Buying a larger house than needed - things to be aware of?

M.E.

If you can afford it and you like the location, go for it.
We moved from a 3 bed terrace to a new 4 bed detached in a better area 35 years ago.
The location has been the deciding point. Life threw us a wobbly but we were able to keep the house and allowed us to have live-in help even on one salary, plus two children. We are about to move on, not because we want to downsize but our retired life will be in a different part of the country, near family.
If we had waited until we "needed" the extra bedroom, we couldn't have moved because of the life changing wobbly.
Go for it

MrsNubs

We bought a 6 bed house for the two of us. I would say the biggest downside is having rooms we never go in unless we have people staying. The biggest advantage is being able to have a summer and winter bedroom. Our winter bedroom is in the loft and has the hot water tanks so it's lovely and cosy, but in summer gets far too hot. So in summer we move to a light, airy downstairs room to stay cool. Once you factor in all the costs associated with buying and selling it makes a lot more sense to buy the biggest house you can afford, rather than the size you need with a plan to upsize in the future.

martinsurrey

daivid wrote: »

In almost all cases the 3rd bed was unusably small and there was only one useable living space downstairs whereas the 4beds (exepting for newbuilds) almost always seemed to have good living space and sensible beds - 3 doubles, 1 genuine single mostly.

This is us.

5 bed house but bought it for the living space downstairs, not the bedrooms.

bitsandpieces

Thanks for all the comments. The location's good: it's near to what will likely remain a decent school and to shops/public transport. It might not be accessible if I ever struggle with stairs, but if that happens it'll hopefully not be for a good few decades! I genuinely do think I'd struggle to find a use for all the extra space right now (it's about 200 square meters internal area, so rooms are large enough for bookshelves in office, music storage in lounge, etc.) Things change, of course, though (and I would have to make sure I don't fill it with junk!)

I guess I need to decide how much of my budget I want to go on housing vs other things. As people haven't thought of any massive extra costs I haven't, I think the main extra costs would be the additional council tax (around £200 more per month, inc. water rates), mortgage would be around £250 more than my current rent, and if I allow 1% of the property value for service charges that would also be a significant chunk out of my salary every month. I'll need to furnish the house, too - I'm good at sourcing things cheap/secondhand, but I'd think this could still add up, especially if I'm getting nicer furniture than in my current place.

darrensurrey wrote: »

Nice but unusual? Cheaper than flats? What's the catch?

Not cheaper than flats overall - the total cost will be more than a flat in the same area/same standard - but a good bit cheaper per square meter (though you can certainly get less nice, but perfectly OK, flats and houses in a slightly less appealing area for a lower price per square meter). Lots of stairs and a roof garden rather than a normal garden, which would both put a decent number of buyers off, but I think the pricing makes it competitive...

getmore4less

Fosterdog wrote: »

If I had an extra room like that personally if it was big enough I'd turn it into a library, if it was a small box room I'd still do floor to ceiling bookshelves but with a really cosy and comfy reading nook. But I love to read and escaping to my own space and shutting out the world and reading a good book is my idea of heaven. I'd also consider a craft room or possibly using the room for both.

For a full library upstairs you should do load calculation.

glennevis

I moved from a 3 bed semi to a 4 bed semi and my heating costs went down because the new house has a much better EPC rating.


If you were considering a lodger then it is worth noting that you would not lose your council tax single occupancy discount with a mon-fri let.

Jamiesmum

Decorators and carpet fitting would be expensive but these are practically one off costs. Does it come with a large garden as well?

Quite honestly you may as well do it. If you are planning on kids in the future it will save alot of hassle from moving in a few years time. I get the whole starter flat/1 bedroom house thing as a 'starter' but then some people have a 2 bed, 3 kids, no room .. and no money to move because kids eat up all the spare cash!

Get the space whilst you can.

I am curious how it's cheaper than a flat though?

getmore4less

You will have space for some bulky bulk buys when stuff is on offer.

Just shut off some rooms till you need them, also is you can live in one bedroom you can decorate all the others empty, to a good base for when you decide how you really want them.
Consider start sleeping downstairs and do them all at the same time.

Review insulation ready for the winter.

Big space needs time to think about how you will live in it so no rush to furnish.

Take what you have move it around.

Be on the lookout for discounted decoration materials, paint keeps you can collect neutral stuff at least 50% off I need is now prices, same with other things like flooring, know the sizes of all the rooms and you can grab cheap batches on clearance.

If you don't already have a separate utility you could use one of the upstairs rooms as a laundry/drying room

EmmyLou30

We're a couple in a 4 bed detached. Running costs aren't vastly higher than our old 2 bed mid terrace (both 1990's builds). Council tax is a bit higher and heating and such but certainly not double or anything crazy. No kids planned, we just like a decent sized garden, off road parking for the cars, husband has his man cave in one bedroom, I have a dressing room and the spare is a hobby room with my sewing machine in and books etc. But we bought the house for the good sized kitchen and dining room/lounge big enough to host family gatherings, dinner parties etc. So more for the living space than getting hung up on the nuber of bedrooms.

getmore4less

Be interested in the floor plan if you can post one that does not identify the house.