mapozi wrote:Hi fellow wazuans,
Just wondering coz I have never seen a post to do with mortgages.
Since this is a smart people's forum, please advise on how one can make mortgages work for them.
I am pretty young. would it be wise for me to take out a mortgage?
What are the major considerations I should take into account?
We have discussed this matter before, but it doesn't hurt to repeat a good discussion.
This is what I advise: If you think you can afford 50k pm, then take a mortgage which requires you to pay 40k pm, but continue paying 50k pm. the extra 10k will help reduce your principal balance by a big margin.
And if something happens along the way, say you loose your job, you will be so far ahead in your payments that you will be able to relax for several months without making any payments before the financier sends you a default letter.
I am not very much for building your own house. I know it is cheaper than buying, but I think it is difficult to get a plot in a location that has all infrastructural facilities in place. There might be water, but no power, or no tarmac access to the main road...
But that's a different discussion for a different thread....and we've had it before...
My personal experience: I took out a mortgage in 2002 which required about 31k pm, but I paid 40k for about a year then increased it to 50k for about six months. Then the worst happened - I was fired from my job!
I recalculated my minimum required payments and it came to 25k. So I struggled to pay 30k for several months. Then things started improving financially and I increased it to 35k.
A couple of years later, I checked the balance and the minimum payment required. the bal was about 1m needing about 17k pm for the remaining period.
I cashed out my pension (which was earning a paltry 8%) and cleared the mortgage.
In the meantime.....
Nothing is real unless it can be named; nothing has value unless it can be sold; money is worthless unless you spend it.