If I told you that I’ve changed my mind again about the selling versus renting decision when we move to Portugal, would you be surprised? Probably not! I seem to do it every month. Well this time there will be no changes; we are going to rent out the house when we move.
Something happened in August concerning a very dear family member which made me realise that I want/need to keep a base in the UK. I won’t go into details, however for me, us, it’s the right decision at this time.
Anyways onto happier things: mortgage overpayment progress.
The figures as they stand today:
- Mortgage Balance: £116,797
- House Value £180,000 {approx}
- Monthly Payment £542.34
- Monthly Overpayment £57.66
- Payments left 238 {19 yrs, 10 mths}
We’re still making a small monthly overpayment, however this is set to increase in January as my clever husband received a promotion at work; our thinking is that once the mortgage is paid off, our house becomes an income producing asset.
Mortgage completion target: December 2020 {115 months early}
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Laura, I have just found your website and have had a lovely time browsing the archives (and your other site). We too are planning to ‘escape the rat race’. We are in the process of renovating a barge which we will live on once done (selling the house in the meantime), hopefully by early 2012. This means we will be mortgage free. We also want to get rid of all other debts, credit cards etc so that we can semi-retire and just do part time jobs in the winter and sail in the summer. Eventually we hope to take the barge to Europe once we retire fully. We too are living on a tight budget so that we can fund our future. I look forward to your blog as I think we actually have quite a lot in common (including things like trying to do more exercise, losing the weight etc!)
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Laura Reply:
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Hi Fran and thank you for saying hello; your plans sound great. I always like to hear from people with similar paths and we do seem to have a lot in common……….apart from the sailing – me and water is a no, no! lol
I’m going to have a good read through your blog at the weekend
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Its a good idea to use the increase in pay as extra mortgage repayments if you can- after a little splurge on a celebration!
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Laura Reply:
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:57 pm
thank you @littlegreenvillage…now what to do to celebrate?
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Its a good idea to keep your options open by renting your house, will you put off getting a B&B then?
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Laura Reply:
September 2nd, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Hi Dreamer, the B&B is dependent on so many things, not least dh getting a job in Portugal…I’m also wondering if renting rooms out might be a good idea too.. airbnb.com looks like a cool site that you can register with – we are going to try them out next time we go to NY
How are you, is September treating you a little better than August?
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Yes, it’s always a tough one to call. At the end of the day it’s all about what’s right *for you*. Nice one on the mortgage payments progress!
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Laura Reply:
September 2nd, 2010 at 7:01 pm
thanks Tony…this is not simple this moving abroad thing, is it!
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My husband and I recently made the same decision – to rent out our home rather than sell it when it’s time to move. I think it will serve well to keep us on a strict budget… in order to buy our next home we’ll have to save much more instead of just using the proceeds of selling this house. For some reason, my husband and I seem to work best under pressure, even if it’s self-imposed pressure of rigorous goals.
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Laura Reply:
September 2nd, 2010 at 7:03 pm
@momcents I think, like you, sticking to a strict budget and aiming for tough goals will pay off in the long run
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i think if i was to move away i’d want to keep my house too, it’s always good to have a base to come back to just in case, you know?
good luck with the overpayments! xx
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Laura Reply:
September 2nd, 2010 at 7:08 pm
@Rachel welcome back!
I agree; I’ve thought long and hard about this and it seems like the sensible thing to do!
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Paying off mortgage debt is the best!
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Laura Reply:
September 3rd, 2010 at 6:01 am
@ exe It certainly is
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I love seeing other people’s mortgage progress. It’s like a club. We all have the same goals. Great job!
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Laura Reply:
September 5th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Thanks Daizy – A Mortgage Free Club, now there’s a club to be in
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Congrats on your progress! Total debt-freedom (mortgage and everything)…Oh so nice!
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Laura Reply:
September 5th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
Thank you Shawn – you’re right, total debt freedom would be so nice!
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