Multiples advice

Theogirl_2

Hi, I don't know where to go for advice. My partner and I own our home (almost paid off) and have no debts. We have savings, an emergency fund and a bit more. However we have an expanding family and need a bigger home. I feel that every move we have made has been very conservative financially. This is great because on the one hand we have paid our mortgage but on the other we have moved prob more than necessary and don't have a house big enough for our needs.

So I would like to know if there is any advice here or in calculators of what percentage of income one shouldn't exceed paying for housing (as it's hard to predict what interest rates will do).

Brief summary joint income is 60k, one car and childcare for our child is £600 a month. We both work in jobs that are very unlikely to get significant payrises or promotions, though we could of course be made redundant. Would borrowing 150K be too much for us?

Sorry if this is in the wrong place!

getmore4less

% of income or multiples are not good ways to work out what YOU can afford or want to pay.

Decide what size/cost of house you would like so you don't need to move again.

Can you afford it and still be within you own conservative guidleines

if yes BUY IT if not review.

the cost of moving s high so eliminating the need for another move you could slacken you previous criteria.


You have missed off some important info(some but not exhaustive) which is probably contributing to your uncetainty.
Age,
Age of children are you having more.
salaries (joint is no good for planning)
do you work for the same place or in the same sector
current equity.
Pension provisions
Insurance provisions(and with the jobs)
savings

Do you have a SOA that shows what you can afford.
How much you are saving at the moment is a rough guide.
try filling in this
http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html

I think a max of 3 moves on the way up is sensible(more if location changes are required).


the key will be the long term goals and when you want to be in a position to retire or down size work.


Another option to look at is extending or making the next move have that option to avoid another one later, significantportion of the cost of extending can be covered by the moving costs.

Theogirl_2

Thanks for your reply

Well we are both in our mid/late thirties

Our children are very young and we are prob not planning any more.
Both earn about the same (33K ish each)
Work in different places and sectors
Current equity is about 270K
My pension is with work and we contribute £400 a month for my partner
We have 150K of term life insurance
30k in savings

I reckon we save about £800 a month in addition to the 350 mortgage repayments we make.

Interesting what you say about a max of 3 moves. We have already done this though one was a location move for work.

We don't expect to retire until we are 65 (assuming good health)

You mention extending, unfortunately it's not an option where we are, but I have priced it in the past and it has seemed as expensive as moving.

Any further thoughts?