Partner wants *much* bigger house

Logan99

Hi,

My partner wants to buy a much bigger (ie more expensive) property - we are currently paying circa £600 a month mortgage - with £100k remaining and approx £100k equity in the house.

So, the houses being looked at are circa 500k - which would mean a 400K mortgage - which I'm not sure we would even get.

Our combined income is £3500 per month and total outgoings over 2k. We have no savings.

So - its a pretty abstract question - a discussion point really - whilst I would love a bigger house - i personally think its a potentially ruinous path - right now - we live in a modest but affordable home - but my partner isn't satisfied with this and seems to think its a risk worth taking ... it's becoming a severe bone of contention.

In such uncertain times does it sound a crazy idea or am I being too "risk averse" ?

ACG

You can lend 4.5x your gross annual income, some lenders will go to 5-6x but those lenders are few and far between and only in certain circumstances.

£3500 net is probably £55,000 combined roughly? That would give you £250k plus your deposit. So £500k is probably a non starter. You are probably looking at closer to £350-400k as a maximum.

spadoosh

Youve got little chance of getting a £400k mortgage with those earnings. Youre not being risk averse, the OH is dreaming.

getmore4less

Don't argue about it put the plan into action now.

Start with....

Pretend you bought the place and are paying the higher mortgage, increased bills and council tax.

Start saving that amount(new£ - current£) every month and not spending it on anything

If you dip into it you would be going into debt if you had moved.

Decide if the bigger house is worth the cutbacks if you can't save now the money needs to come from somewhere

as a guide 80%LTV £400k @ 2.5% over various terms.
25y £1,800
30y £1,600
35y £1,400

if you can't start saving £1kpm now and not touching it for anything.
then add the council tax pick a £500k place and find out how much it is.
then add bills that will need a guess as it depends what the places are..

if that is not working establish what will and that gives a target price range to start looking.

gycraig_2

So you aren't saving anything atm how enjoyable will life be with a mortgage that's 3x as much ?

Mojisola

Logan99 wrote: »

we live in a modest but affordable home - but my partner isn't satisfied with this and seems to think its a risk worth taking ... it's becoming a severe bone of contention.

getmore4less wrote: »

Don't argue about it put the plan into action now.

Start with....

Pretend you bought the place and are paying the higher mortgage, increased bills and council tax.

Brilliant idea! Your partner will see whether what he/she is suggesting is financially viable.

bugslet

Mojisola wrote: »

Brilliant idea! Your partner will see whether what he/she is suggesting is financially viable.

I think getmore4less is evilly brilliant:T:rotfl:

Why does s/he want a bigger house anyway? Are you planning on quintuplets, inviting parents (in law) into the house? Then perhaps there is some sense, or do they just want to well, 'look' more successful to the outside world, in which I case, I say, stuff that.:o

antrobus

It might be cheaper to get another partner.:)

Mojisola

bugslet wrote: »

do they just want to well, 'look' more successful to the outside world, in which I case, I say, stuff that.:o

Got to agree with that. Some years ago, a neighbour had a row with a 'friend' who had become very jealous at the holidays she was able to have and things she could buy - the neighbour pointed out that she was living in the same 3-bed semi that she'd raised her family in whereas the 'friend' had moved several times to increasingly larger houses to show they had 'moved up in the world'.

Logan99

Hi all,

Many thanks for the responses thus far.

We have one child and maybe another next year. Our house is a 3 bed end-of-terrace – we do have an option to extend into the roof for about 40k. Which would give us a 4 bedrooms (3.5 I suppose realistically as one a box room) but of course that would likely eat into the equity as I don’t think it would be entirely cost neutral.

Like I say, In principle I would not turn down more space – but to get a *bit* more space seems to cost a *lot* more so I’m not sure it’s worth the extra outlay. And the properties my partner wants is the next step up from there - ie the proper 4th bedroom and considerably more space – which in our area is the 500k mark.

I think the reason for wanting the house is perhaps because it is the “dream” house for the family and it is felt we should be living somewhere better - however whilst I would like this in theory – I am the more pragmatic of the two of us and more content with what we have.

I have suggested (as getmore4lesss pointed out above) we save for a few years and at least give ourselves a cushion should anything happen to our jobs etc.

The problem is the new development that we are talking about is due to go on the market 6 months - hence it coming to head now as it is presented as an opportunity we will miss out on.

Like I say, I want to be fair and not negative - I’m open to all suggestions, but right now as sagely pointed out above – if we can’t currently save it – I can’t see it as viable. It is fair to say that I come from humbler beginning so am naturally a bit more cautious.

laptop80

It sounds like you could probably cope if one of you had some unexpected unemployment (or illness) at the moment. Really stretching yourself for what sounds like keeping up appearances rather than genuine need seems crazy to me. With a potential No Deal Brexit in the next 6 months we're not exactly living in the most certain times anyway. Saving for a few years as if you were paying that huge mortgage and footing all the expense of a bigger house seems like a great idea to me.