Move or Stay?

rob78

Hi,

I have a question and would appreciate some unbiased opinions.

I am married with 2 young children, I work full time and my wife works part time.

We are in our mid 30's and have paid off our mortgage and live in a 3 bed semi worth around £195,000.

We have been saving hard now for our next step up the property ladder to a 4 bed detached which would cost approx. £340,000. We have total savings of £122,000.

Having got to the point where we can afford the new house with a £50,000 mortgage, and putting down most of our savings we are starting to wonder if it's the right thing to do. Our house is nice but maybe a little small but we are coping ok at the moment.

Are we just being greedy? should we stay where we are? would a bigger house be that great?

Do you think we should:

A. Stay and be mortgage free and invest our savings (in what?)
B. Buy the house we want, spending most of our savings and take on a £50,000 mortgage again.
C. stay and just keep the money in the bank as a nest egg.
D. We could put a small double storey extension to the side of our house which would be useful but would cost 50k and turn our House into a 4 bed semi which we have been told we would only just get our money back if we sold it.
E. Any other ideas.

I want to do the right thing for the future of my family and was just looking for opinions.

Thanks

Bufger

It would be hard for any of us to tell you what to do. You're in a very good position to provide whatever your family needs - the question is what do they need?

An investment in property is still a suitable investment, your money isnt now guaranteed to grow in property (unless you're in london) but its safe and by the time it comes to transfering wealth to your kids its a good solid way to keep the investment for them.

Would you be moving far? would they miss friends and would they be moving schools?

There are so many questions only you can know whether its a good move or not. Why not consult your wife and children and see what the general consensus is.

Rob_192

Hi

We are in a similar position actually. We bought our house some years ago intending to stay there only a few years, but are still there. In our case, we are more than happy with the house and the location, it's just the garden is very small and we would like a bit more space around us.

The thing is, we are a bit older than you and the savings which were once destined for the next house are now considered part of our pension provision. As the economy has progressed from bad to worse, we are now actaully glad we didn't wipe out our savings on the house move and can sleep easy in our beds at night knowing we have no mortgage and have money in the bank. There's nothing like a good reccession to shift your exectations in life and this is just what's happened to us. We would rather have the feeling of fanacial security than have extended ourselved and lived to regret it.

Being younger, you may feel you have more time on your hands to provide for your retirement and you may have a good works pension etc (I don't). You also need to weigh up how you secure your job(s) are.

Good luck either way.

motherofstudents

Well, I can only say what I would do and that may not be right for you. I would make the move up. As you are young enough to take on another mortgage and it sounds like you are good at saving so why not do it.

Maybe you could start by looking for houses that would be suitable, in the area you want, then get some financial advice and then you can look at the figures in detail. Work out whether you will be able to pay off the new mortgage early etc.

Sorry it's not much help but everyone's circumstances are different. You may well prefer to have the peace of mind that staying put will give you but only you will know which is the best move for your circumstances.

ognum

I would say don't be in a hurry to do it unless you want too!

House prices are not rising rapidly so if you are comfortable where you are stay there until you are uncomfortable and keep saving, you may get to a point that you can buy with no mortgage.

If the economy gets In a bad shape and you can't work you have spare cash so I say stay and save a bit more.

Brallaqueen

Would altering the layout of your current home be an option? It would not be possible to make it detached, but if you have lived happily in this semi house then would having a detached be a substantial difference?

LandyAndy

I would move. No question. At all.

The best thing I ever did in property was to move from a 3 bed semi to my first 4 bed detached.

Rob_192

LandyAndy wrote: »

I would move. No question. At all.

The best thing I ever did in property was to move from a 3 bed semi to my first 4 bed detached.

Me to as it happens. Notwithstanding my comments in post 3 above, I wouldn't want to be in a semi now. Rob78, are there any detached properties available in your area which aren't such a big jump (cost wise) from where you are now?

R

rob78

Hi,

Thanks for all your opinions. To answer the questions: We can't get a decent 4 bed under about £335k. I work in print so my job is not totally secure but then who's is! My wife is a teacher so that's fairly safe. We are both saving into a company pension scheme. The type of house we are looking for is within a mile of where we are living so no change of schools or big upheaval would be involved.

I like the idea of getting a house to rent out but that leaves me exposed twice if something was to happen to the property market.

With regards to house prices I live in East Anglia and the house prices have never been higher and they seem to be rising in our area if anything. The trouble is there are a lot of people looking for a similar type of property in the same area so that pushes the price up.

We could extend but the size of the extension would be limited to the small piece of land we have on the side of the house.

Don't get me wrong we love our house and the area, we could manage but would like a bit more room.

I have always fancied doing the 'homes under the hammer' thing but not sure where to start of if I could make it work!

If we stay and don't move I don't want to look back and think why on earth didn't we buy that bigger house when we were young-ish, the cost of borrowing was at an all time low and now we could have the option of downsizing to fund our retirement.

On the other hand I don't want to spend all my savings take on a new mortgage and then loose my job or something happen and I look back and think I had no mortgage and large savings and was stress free!w

The trouble is the jump from 3 bed-semi to 4 bed detached is so much but it wouldn't be worth moving to something in between.

Still Confused.

oneburge

For me its a personality type. I would move without question, simply because I'd rather be in a situation where I tried it and then unforeseen things bit me, than not trying it and always wondering.

With employment, if I lost my job tomorrow I'm convinced (perhaps naively) that I'd be employed somewhere else within a matter of weeks. I haven't even considered the possibility that I wouldn't be.

Don't overthink it, personally I think you've already made the decision to move up to a 4 bed. You're just looking for someone to talk you out of it with a reasoned argument Be Brave!

murphydog999

I think oneburge is right, it's a personality thing. I would move as well for the same reasons, however we don't have kids, you do have responsibilities.
Calculate your risk, can you push yourself without giving yourself too much stress?
Can you maintain at least 6 months salary in savings and still go for it?

You're only young once and leaving a wedge of money dwindling in the bank isn't really maximising your potential.