Paying off mortgage

[alscar]

thekingisdead said:

If you do decide to pay it off, register with the land registry for a property alert.

Adds a level of protection should someone try and take a mortgage out on your property

(By having a mortgage / charge on your deeds you are somewhat protected from this)

It’s free service

I didn’t even realise this was a thing although I assume it is rare and only really if the house is unoccupied and the owner is abroad etc ?
Also aren’t houses “ registered “ with the Land Registry anyway so any mortgage lender would be able to check or does that only apply to houses post a certain date ?

[GT3Manthey]

alscar said:

I didn’t even realise this was a thing although I assume it is rare and only really if the house is unoccupied and the owner is abroad etc ?
Also aren’t houses “ registered “ with the Land Registry anyway so any mortgage lender would be able to check or does that only apply to houses post a certain date ?

This was my understanding but happy to be corrected

[Collectingbrass]

alscar said:

thekingisdead said:

If you do decide to pay it off, register with the land registry for a property alert.

Adds a level of protection should someone try and take a mortgage out on your property

(By having a mortgage / charge on your deeds you are somewhat protected from this)

It’s free service

I didn’t even realise this was a thing although I assume it is rare and only really if the house is unoccupied and the owner is abroad etc ?
Also aren’t houses “ registered “ with the Land Registry anyway so any mortgage lender would be able to check or does that only apply to houses post a certain date ?

Luton 'stolen house' owner gets home back with squatters is enough to get me to register for an alert

[alscar]

Collectingbrass said:

Luton 'stolen house' owner gets home back with squatters is enough to get me to register for an alert

Fair enough - albeit he was working away and in Wales so nearly abroad

[V12GT]

paulrockliffe said:

Will probably get told to send the money to the kids investment accounts instead though rather than partially retiring, but I can dream.....

Enjoying retirement thread over here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Thanks all for the Property Alert service - our mortgage was fully offset, but paid off in Feb, so have now signed up.

[BoRED S2upid]

Be nice just to leave a few hundred to piss the bank off. Monthly mortgage of £2.50 yes please

[interstellar]

Pay it off, it’s a great feeling, we did it last July and it’s a great feeling every month the DD isn’t going out.

[Somebody]

BoRED S2upid said:

Be nice just to leave a few hundred to piss the bank off. Monthly mortgage of £2.50 yes please

We like the thought of them holding the deeds for us.

We have a nett credit balance with less than £50 in an offset mortgage (the current account is a few pence higher). Rate is 1.99% over base. Was repaying £5 a month but haven't paid anything in 3 years. They sent a standard letter asking us how we were going pay of the capital, with proof.

[interstellar]

Somebody said:

We like the thought of them holding the deeds for us.

We have a nett credit balance with less than £50 in an offset mortgage (the current account is a few pence higher). Rate is 1.99% over base. Was repaying £5 a month but haven't paid anything in 3 years. They sent a standard letter asking us how we were going pay of the capital, with proof.

But deeds are online now and you can get a copy for £3 from the land registry. I can’t see the point.

[Bazsm]

Thanks for all the replies, I guess I’ll pay it off in full - I’ve just turned 60 so paying off the mortgage isn’t that much of an achievement!

We use credit cards for holidays etc (and pay them off immediately) so hopefully our credit ratings should stay fine.

[eliot]

Somebody said:

We like the thought of them holding the deeds for us.

There aren't any - i was expecting a big brown envelope with parchment document - there wasn't one. Bank just removes the charge on your property with the LR (and as others have stated, get a LR search put in place against your own house)

In contrast -my parents place was bought in the 1960's and paid off in the 80s - they did have the physical deeds and paid the bank to look after them - when they passed, I had to wait to get the original deeds retrieved and then wait again (and pay the conveyancer) whilst the deeds were then lodged with the land registry before i could sell the property.

[snuffy]

When I paid mine off a few years ago, they told me to keep £1 in the account so that a) they kept the deeds for you and b) if I wanted to borrow any money in the future, it would be easier. So I did.

However, it then went all online, they posted me a pile of paperwork, close the mortgage account and gave me my quid back.

[Miocene]

Thank you for the suggestions about the land registry search. We've just paid off ours, so it's timely advice.

[Chamon_Lee]

interstellar said:

Pay it off, it’s a great feeling, we did it last July and it’s a great feeling every month the DD isn’t going out.

I did the same a few years ago, Honestly couldn't be bothered with some of the musical chair suggestions that people had to not pay it.

[snuffy]

Chamon_Lee said:

interstellar said:

Pay it off, it’s a great feeling, we did it last July and it’s a great feeling every month the DD isn’t going out.

I did the same a few years ago, Honestly couldn't be bothered with some of the musical chair suggestions that people had to not pay it.

I found it a bit of an anti-climax myself. But, once it's paid, no more having to think about it, no more worrying about rates changing and so on.

If you are in a position to pay if off, I'd pay it off.

[Wacky Racer]

interstellar said:

Pay it off, it’s a great feeling, we did it last July and it’s a great feeling every month the DD isn’t going out.

100% this.

[Dicky Knee]

paulrockliffe said:

Mine is offset, still owe a good chunk, but have instant access to a big lump of equity if we ever needed it, I think in 3, maybe 4, years time we will be fully offset with 20 years left to run.

The only complication with this approach is that your mortgage payment is based on the none-offset debt, thanks to the post 2008 reforms that decided interest only was always a bad thing. In effect you can't stay fully offset for the full term, your credit limit is slowly reducing over time.

What that means is you pay, for us it'll be about £500, each month, the debt reduces by the £500, so you then have £500 in the offset that's earning no interest and you need to shuffle the money into an interest-bearing account instead.

Not a big deal, but it's something to remember to keep on top of and unnecessarily faffy compared to an interest-only setup where money would simply stop moving automatically.

Still the best thing we've ever done though, maintained the feeling of being a bit poor, because there's never any money in the bank account, while paying the mortgage down quite quickly. When it is fully offset not only will we have no mortgage payment in effect, there'll be nothing to overpay either, so it's a double-hit . Will probably get told to send the money to the kids investment accounts instead though rather than partially retiring, but I can dream.....

I have my Offset Account as the nominated account for paying my mortgage so it is self balancing. This is with an Aussie bank so not sure if you can do the same here.

[LowTread]

Paid ours off last autumn after downsizing.

I'm 44, so quite early, but we did up three houses in a row from 2004-2024. Lots of work, but it's paid off now.

Now in an ordinary 4 bed that's all ours. We did look at bigger places, which we could have afforded but would have required a mortgage. We ended up going for somewhere that's just about big enough with some sacrifices.

It was worth it. The feeling of freedom is priceless.

So now it's all about pensions and savings. Looking to retire at 54-56 ish, so a while to go yet, and not made any easier by the pension age being 58 by then. I've always been terrible with money so saving up is a novel concept

What's nice is the flexibility. I wouldn't mind going part time, or i sometimes think about doing something more physical that pays less. Could probably afford to do either now. Nice to have options.

Anyway. It's a nice situation to be in. I've stopped looking at mortgages, interest rates or rightmove!

Edited by LowTread on Friday 26th April 07:04

[paulrockliffe]

Dicky Knee said:

I have my Offset Account as the nominated account for paying my mortgage so it is self balancing. This is with an Aussie bank so not sure if you can do the same here.

I can't, not sure if it's possible anywhere else though. My original Offset Mortgage I got in just before the post-2008 reforms came in and it was just a current account with a massive negative balance, so every transaction was in and out of the offset account, including the mortgage interest payment. That was perfect, no messing at all.

Where I am now is a bit more of a pain, but I made an app that calculates spare cash each month once I have the credit card bill and can drop in the bank balance and the card balance and tick boxes to say who has and hasn't been paid, so at least I can transfer money out of my current account as soon as it lands.

[Dicky Knee]

paulrockliffe said:

Dicky Knee said:

I have my Offset Account as the nominated account for paying my mortgage so it is self balancing. This is with an Aussie bank so not sure if you can do the same here.

I can't, not sure if it's possible anywhere else though. My original Offset Mortgage I got in just before the post-2008 reforms came in and it was just a current account with a massive negative balance, so every transaction was in and out of the offset account, including the mortgage interest payment. That was perfect, no messing at all.

Where I am now is a bit more of a pain, but I made an app that calculates spare cash each month once I have the credit card bill and can drop in the bank balance and the card balance and tick boxes to say who has and hasn't been paid, so at least I can transfer money out of my current account as soon as it lands.

Looks like another little rule that the banks build in to make a bit more money out of their customers.