-mortgage with a new lender, will the first few years be spent paying off interest and very little capital, thus not actually reducing the mortgage by as much as if we stayed where we are?

We can save approx Ј20k per year once the further advance is paid off.

Any help and advice much appreciated! We're longing for this so much we're even going on holiday next week to check out the area!!!

Best answers:

• Sorry, haven't got any words of wisdom for you about mortgage, but wanted to say that I think your plans sound great, and that you should really go for it. You sound very organised ad i'm sure your plans will work out for you.
  Good luck, keep us updated with your progress!
• Hi Alfietinker
  I live in Newark in Notts, just on the border with Lincs. Depending on where you are moving from, it's likely to be far cheaper to buy round here anyway. I bought a three bed 1930s semi with garden and garage for Ј114k. Also, I know there are a few graphic design jobs going in the area at present, although you may not command the same wage. I moved up from Hertfordshire, having gone there from Hampshire and I'm really glad I did, it's beautiful up here, good value for money, and a very friendly atmosphere.
  Let us know how it goes.
  Pixie
• hi....just wondering which part of Lincolnshire...I currently live here in Lincoln and can not wait to relocate down to Dorset..
• Thanks for the encouragement everyone
  We're looking around The Wash - not much further north than Skegness. There's some lovely places around Boston, and further south near Wisbech. The only problem is potential flood risk in the future. The Environment Agency's maps say it is all 'significant risk - 0.75 % chance'. We're not sure how that affects say, buildings insurance and if we'd have problems selling in the future, so we need to do our research.
  The other thing we're not sure about is the job vs mortgage situation. Presumably we can't get a mortgage without a job, we can't get a job without moving, we can't move without a house! We really don't want to rent for what could be months as money could be tight, so we need to look into that. I'm currently looking in to setting up a soft furnishings business where I can work from home which if it works would make things much easier.
  We'd like to be fairly local to wherever we work - we currently car share and I'm in the car for 4 hours a day - not something we'd do if we could help it!
  Oh the dream.........
  We did look at the West Country but hubby is an only child and wanted to be within 3 hours drive of his parents in Brentwood. So Lincolnshire seems a good option.
• I was going to suggest that you considered the job situation and whether you were going to start your own business so that you could get things in hand before you moved ... but I can see you have already thought of that. The other thing if you are thinking about starting a family is the situation regarding statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance - it might be worth reading up on the rules so that (assuming that you can get your timing right of course!) you make sure that you qualify for one or the other if you possibly can. It might be tricky though, because if you move you will have to start a new job, of course, but if you can get enough self-employed income you might be able to get MA.
• That's something we thought of - I've been in my current job 4 years. We had planned to start a family before moving and using my maternity rights. But I discovered some information about my role that makes me think my position is not safe. I think if I were claiming maternity pay, my role could easily not exist anymore, meaning it couldn't be kept open. I am the only child-bearing age employee in a very small company. I think I need to get out before I am pushed.