One Man Pad to Marital Home

A question about : One Man Pad to Marital Home

Hi.

Quite new to the forum and keeping a diary etc but thought I would give it a shot.

Firstly, I've been reading through some amazing threads on here that have been a real inspiration and it's nice to know that people are supportive and on board with trying to become Mortgage Free as early as possible. Most of our friends think overpaying on the mortgage is a crazy thing to do so we don't talk about it now. We will have the last laugh though!

A bit of background about me/us

I'm 26 years old and work as a Financial Auditor and my OH is 25 years old and works as a Paralegal. Between us we earn just over Ј50k before tax but that should hopefully rise as my OH moves up the ladder. The house we live in currently was purchased by myself in April 2011 ( 3 bed semi - new build ) and until I met my OH it was a magnolia interior masterpiece . Well basically having lived there nearly 2 years I'd not picked up a brush / altered it at all. My OH swooped in and within weeks we had given the place a colourful yet not to overpowering facelift.

Being a saver not a spender and with help from my parents I managed to put down a Ј40k deposit on the house. My first mortgage deal on the property was with Nationwide ( Ј90,000 - 3 year fixed @ 3.99% - 25 year term ) which meant a monthly payment of Ј474. During those 3 years I managed to overpay by Ј11,900 to help bring the capital down and when I re-fixed the mortgage in April 2014 the monthly payments had reduced to Ј373 p/m over the same term ( 3.19% fixed for 5 years with Nationwide )

Before re-fixing the deal however I asked my OH to marry me so all extra monies were being saved for wedding/honeymoon because obviously for the time being our priority had changed. We decided recently that before we get married in October 15' we want a house that we have bought and done up nicely together. We both agreed this was a great move and spotted a house straight away that we loved but needed some love to modernise the property. It's local to our parents, friends and work so is ideal.

We've recently sold our place for Ј142k so a nice profit over the 3 and a bit years to cover the fee's involved when buying and selling. Even though there was a bit of interest on the house we wanted we had an offer accepted for Ј212k and we were delighted of course. It's a 4 bed detached with double garage so has fantastic potential. The interior is very dated but that can be sorted when we can afford the things we want. Doesn't get any more simple than that right?

We are putting a 30% deposit down which is mostly equity from our last house. The money left over from the sale will be used to improve the new place minus fees and extra deposit money of course.

My OH did have a student loan but she's paid that off and the only other debts we have between us are her monthly car payments of around Ј200 and lump amount at the end which has been saved up ready. We're left with around Ј8k savings that aren't car or wedding related.

Our new mortgage payments will be Ј632 per month which is still with Nationwide @ 3.19% for 5 years fixed - 30 year term. We'll also be paying a set amount per month for life and critical illness insurance. Being so new into a 5 year deal the ERC would have been over Ј3k so really had to stick with Nationwide for the new place. Luckily when our MB put our details in Nationwide was 2nd on the list so that was a relief of sorts.

All Mortgage/Insurances/Bills are being split 50/50 with my OH so between us we can hopefully save a decent amount and use some to overpay on the mortgage. It'll be less to start with while we improve the house but looking to overpay if and when we can to get rid of the mortgage ASAP

I've told the OH that we should try and be mortgage free between 40 and 45. So I'd like to be mortgage free in the next 14-19 years. She thinks it can't be done. Be nice to prove the boss wrong ( for once )

We are really hoping to be in our new home before Xmas so I guess the journey starts right here. I think our families, friends and work colleagues are annoyed with us talking about houses and mortgages now so this will be a good place I can talk/rant about what's happening in the future.

Thanks for reading and sorry for the essay and any help or advice would be brilliant. Thanks x

Best answers:

• Hi vinnybro, welcome and best of luck with the overpayment plans
• Wonderful to see the two of you being so sensible from the start!
• It sounds manageable to me. Have you had a play around with https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mor...culator#result
  It's the MSE mortgage overpayment calculator it would only be just over Ј200 or so a month for you to have it paid off in 19 years.
  I know how you feel my friends don't agree with overpaying they feel you should enjoy being young.... I do, I'm always out doing things and wear nice clothes I just make sure I pop a bit aside each month. I'm aiming to be MF by the time I'm 40.
  Good luck with your plan. I will watch eagerly.
• Hi Vinnybro1998 - I presume your username reflects your year of birth in which case I feel very old!
  Wish I'd been as financially savvy and aware at your age. No help or advice to offer but just to say I will read your updates with interest.
• Will have to reply like this as being a Newbie to the site I can't post with lots of links
  Hi newgirly. Thank you really appreciate your reply.
  ...
  Thanks greent. I like sensible. Most of our friends would call it boring but hey ho
  ...
  Thanks Cream Tea. Yes I've had a little play around with the calculator and I think that Ј200 overpayment a month is achievable. Like you, we never go short of fun, clothes and do what we like but just manage our money well I suppose. Hope you reach your goal of MF by 40 and I'll be following you diary too.
  ...
  Thank you for your post Pushkin. The saying of " you're only as old as you feel " comes to mind We just feel that being mortgage free ASAP will leave us with less to worry about over the years.
  .......................................
  My OH came home from work last night and told me that all draft contracts have been sent and received in our chain and searches are now taking place. It's great that the OH can chase up everything with her being pretty much in the office next door. We were told that Nationwide had applied for the house valuation and HBR to be done last Thursday ( which was confirmed by our estate agent ) so waiting for news on that. We've asked our MB to chase Nationwide up for us to see where we are.
  To our knowledge we are the only couple applying for a mortgage in our chain of 4 houses. I'm not sure if that will speed up the process or not having 1 mortgage and 3 cash buyers rather than 4 mortgages trying to be organised. Obviously this part is a little more complicated than when I purchased the first place as I was a FTB and the house was brand spanking new.
  I'm not too bad finance wise but the mortgage / house selling and buying process really is a head ache.
  We had some nice news last night also with the OH's Dad offering to buy a new kitchen for us when we move. He works with a lot of contractors through work so can get kitchens at a reduced price so I believe this will be his wedding present to us which is fantastic. I knew going up and asking for his daughter's hand in marriage would be good karma down the road.
  Hoping to hear from Nationwide, MB, Solicitor or our Estate Agent today with any positive/forward moving news
  Hope you all have a nice day
• So we received the Home Buyers Report through the post yesterday and we were quite happy with it to be honest. Our only "3" was based on the fact that a certain certificate had not been provided regarding the heating. We've seen the certificate in question and so have our solicitors so that's fine.
  Think we counted up 17 (1's), 4 (2's) and 1 (3) so pretty happy with that and most of the potential problems we have already seen or knew about so no shocks.
  Also had an update from our MB who has informed us Nationwide will be reviewing the extra bank statements we had to send through on Thursday and valuation will be fully reviewed on Monday.
  Seems to be going through quite quickly for saying our Mortgage Application was sent and Solicitors notified on the 28th of October.
  We will be in by Xmas! Hopefully.
  .............
  Got 60 odd things on ebay at the minute so hoping to make some extra cash on there and could do with checking my PayPal account actually as not taking any funds for a while.
  Off to B&Q tonight for a nosey armed with a measuring tape!
  Doubt we'll hear anything today from Nationwide,MB or solicitor but you never know.
  Have a good day folks
• Back to the day job today after a productive weekend.
  We managed to completely finish our Xmas shopping this weekend. It was our second bite at it having done half the weekend before. We set our family and friends a set amount and off we went. One of many beautiful spreadsheets that will/are used during our life. All the gifts are now bagged up in boxes for whenever we move house.
  We spent only Ј20.58 on our food shop last weekend and it did last us the full week so we were chuffed with that. We spent over Ј35 this week but only because we went on a fresh meat run to Costco before heading to Aldi.
  Really hoping for some news today regarding the mortgage as our solicitors have said they can't move forward until the mortgage offer has been sent to them.
  So near yet so far away!
  The gap between house offer accepted and mortgage approval does give us chance to save up for all the shiny new things the OH wants in the new house. We are saving nicely now so hoping even with home improvements we can still overpay on the mortgage even if it's just small amounts.
  Hope you all had a great weekend!
  ...............
  Edit.....
  Good Morning,
  I do apologise, our systems were all down on Friday so I have only just picked this up.
  Nationwide have assessed the extra statements Nick sent in last week and these have been marked off as acceptable. The survey, as I think you know, has also been passed as acceptable.
  Your file is going through whats known as a 'plausability review' at Nationwides end; basically it is the very final compliance and underwriting checks. I have been advised that this should move to a formal offer tomorrow for you. I will of course, let you know that this is the case and you may also receive a text from Nationwide!
  Kind Regards
• You seem so sensible. I can't help but wish I'd been as wise when I was your age. Fingers crossed that you're in by Christmas.
• Best of luck with it, the waiting is horrible. exciting times ahead though, and your off to a great start at financial freedom.
• So yesterday we received the good news that our mortgage offer is on it's way to our solicitor and a copy in the post to us.
  We sent an email to our estate agent last night hoping to find out at what stage the other people in our chain are. We'd like to know whether we can get a feel as to a potential moving date. We have found out that the couple buying our place have booked a holiday for the middle of December which is just perfect. People are entitled to holidays don't get me wrong but bad timing is an understatement. Having been told previously that everybody in the chain is pushing for a Pre Xmas move it wasn't the news we were expecting.
  We could potentially sort a date for the start of December but depends where everybody in the chain is. We are pretty desperate / excited about moving to our new place and putting our interior stamp on it.
  Just a few things that need doing today. Chase up a few quotes we are expecting from removal companies, pack a few more belongings up at home for the move and try to stay awake during our work webcast this afternoon!
  Sadly not much to report money wise but we are saving and cutting back as best we can before the move.
  A Happy Wednesday To All x
• Great news on the mortgage. In for christmas will be fun. You can buy each other paint for christmas, theres nothing like a bit of romance to keep the ladies happy!!!
• Thanks blackste I'm sure my OH will laugh when I show her that.
  Just had a stressed message from my OH during lunch break regarding 6 inquiries our buyers have through their solicitor. One of which is regarding a maintenance payment for the estate we live on. I'd say 99% of the people on our estate don't pay the fee due to no work being done by the maintenance company. There has been a long standing argument between the maintenance group and the residence but turns out to move you have to pay off your balance ( which makes sense as you can't leave it to the new owners ). So had to ring up, tail between my legs and pay the Ј388 plus 50p for using a debit card. Brilliant!
  We've also realised our registered boiler service fella didn't leave a certificate last time he serviced the boiler and of course the buyer want a copy ( nothing wrong with that ). So that'll be another Ј70 for him to service again and provide a certificate.
  The other 4 inquiries I'm not sure about yet but the OH will be getting an e-mail about them this afternoon and hopefully we can sort them quickly as all the rest of the chain want to move between 1st and 5th of December. Pretty sure we are holding things up now which is certainly a worry. Removal people haven't come back to me either...
  We are for sure living life by the seat of our pants.
• Happy Thursday . We're Ј388 lighter this morning due to our current estate management company ( who shall not be named as it hurts too much ) but that's life etc.
  We had a successful evening sorting through the 6 enquiries which had been sent by internal post to my OH via our solicitor.
  ...........................
  1. I enclose a copy of the Title Plan and I would be obliged if you would confirm that the filed plan correctly depicts the position on site.
  We confirmed that the Title Plan did confirm the correct position on site
  2. Please confirm that you are not aware of any breach of the Covenants affecting the Title.
  We confirmed we are not aware of any breach of the Covenants affecting the Title
  3. With regard to the estate charge which is applicable to the property, please provide full details of any payments made.
  We confirmed that I had spoken to the estate charge company and paid the balance of Ј388. A closing balance statement and receipt will be sent on once we receive through the post.
  4. The Title Deeds appear to show that the boundaries to the property are party boundaries but you have indicated on the Property Information Form that you understood the left hand boundary to be your responsibility. How have you established this? Have you carried out any maintenance to any of the boundary structures?
  We made an error here. We thought it meant the left hand boundary in the back garden. Not all the way through to the front of the house. We have told them about the error and that the boundaries are all party as stated on the Title Deeds
  5. Do you have any other documentation relating to your purchase of the property? I am particularly looking for copy planning documentation and building regulation approvals. If so, please provide me with these.
  We have sent a few documents over that I received when I purchased the house.
  6. Has the heating system now been serviced? If so, please provide me with a copy of the Service Report.
  Boiler service has been booked for noon on Saturday and is going to cost us Ј60. We've told them certificate will be available and sent to them on Monday morning first thing.
  ...........................
  We then spent an hour doing general tidying and packing things into boxes and vacuum sacks ( which are amazing and surprisingly good fun ) . If the move is just over 2 weeks away we thought we'd get a head start really. We had to stop at 9pm however because the Liberty's of London show was on channel 4. Not sure why I agreed to watch that when The Apprentice was on
  Phoned a local removal company and they are coming to give us a quote tonight so hopefully the damage won't be too much. We have no idea what to expect having never used a company before
  Things are moving forward.
• So the boiler man came out on Saturday for the certificate we required. Was a nice chap and we will be using him again I'm sure. Ј50 worse off but we had been spending Ј70 on a service so a nice save. A company also came to the house to give us a removal quote. Ј460 exc VAT and we snapped their hand off and provisionally booked them. The cheapest quote we have above that was Ј800 exc VAT so a bargain really. The Ј460 company are quite a big firm and people at my work have used them before with no issues.
  Final bits and bobs are being done with our solicitors but everybody is raring to go now. We did so much packing over the weekend with our parents both offering to take small bits. It'll help because we can then move to our new home at our convenience and we told the removal company they wouldn't be moving all boxes so needed to be done.
  The good weekend was marred by my OH getting a stinking cold and myself a bad back!
  Can't wait to get moved in and new mortgage underway so we can assess our finances. A sad thing for a 26 year old to say but just the way I am.
• All sounds exciting for you Vinnybro, good luck with it all! I'm enjoying reading your thread
  I wonder how a pot of paint as a Christmas present will go down... keep us informed ;-)
• The 5th of December is still a possible moving date!
  We are going to sign all documents/contract on Friday afternoon with a view to exchange either later that day or Monday morning.
  All parties know the 5th is the date everybody wants so fingers crossed.
  We're going to Dawlish this weekend to stop at my Mum and Dad's place so hopefully the weather will be okay and it will give us a bit of time to relax before a hectic week.
  However, my back is still playing up and the OH looked like death warmed up this morning ( not that I'd dare tell her )
  The " In for Project " continues