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

mrsc_4

Personally I think the bigger house is much nicer and its in a nicer area, I vaguely know Caterham as we have friends who live there.

MyHouse75

Oh wow! The bigger house is lovely, the kind of place I would like to live in one day . I don't think you should settle for 2nd best when it comes to such a big purchase as a house.

lilyann1

Yes only 2 of these house shave been sold since the 1970's so the people who own them obviously love them,so they must be nice to live in.
We've just been told by the EA that the vendors are offering on a leasehold property,but the lease needs extending and they have agreed to go 50/50 on the lease with the landlord but waiting for it in writing.
Everyone wants to move in by Xmas,can this be done,as I am told L/H takes ages!!!

mrsc_4

Lillyann1 our flat is leasehold and our buyer has had everything in place for a week his side, of our sale and it has taken 7 weeks. So you never know with leasehold. Hope it all works out well for you.

careless

Obviously the bigger house is nicer but we DID buy a property that we can hardly afford. We moved from a street where there were lots of children and found that here, though it's 'nicer' there are no children for ours to play with and the people here are much older than us so no popping in for coffee and a chat.
As a mad keen gardener, I would say lots could be done with the blank canvas of the garden of the smaller house. Also consider that all of us have our own house ideas and it really depends where you are moving FROM. To a family squished into a tiny house, the smaller house of yours would be huge. It's all relative.
I will say that the pleasure having a posh house is offset by the worry that you don't have enough in the bank to maintain it properly and have a good lifestyle.
On your deathbed, what will you regret? The posh house? Naaah - we are only here the once. Have enough money to give your children valuable life experiences! Get the smaller house. Pay someone to do it up and then get on with the real purpose of life.

lilyann1

Thanks for all your advice.
Its such a difficult decision.We have worked out our finances and we can afford the bigger house with a holiday each year,(not 3 weeks In Florida mind),but with the smaller house we could easily afford hols each year and luxuries,which is what we are accustomed too.
I have family who live abroad too so we visit them twice a year and i do not want to be scrimping and saving, but we feel that we would not be as happy in the smaller house as we would in the bigger 4 bed.We do not want to be moving a few years down the line again and feel the bigger house would suit us til the children leave home.
Hubby says he gets pays rises annually so its a matter of being careful for a while.
Just hope these people get the go ahead on their property over the weekend.

never_enough

Personally I'd go for the bigger house as the smaller one looks tiny. However I'd hate to worry about the mortgage, or the bills, especially with kids.
I like the bigger house because it's very similar to mine, except I have chimneys. One of the things that people often don't factor into living in a nice house is that you tend to get charged *much* more to have work done on the place. We've recently sold property nearby, ex council, nice area. We found the same firms were quoting wildly differant prices to the ones they quoted on our home. I guess workmen think you can afford it if you're in a 'posh' house. Silly really, we had loads more spare cash rolling around before we bought our moneypit, more holidays & more socialising. Oh & more spare time because we could afford to get things done for us rather than learning new diy skills. I wouldn't change things for anything though.

silvercar

totally agree on the price of tradesmen. my window cleaner charges me £20 instead of £10 and I've only gained 3 more windows!

Still go for the bigger house, your not on holiday for most of the year living in a place you'd want to be. Otherwise everytime you get a pay rise you'll be thinking "if only..."

AuntyJean

You are still fairly young. The bigger the house the bigger the increase in value.

If in 10-15 years time when the kids are grown up and have (hopefully) left home, you may want to downsize. You should then be in a position to buy a smaller house outright and clear off the mortgage.

Yes, it will be a struggle but if you can cut corners here and there to afford it go for it.

lilyann1

Thanks everyone.I know our heart is set on the big house its just the waiting.
Luckily we know a few friends who are in the trades,so hopefully won't get ripped off to much,but you are right about the whole thing.
My existing window cleaner charges me £10 for about 10 windows and a conservatory!!! He has already said oh its going to cost alot more and the new house only has about 12 windows and no conservatory!!!
It's like if we drive somewhere in my hubbies BMW(company car) then people think we have money,if we drive somewhere in my little old Punto we're just ordinary.
Thanks again,I don't think i'd keep sane without these forums.