Would renting be a good idea for me?

It's a tricky one but if I were you I'd take the hard road to a better future and get out of debt as quickly as you possibly can.

Debt is a very, very bad thing indeed at your age. With interest rates at a

Some people here might say "build on you assets - rent out" - it's not bad advice, but do the maths based on what you think you could rent it for (and be realistic - get an estate agent in to give you a valuation if necessary). Don't forget things like tax and inflation, and the prospect of rising interest rates in those calculations.

But my recommendation would be ditch the debt, and put any extra cash in an index tracker until you've worked out what to do with it otherwise (the markets look like they might be coming out of their three-year slump and shares are comparatively cheap). For example, I've got a maxi-ISA from Legal & General split between a FTSE all-share tracker and a cash fund. You could do the same and put the rest in a unit trust tracker.

Why trackers? Because "high-interest" savings accounts are in fact really low interest at the moment; you have your life ahead of you and at your age (sorry to be patronising) I would not expect you to be interested in reading the FT all day picking stocks - instead you're out there drinking beer and banging beaver, I assume.

Have a look at

Have you looking into remortgaging? Ie take out an extra 20k in mortgage and use that to pay your debts off. You could try asking your existing lender for an extra 20k, and the mortgage market is very competitive at the moment and you'll only be needing a 75% mortgage so you should be able to get a good deal (under

Although in the current market, you may find that you are wasting more money owning your home than renting it, and if your credit rating stops you getting a mortgage at a decent rate then renting might be the best option.

I just fancied the idea of paying off everything I owe - that way I wouldn't owe a penny to anybody plus I would have some savings too!

Yes the mortgage interest would be far more than the student loan interest and all the rest of the debt apart from the 5000 is at 0% interest for the moment but I know it is going to take me forver to pay off 20k so perhaps this is the only way I am going to be able to get rid of it.

I know nothing about your circumstances, but I would think you recently graduated. In a way, at your age it could be a good thing to have some flexibility location wise, so renting might just be a good idea.

I have to say say I would be tempted to sell the house and repay the debt if I was you. It would give you such a greater flexibility that I think it is worth it.

Just my humble opinion.

In message , Alfi writes

Where is your house?

If it is in Manchester, it could easily increase by £10/20K over the next 6 months or so.

Personally, I would advise you to never be without a house of your own. I sold mine in 1987 for £23K - by early 1988 when I was ready to buy another one, it had gone up to £45K. I vowed that I would never again be without a house - even in the bad times, because you never know when it is coming back.

Are you having trouble paying your debts? Or would it just be nice not to have them?

In message , Alfi writes

You are quite happy to be taking forever to pay back your 62K mortgage. I cant see the difference.

No, I dont have any trouble paying them - they are costing me just over 500 a month and then the mortgage costs 400 per month but I still have a few hundred spare at the end of the month. If I was to rent I would get a bigger house in Northampton and pay about 650-700 per month which would be

In message , Jacob Rosse writes

Dont sell the house!!

You could increase your mortgage to £82K, and probably pay less than the £650-£700 rent on the bigger house. It will take a long time to pay off, but your house could be worth half a million or so by then, so the debt will pale into insignificance.

I'm not sure about the house price increase, but increasing the mortgage is probably the best route. If you can remortgage you might be able to reduce payments and (if you haven't already) get a mortgage that allows you to make overpayments without penalty. Using spare cash to make overpayments is probably the fastest way to pay off your debts.

Thom