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Okay, so if you've read the previous entry, you'll know I've had a bit of a Week this past week. I had to go and visit with family, which I generally don't fancy, because my family is one of those ones that put the "fun" in "dysfunctional".
Well.
It turns out that part of the reason my parents were wanting to downsize is because they'd decided (after much research into retirement villages and aged care) to deal with the whole business where Australian aged care placements tend to rely on you selling the family home in order to finance your accommodation there by selling their existing place to my brother (who lives with them) and setting themselves up as tenants for life (he owns the place, they live with him). Then my brother would take out a mortgage, and give me half the value of the house. First lawyer they saw to try and set this up basically threw a wobbly at the idea and didn't set things up correctly (set up my brother as Tenant-for-Life in my parents' place, which meant if they died, he got everything, I got nothing, which was not what they wanted to happen). Second lawyer managed to get things sorted out correctly, but in the meantime the value of the house my parents currently occupy had gone up to the point where my brother couldn't have afforded the mortgage on it. So they've sold the house, they're downsizing to a three bedroom unit, they will give the place to my brother (and become his tenants for life), and then he will take out a mortgage and give me half the value of the new place.
This will be about $200,000 or thereabouts. Or in other words, enough money to get myself and my partner into the real estate market ourselves.
So, I've been knocked sideways by one of the top three Good Things in my life (the other two were meeting my partner and landing my current job), and while the money won't be coming through fast enough for us to buy the place we're currently in, it will hopefully be coming through by about January, at which point I can go find a mortgage broker, put down about a 1/3 deposit on a place for my partner and myself, and settle down to paying off the mortgage as fast as possible before I hit 70. But this means we get a chance to get off the rental treadmill at long fucking last, and have a place we can genuinely call our own.
I'm still processing things at present, but for the first time in about ... ever, I'm able to look at the future without immediately jumping to "dying destitute in a ditch" and immediately getting as depressed as all hells.
Well.
It turns out that part of the reason my parents were wanting to downsize is because they'd decided (after much research into retirement villages and aged care) to deal with the whole business where Australian aged care placements tend to rely on you selling the family home in order to finance your accommodation there by selling their existing place to my brother (who lives with them) and setting themselves up as tenants for life (he owns the place, they live with him). Then my brother would take out a mortgage, and give me half the value of the house. First lawyer they saw to try and set this up basically threw a wobbly at the idea and didn't set things up correctly (set up my brother as Tenant-for-Life in my parents' place, which meant if they died, he got everything, I got nothing, which was not what they wanted to happen). Second lawyer managed to get things sorted out correctly, but in the meantime the value of the house my parents currently occupy had gone up to the point where my brother couldn't have afforded the mortgage on it. So they've sold the house, they're downsizing to a three bedroom unit, they will give the place to my brother (and become his tenants for life), and then he will take out a mortgage and give me half the value of the new place.
This will be about $200,000 or thereabouts. Or in other words, enough money to get myself and my partner into the real estate market ourselves.
So, I've been knocked sideways by one of the top three Good Things in my life (the other two were meeting my partner and landing my current job), and while the money won't be coming through fast enough for us to buy the place we're currently in, it will hopefully be coming through by about January, at which point I can go find a mortgage broker, put down about a 1/3 deposit on a place for my partner and myself, and settle down to paying off the mortgage as fast as possible before I hit 70. But this means we get a chance to get off the rental treadmill at long fucking last, and have a place we can genuinely call our own.
I'm still processing things at present, but for the first time in about ... ever, I'm able to look at the future without immediately jumping to "dying destitute in a ditch" and immediately getting as depressed as all hells.
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Since you're in Australia, it might be beneficial to NOT pay off the mortgage as fast as possible. Australian government policy really encourages saving for retirement, which is why you pay less tax if you put income into a superannuation fund instead of getting paid income and using it to pay down your mortgage. Additionally, mortgage rates are often less than the potential rate of return on your retirement savings. Depending on your personal tax situation, it might be better paying as little as you can on the mortgage until you reach 67, putting as much as you can into superannuation funds until then. THEN pay off the mortgage.
Since it's the biggest purchase you'll ever make, it might be really worthwhile talking to an accountant familiar with Australian tax laws to see what is best for your personal situation (and not rely on some random Canadian from the internet).
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I. Wow. Amazing. Congratulations!!!
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