buying tiny place with small mortgage

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I don't have kids but need home office so bought a 3 bed.

You'll probably find you'll need to move once your child grows which means all the associated costs of moving again.

I understand your point though. I could have bought bigger place but felt more comfortable knowing mortgage will be paid off in about 9 years. I think in your situation I'd opt for a bit more mortgage and more bedrooms though, 1 bedroom for a family is madness.

trailingspouse

korvin wrote: »

thank you for your answers. I just guess we have a different lifestyle. I don't want to have a mortgage for next 25 years, maybe that is my fear.

I wouldn't want to be sharing with my son for the the next 25 years...

z1a

hazyjo wrote: »

Anyone familiar with the Mexican fisherman story? I often quote it as actually don't saddle myself with masses of debt to keep up with the Joneses, and am SO happy with where I live and what I have. I think the OP might enjoy it


https://screeble.com/2017/02/fisherman-meets-businessman-story-simple-things-life/

No mention of a Mexican in that story.

PasturesNew

hazyjo wrote: »

Anyone familiar with the Mexican fisherman story? I often quote it as actually don't saddle myself with masses of debt to keep up with the Joneses, and am SO happy with where I live and what I have. I think the OP might enjoy it


https://screeble.com/2017/02/fisherman-meets-businessman-story-simple-things-life/

It's a bit misleading if you think it through.

The fisherman has a boat - that boat is the "wealth of choice". He can choose whether to fish, or not - and how long for. He could also sell the boat and move/do something else if he chose to.

Roll it back one more layer, if the millionaire had sat beside a poor fisherman without a boat, who just caught 2 fish per day, then the route the businessman presented would be more appealing as it'd give the fisherman more choice.... to get to the stage the fisherman with the boat is already at.

wealth = choice.

You need to be at a reasonable starting point, to be able to enjoy and benefit from things.

A little 1-bed place, for young people with options and a child, is not going to give them the wealth of true choice 10-20 years into the future.

The fisherman with the boat ( = 3 bed house) can downsize to a rowing boat ( = 2 bed house) or to sit on the riverbank with no boat ( = 1 bed house)

A fisherman sitting on the bank of the river without a boat ... is stuffed if he needs/wishes to make choices.

There's no downsizing from the bottom of the market.

MysteryMe

korvin wrote: »

Hi people!
I can see a lot of people trying to pay off their mortgage. My husband and I are thinking in a different direction, maybe completely crazy.
We have £40 thousand saved for the deposit, but we were thinking about buying just a 1-bed apartment for £80-100k so that we can repay it as soon as possible.
We have a pre-school son, and we are aware it will be a challenge to live in such a small space, but wouldn't it be worth it? Achieving freedom early on? and not buying something that we actually can't afford? I never understood why people in the UK buy 3-bed houses when they have no kids or one kid. Is there really so much need for space? I guess people in other countries live in much smaller places.

Your post makes no sense at all. You've only got £40000 and talking of buying a flat costing £80-100,000.

Why is you borrowing to buy OK but other people who borrow to buy not OK? They pay their mortgage and bills so who are you to say otherwise. At least they are not inflicting substandard accommodation on their child. What an utterly selfish thing to do. Some people have no choice but you are wilfully inflicting it on your child. Appalling.

boliston

i quite like the 'less is more' concept of property but mainly as going smaller generally means you can live in a much better area for the same price as a larger property in a not so nice area - area always trumps size as far as i'm concerned

hazyjo

z1a wrote: »

No mention of a Mexican in that story.

Ah, have read similar where it said Mexican. Quick Google found me a similar version.

hazyjo

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's a bit misleading if you think it through.

The fisherman has a boat - that boat is the "wealth of choice". He can choose whether to fish, or not - and how long for. He could also sell the boat and move/do something else if he chose to.

Roll it back one more layer, if the millionaire had sat beside a poor fisherman without a boat, who just caught 2 fish per day, then the route the businessman presented would be more appealing as it'd give the fisherman more choice.... to get to the stage the fisherman with the boat is already at.

wealth = choice.

You need to be at a reasonable starting point, to be able to enjoy and benefit from things.

A little 1-bed place, for young people with options and a child, is not going to give them the wealth of true choice 10-20 years into the future.

The fisherman with the boat ( = 3 bed house) can downsize to a rowing boat ( = 2 bed house) or to sit on the riverbank with no boat ( = 1 bed house)

A fisherman sitting on the bank of the river without a boat ... is stuffed if he needs/wishes to make choices.

There's no downsizing from the bottom of the market.

Do agree with you, but really wasn't meaning for it to be taken quite so literally lol. Wish I'd kept me gob shut :rofl:

zagubov

boliston wrote: »

i quite like the 'less is more' concept of property but mainly as going smaller generally means you can live in a much better area for the same price as a larger property in a not so nice area - area always trumps size as far as i'm concerned

You've got a good point if it was just a one-person decision. But having kids in the same house sounds like it would make size trump location for me.

Novice_investor101

I lived in a one bed rented flat before I bought my FTB property.
The flat was lovely - separate kitchen & lounge (non of the open plan/one room rubbish), had a balcony, double bedroom, nice bathroom & underground parking. I lived there for 4 years.

When I was ready to buy - I definitely wasn't going to buy a 1 bed flat. It was just too claustrophobic, even with just me in it. Two people living there would have actually felt cramped, even as a couple, there woukd be nowhere to get your own space. Even the balcony felt inadequate in summer. I wanted a garden.

I bought a 2up/2down terrace, nice big garden, two bedrooms. It's the perfect size for me. I definitely couldn't move back to a flat after a house.