Best option when planning to move.

[dieseluser07]

So ive just moved onto a tracker mortgage for 2 years which currently sits at 1.29 above base rate (0.5%).

I am looking to move in about 1 year to 18 months.

I have been told i can pay as much off on my mortgage with no limits at all and obviously i save on interest.

My question is, is it best to pay more off my mortgage until i move, or keep hold of the money incase property prices decline? I live in the north east if that makes any difference.

Also has anyone sold a house on the 'firstbuy' (which is basically the same as helptobuy with the 20% equity loan), if so, is it an absolute faff to sell your house with it on?? Am i best remortgaging for a higher amount now to pay it off or do it when i sell?? The mortgage advisor seemed to think theres less fees involved when doing it at the point of selling, only issue with this is it will slow the sale down as you have to sell for a price they are happy with.

[leemanning]

Keep the cash.

Any savings you'd make on interest over that period are far outweighed by the flexibility of having the money in cash rather than equity.

Long term view is paying down the debt, but as you're only talking over a year then I would hold onto the money.

[NickCQ]

dieseluser07 said:

keep hold of the money incase property prices decline? I live in the north east if that makes any difference.

I'm not sure what you mean here.

Are you saying that you might hand the keys back to the bank if prices go down and you are in negative equity?
Unless you spend the cash the bank will come after you for it when they repossess; it's recourse lending after all.

[Condi]

dieseluser07 said:

My question is, is it best to pay more off my mortgage until i move, or keep hold of the money incase property prices decline? I live in the north east if that makes any difference.

Irrespective of if house prices go up or down, you have to repay what you've borrowed, and the risk of movement in house prices is on you. Similarly though, if house prices go up, you get the benefit without sharing it with the bank.

For 12 months? I'd hold the cash and then just use it when you need to remortgage.

[ben_h100]

Google ‘My first home’ for info on the HTB selling process. It’s something I’m also looking into as we plan to sell in 12 months time. There are a few threads on the money saving expert forums containing peoples experiences and there does seem to be a few hoops to jump through; not what you want/need when selling.

I guess one option is to market the property in its current state with the HTB mortgage current, if it sells, great. If you have trouble selling and have to lower he price significantly then remortgage to the full amount with no initial rate and sell for what you deem acceptable.