House size - how big?

kixxb

We are looking to move from our 3 bed semi to a 4 bed detached with garage.

The main reason isn't so much lack of space (there is only the two of us and the dog) but the desire to move to another area, to have a detached house with a decent garden (currently in a row of terraced houses with a garden half the size of a postage stamp) and to have a garage with plenty of space of store all the crap that is currently living in our spare room - bikes/golf clubs/chest freezer/tumble dryer etc.

The house we really like is a lovely 4 bed but IMO is pretty ££££ at £275k - mostly because of the area - the same house is £75k less in the area we currently live.

Anyway, there is a smaller 4 bed in the same area - 2 decent size bedrooms, 2 smaller rooms but still good sized single rooms, dining room, big kitchen. It's bigger than our current home, plenty room for us and gives us room to grow if needed.

We have many friends buying in the same new estate and all are buying huge 4 or 5 beds with massive rooms - despite most of them also still being childless couples - although obviously that will probably change.

I just wonder if we were being greedy looking at the big fancy houses that we could afford rather than looking at the nice, slightly smaller houses that have more than enough space for us even if we did have a child and are even more affordable. Or if bigger really is better and you should push yourself as far as you can and get as big a house as you can realistically afford?

Yorkie1

Bear in mind that interest rates are at historically low levels.

Do the maths for the two properties with interest rates at 6% or 7%, and see whether they both look affordable at those levels.

anselld

Buy what you want/like/need within your budget. Don't just buy bigger because you see other people doing so.

kixxb

Thanks - we've looked at the interest rates at up to 6% and both properties are affordable - I however like having money to do other things and would hate to get the the stage where I felt we had to miss out on these things because of our mortgage costs.

I'm not buying a bigger house because others do per say but more considering whether or not investing in a bigger property makes more sense in the long term as you are spending your money on something where you can hopefully one day recoup some of the value vs. having high levels of disposable income and spending it on rubbish.

Kynthia

There's no point buying a house instead of the one you actually want if you can genuinely afford it as buying and selling costs a lot so you do it as little as possible. However it's a bit of guesswork and forward looking to decide if you can really afford it. So do you think you'd stay in the detached one you love for longer than the other as that would be worth spending a little extra? How much extra are the monthly repayments, and what will they be if interest rates go up to 7% and can you afford that ongoing? What is likely to happen to your incomes over the next five to ten years, before the LTV drops significantly on your mortgage, as if it's likely to go down with children and part time working can you keep a good lifestyle?

trailingspouse

It's not just the purchase price you have to think about - bigger houses require more upkeep. Factor in things like the amount of time you want to spend gardening, what if you need replacement windows, cost of redecorating. Etc etc etc.

In the past I've had a house with an enormous kitchen, which was falling to bits. If it had been smaller, we could have afforded to put in a new one, but because of the size of it, there was no chance!! Also, the house we're in at the moment is fairly big (4 storeys), but we have a small garden. I love it!! I can get the grass cut, including the edges, in 2 hours - at the last house, it took a full day just to cut the grass, and then I was too knackered to even think about doing the edges!!

The bottom line is - if you can afford it, go for the house you love, not the one you think you 'ought' to have. Or keep looking - maybe you haven't found the right one yet.

specialboy

In the 90's I was newly single and bought myself a 5-6 bed, semi-detatched house with converted stables for the outrageous sum of £57,000, (my marital home was worth £22k) I stretched my budget and had no need for such a large house since I was living alone but it is what I wanted, friends said I was mad but its what I wanted.




At the end of the day, buy what is right for you, its your money and your home.

pinkteapot

We bought a small-ish four bed in 2010, buying very conservatively (for considerably less than we could have afforded).

On Thursday we moved to a larger house in a nicer area. I already wish that we'd skipped ahead to the bigger house from the outset. We would have saved the costs of buying and selling the first house, and all the hassle of moving that time.

Yes, interest rates are low and they will inevitably rise. However, if you're worried about that there are some good long-term (e.g. 10 year) fixed rates available. After that long a time, your income should certainly be higher. If the mortgage on the larger house looks affordable at higher interest rates, my advice would be to go for it.

The first few years with a mortgage are the hardest, but over time it does get easier. Your mortgage repayments stay the same (assuming fixed rates) while your wages go up with inflation.

If you can afford the larger house, if the budget looks reasonable at higher interest rates, and you want it, I say go for it. I don't think you're being greedy at all.

One thing to consider at a price of around £275k though is resale. It's very hard to sell for £275k, because of the £250k stamp duty threshold. If something went wrong and you HAD to sell in the next couple of years, is there a risk that you'd only get £250k back? Depends on the market in your area and whether houses are consistently beating the £250k level, but worth looking into...

bouicca21

If you can afford to buy it, afford to run it and you would enjoy the space then go for it. I'm newly single. I have absolutely no doubt that I need the space of a 3 bed.

DigForVictory

The one reason I can think of not to indulge yourself in comfortable space now is that you already accumulate things. Time machine forwards to (sorry) one of you dying & having to go through it all for HMRC. Then sort & shift stuff - IHT etc.

I cordially loathe housework, decluttering & putting things away now. In the shock of Grief, I think I'd resent it worse than toothache.

Just a thought.

Davesnave

DigForVictory wrote: »

Time machine forwards to (sorry) one of you dying & having to go through it all for HMRC. Then sort & shift stuff - IHT etc.

Is there any indication in the OP's post that they're old and/or infirm?

That could be 40 years or more away!

I agree that larger houses may cost more to maintain and heat, but the OP seems willing to cover that over time, rather than buying useless extras.

I'd go for the house that you feel able to grow into and enjoy living in, which is down to much more than just size and being on a particular estate. Over a period of, say, 25 years, some houses will out-perform others, both as places to live and as investments, because of their location, aspect and non-vulnerability to detrimental change in the surroundings.

Where you buy could be as important as the difference between a small 4 bed and a large one.