What Would You Do--big House Big Mortgage,or Smaller House And Small Mrtge?

lilyann1

We have still not moved after 8 months of being under offer and the house we like is still there,althugh the vendors,after having backed out of 2 properties now cannot find anywhere they like.
I am now having doubts myself about having a huge mortgage of 200k to afford this property.
The house we like is a 4 bed detached in a private road that houses never come up for sale in,apart from one every 10 years or so.It has a massive garden and will cost us about £1300 per mth on a mortgage( won't be able to afford holidays)
They cannot find anywhere and won't move out to rented.
A house has come up on same development we live in, again a 4 bed detached,but built 10 years ago so relatively new,so with smaller rooms and smaller garden.They will move out to rented.
This house would cost us about £1000 per mth on a mrtge and so we can feel more comfortable money wise.
What would you do?
Opt for very big house with huge garden or average size 4 bed house and small garden?
I have 3 children and currently live a very small 3 bed house,and am unable to extend it as being new build they were built to close together.
Any advise I'd be grateful.
My hubby and I haven't slept with all this business on the house move since about May time and just need to move now.
Thanks in advance

AndrewSmith

Personally I would go for the smaller house/lower mortgage so as not to compromise your lifestyle.

Children are not bothered about the size of the house, all they care about is whether it is a home. Trust me they would prefer a holiday once a year to sitting in the garden of a house you cannot afford.

JennyW_2

personally I would opt for the smaller house and garden and have a good de-clutter before moving.

Plus I've been following your posts and frankly these people ahead of you could do with a good kick up the bum so it would serve them right if you changed your mind. They've been very unaccommodating and unhelpful so why should you stretch yourselves financially just to give them a sale?

This "smaller" house - do you feel you could live there? Do you get all the right vibes?

We've just downsized from a 3 bed semi to a 2 bed flat and funnily enough we seem more organised and have just as much space.

freebo_2

Its difficult to answer when I'm not in your shoes, but I do know the trouble you've had with this purchase, the bottom line is, will this new property accomodate your future needs? or is it made more attractive because of the problems you've had with the other one? You'll be spending a lot in stamp duty and wouldn't want to have to do so again in a couple of years.

Its also worth mentioning that people who say they'll go into rented don't always go through with that when the time comes.

If I where you and I wasn't 101% happy with the new property I'd keep looking.

Very best of luck, hopefully it will turn out for the best,

mrsc_4

We had a simular situation to you, house 1 was nice quite small but would cost us alot less, house 2 was bigger and in a nicer area (they don't come up for sale often) but would cost us more.

We offered on house 2 (which was accepted), we love it and can't wait to live there. Our mortgage is going to cost us £1200 a month (inc insurances) but we are in a fortunate position in that we don't have any children and can tighten our belts to pay for this.

The one thing i'd say is you have to be SO SURE before you go any futher, what house do you see yourselves living in, have you got any back up plans in case you couldn't afford the mortgage in the future think about all these things.

Sumostar

Hi

Personally, I would be cautious. It wouldn't take much of an interest rate rise to make things very difficult. And, lets face it, most of the "extra" space we have is taken up by junk that we won't throw away precisely because we have somewhere to put it.

Julysea

We've been having a smiliar dilemma and decided on a couple of things we weren't prepared to compromise on and a list of others that we were. We wanted a large kitchen and garden but weren't so bothered about the rest of the house, so we're (hopefully, if the damned thing ever happens!) moving to a 2 bed terrace which is smaller than we'd hoped, but it has a large kitchen and garden which we feel are vital with 2 small children, and it has space for extension and one day hopefully loft conversion. So, in summary, we went for smaller house, smaller mortgage but with potential for expansion, retaining the couple of features we weren't prepared to compromise on. Hope this helps!

densol_2

I would go for the bigger house but that is me. I spend my wages on my mortgage, kids and holidays. As long as I have enough for them ( and a big house ) I am happy.

Will you just want to move again in say two years time? Paying stamp duty again.

I once said to my ex ( who I have now bought out ) when he moaned about the then ( 240k) mortgage of the house - they will be paying that for semi's round here soon. I was right!

Not sure if I have helped or not

silvercar

The worst thing would be to go for the smaller house and regret it.

Kids love a big garden, so I would think that is important.

We lost one house due to seller's refusing to rent (after they said they would), the second house seller's claimed they would rent and I didn't believe them. Lo and behold they did go and rent, so trust no-one!

Personally, I would go for the bigger house, as your children get bigger they will enjoy it more.

If you are not keen gardeners to budget for gardeners. We moved to a 200 foot garden and e have to have help keeping it under control.

lynzpower

AndrewSmith wrote:

Personally I would go for the smaller house/lower mortgage so as not to compromise your lifestyle.

Children are not bothered about the size of the house, all they care about is whether it is a home. Trust me they would prefer a holiday once a year to sitting in the garden of a house you cannot afford.

couldnt have put it better, my sentiments exactly.

lilyann1

Thanks for all your help and advice.
Just seen the smaller 4 bed house and it is ok, no wow factor but the big house wasn't wow factor either,it was just the garden that was the wow part of it.
This one needs all new redecoration and a new kitchen and the garden needs doing - all things to get our teeth into and although smaller, it is in nice cul de sac with green common land out the front, where kids can play and ride there bikes,so we do not necessarily need the bigger garden.
We would need 50k less on the mortgage to afford this one and so all the things like new kitchen and bathrooms could be done straight away,whereas in the bigger house with the bigger mrtge god know when we'd be able to fit new kitchen etc.
Like you said kids want to feel happy and safe in the house not really bothered about the size,they share rooms now so whatever we go for they'll be getting a room of their own.
Just have to be sure that these people will move to rented now and will move quickly and make our decision.