House Advice

jase888

After a bit of advice.

Me and my girlfriend are looking at getting our first house together we've seen one we love at 230k which needs a good few updates but nothing major and would be a fantastic home for life, we will be putting down a 28k deposit.

But we have also seen a house for 180k (big difference we know) which is really modern but its living room is very small, so we would want to add a conservatory (for entertaining) with the rest of deposit we dont use. However we could see ourselves wanting a bigger spot in 4-6 years when we have kids.

So my question is - do people think its worth going for the smaller house now and moving later on down line or not? My concern is should we be putting the extra deposit money we have into a bigger house now rather than buying a conservatory for a smaller house?

Any advice appreciated

Pixie5740

Moving house is expensive and stressful so ideally you want to do it as few times as possible. Based on the information you have given I would buy the £230k house.

AnotherJoe

A conservatory will add almost nothing to the value of a house.
So, if you are planning to move in the near to mid term it doesn't make financial sense, put that money into a larger house, so that money will appreciate in value rather than be lost.

FWIW a conservatory for "entertaining" by which i take it you mean mates round for drinks and dinner isn't very practical in the winter and it would be substantially cheaper to just take them out to a restaurant and buy them dinner when you fancied it, (and it would make you very popular )

The_Logans

I'd go for the £230k one. Moving house is a nightmare (with kids even worse!)

jase888

AnotherJoe wrote: »

A conservatory will add almost nothing to the value of a house.
So, if you are planning to move in the near to mid term it doesn't make financial sense, put that money into a larger house, so that money will appreciate in value rather than be lost.

FWIW a conservatory for "entertaining" by which i take it you mean mates round for drinks and dinner isn't very practical in the winter and it would be substantially cheaper to just take them out to a restaurant and buy them dinner when you fancied it, (and it would make you very popular )

Thanks for the quick responses people, yeah thats what we were leaning towards as its quite stressful currently and my house is already sold, its all the decisions when buying as dont want to rush in.

The conservatory for entertaining was more meant as in when people come over they have somewhere to sit as the living room could fit a sofa & chair max.

Ahhh right how come conservatories don't add much value to properties? I thought they would?

AnotherJoe

Because its a "nice to have" eg if I am looking at two identical houses and one is (say) £20k more (because thats what the owner paid for a conservatory) for a room I might sit in occasionally at the right time of year, I probably am not going to pay the £20k. Maybe I'd pay £5k.

In your case it sounds more as if you need an extension than a conservatory so it can be used year round, that would add much more value, but getting back to your question, why go through all that hassle when you can get the space by buying the bigger one to start with?

jase888

eggha wrote: »

if you genuinely think the 230k house is "for life" then why on earth are you even thinking about a smaller one where you'd end up spending the price differential anyway? As said, conservatories do not add value, they may on average cover their costs (if well built).

Very good point! I think we initially thought the smaller one just due to it been very modern and would save us some money each month on the repayments. But I guess the money we would save would only end up paying for the fees for moving house in a 5 or so years haha.

DaftyDuck

Sounds to me like neither house hits all the spots you want.... Maybe keep looking, widen your search area, see if there's a third option that ticks more boxes.

jase888

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Sounds to me like neither house hits all the spots you want.... Maybe keep looking, widen your search area, see if there's a third option that ticks more boxes.

Yeah the 230k one does it just needs decorating to our taste and a new kitchen maybe 5 years down the line, i think a big seller for the 180k house was the kitchen was a brand new and we just considered it. Also we looked further a field and but we decided its too far from family & friends really - would spend more in petrol each month visiting them.

After all the comments defo think its more the 230k house to go for and can make it our own. It will means we have higher mortgage payments but will be more happy in that home we think. Really dont want the hassle of moving home ever again and im only 28

saajan_12

I wouldn't price in minor updates which aren't all that necessary.. The cost isn't that much and you can modernise / decorate to your taste when you have the need / time / funds.

Just in terms of finances, £180k + building conservatory/extension + moving / stamp duty costs will be close to £230k, so you're not saving anything.

However you would face significant stress & time commitment in an extra house move and in planning / overseeing major building work.

jase888

saajan_12 wrote: »

I wouldn't price in minor updates which aren't all that necessary.. The cost isn't that much and you can modernise / decorate to your taste when you have the need / time / funds.

Just in terms of finances, £180k + building conservatory/extension + moving / stamp duty costs will be close to £230k, so you're not saving anything.

However you would face significant stress & time commitment in an extra house move and in planning / overseeing major building work.

Very true, when you put it like that it doesnt make much sense doing all that then moving.