A mortgage is like a high maintenance wife. It forces you to be creative and work extra hard to get ahead of the scheduled payments. This is a good thing cause the net effect is that you are wealthier.

The main source of the accelerated funds are of course windfalls, salary hikes, added allowances etc, which you are now forced to channel toward the principle amount. Another good thing cause you may otherwise have misused it.

A key threshold level is the point at which interest payments equal the rental value. At this point you are not 'losing' anything to the bank, which is the first milestone, usually about half the amount, and should be the main goal, because beyond this you are gaining. This jump is possible by a little more sacrifice or liquidation of an existing asset.

The peculiar thing with well selected houses in Kenya, is that they appreciate very fast especially if bought off plan or early in the development -a very good thing. As a buyer I would suggest you get your mind out of the 20 year mentality, and be very open to selling it in the event the value rises to a juicy level. You can pocket the untaxed capital gains and explore your options of even 2 off plan units... and the cycle continues.

Your payslip, like any other asset needs to be bled to its maximum value (with caution and wisdom of course), and getting a mortgage allows you to do this. The 20 years + is the maximum repayment, and sort of insurance incase the windfalls do not come.

Well said. Let them come out and give us their experiences about accelerating mortgage payments, may be we will learn a thing or two.

Naona watu wakienda na maclande huku!

I took a mortgage to buy my own home just before PEV in 2007, October. I managed to get a fixed rate for the period...the repayment has not changed.

Currently, the property is up 260% in value. When I first started paying the instalments, my best friend who lived down the road was paying rent at 70% of my repayment. As at 2012, his rent went higher than my repayment by 20%. Now I dont even ask how much more he is paying...rents in my area have escalated to astronomical levels. He has a flat, I have a townhouse with 2 gardens.

What extra funds I manage every year, I pay up part of the principal, and use the rest to buy other assets if possible. My mortgage will end October 2016.

I could not have built my own place as I could not have afforded land where I live. Min is 3 acres, gated communities. I think I made a good decision. At least, better than my friend.