Downsizing too early in life

delmar39

hazyjo wrote: »

Might be nice in later years to make Bed 4 into a 'teen lounge' where they can have their own space (and friends can come round instead of them all hanging around outside libraries ).Jx

Jx, hmmm, thanks for this!! Made me smile. I think if things settle down on the ASB issue, then we should be fine for a while. I've just chatted to the OH about downsizing and she's not against the idea. Both agreed to see how things go over the next few weeks before making any decisions. I think if the situ across the road gets the better of us we won't end up downsizing, but moving to another 4 bed for exactly the reasons you mention. My Mum and Dad live in a small 2 bedroom cottage with kitchen, downstairs open plan living area / dining room and it was a nightmare when I was growing up. My Mum wouldn't let me go in my bedroom with the various ladies I would bring home (by various I mean, er, one or two!), so there was literally nowhere to go and chill. So I take your point.

Cx

rosyw

A few years back we made up our minds to downsize, the biggest problem by far was that every house we looked at just seemed way too small! problems within the family changed our minds and we stayed put. OH passed away very suddenly last year and I'm so pleased we kept the house. we worked extremely hard all our lives to get it, and one of the aims was to make sure we had enough to fall back on as we got older, or if anything should happen to one of us the other was left in the position of being able to sell up, get something smaller AND have some cash in the bank, which is exactly what I am now in the process of doing. If we HAD downsized a few years back, I would'nt be in such a good position, as it is, I will still have a decent sized house which doesn't feel cramped and enough in the bank to keep me going even if I don't work for few years, although finding an easy part time job will give me something to do.
There's a lot to weigh up, I know having a big mortgage is a lot of pressure, but staying put is often the best financial decision. As others have said, you also need to take the cost of moving into account, and those thousands in the bank can go very quickly.

Rainmaker_uk

I would wait until the market picks up. Downsizing in a downward market is not advisable. 10% discount on your house is £25,000 whereas 10% discount on the house you are buying is £15,000 = you've just lost £10k. Add to this the cost of selling of circa £8000 (EA costs, solicitor and removals etc) and you are nearly £20k down.

If you can I would hold on for the market to recover.

delmar39

rosyw wrote: »

OH passed away very suddenly last year and I'm so pleased we kept the house. QUOTE]

Sorry to hear this. Makes me appreciate that there are various reasons for staying in a house. Under the circumstances it's good to see that things are working out for you. Thanks for sharing your experiences very sound advice.

GDB2222

Rainmaker_uk wrote: »

If you can I would hold on for the market to recover.

When will that be, and might prices be lower than now?

delmar39

GDB2222 wrote: »

When will that be, and might prices be lower than now?

That's the thing you never can tell. I look at the market as a whole. If you're on the housing ladder then in theory everything is equal so it doesn't matter when you move. I don't think this would put me off going for it to be honest, but I can see the logic behind it.

Rainmaker_uk

GDB2222 wrote: »

When will that be, and might prices be lower than now?

If you view housing as a short term investment then it is a good point. However if you consider that historically house prices double every 7-10 years thenb at some point house prices will go back up to much more than they are today.

When this will happen - who knows... I am almost 100% certain however that happen it will...

It may be 10 years before they go up or less or even longer but history disctates that it will recover as it has after every house price crash and recession.