Tell me No! ( to buying big house)

Octothorpe

So as title says really!

Both 35. 2 kids 10 and 12. Husband is employeed and earns 70k excluding bonus as that’s never a guarantee (expecting between a 5k to 15k pay rise next year, if all goes to plan!), i earn 30k.

Mortgage is about 850 a month currently. 

Current house 4 bed terrace, all done up beautifully. Not a tiny house but certainly not massive. Downside is only living room and kitchen/diner. No point extending as wouldn’t gain much.

Live in Kent. Mortgage approx 208k as remortgaged and took extra to do some work on house, would get between 275k to 300k easily if sold. Any extra would be a bonus. So could expect 67k to 92k equity. 

To get anything better location and house wise, would be looking at a detached 4 bed with more and larger living space costing easily 500k plus.

Currently we have about 2.5k disposable after bills which will increase in less than a year when last of husbands student loan is paid off.

Mortgage calculators show lending up to about 464k. So say 500k with 10% deposit @ 50k plus stamp duty, fees, moving costs, buffer fund....plus add in increase of ALL bills!!!

I need talking down please 🙏  As current house allows for lots of leeway and means i can go part time too if i wish to.

Plus these 500k houses are not  as big and flashy as they were ‘back in the day' due to those houses now being more like the 800k+ houses haha.

Help me see the positive to being cash rich and house poor and STOP looking at Rightmove!!

caprikid1

I guess are you going to find somewhere suitably bigger in your budget, I worry that you had to remortgage to do work when you had a sizable surplus. Terrace houses in terms of space offer incredible value in comparison to 4 bed detached with the premium on them. You may wish to consider an extended Semi which could offer the space you want at not such an increase / risk.

caprikid1

P.S I moved from a normal 80's 4 bed to an older 4 bed in the country and the cost hike was enourmous both in mortgage and running costs , more than double in most areas of expense.

Octothorpe

caprikid1 said:

P.S I moved from a normal 80's 4 bed to an older 4 bed in the country and the cost hike was enourmous both in mortgage and running costs , more than double in most areas of expense.

Thanks, i agree terraces and semi's seem to offer better value, but the difference in price isn't that massive believe it or not! So to spend so much on a mortgage but without being neighbour 'free' seems crazy to me haha
And yes, needed to hear that about running costs! Keeps my head out of the clouds 😄

UnderOffer

I’d go for it, though I’d probably not commit myself to the maximum loan (risk averse) is there anything suitable around the £400-£425 price bracket where you can get 4 bed still? 

I’d not max out as it would give leeway to be able to afford payments on one wage if there was a job loss or perhaps 2 lower wages if your DH could not earn back at 70k. My DH grew up in a house where his parents regretted not moving to a more suitable property when they were younger and they referred to that often so for him, he’s always had the attitude to do it now and not look back. 

comeandgo

I love being in a large house, there is only two of us now and it’s all paid up and no problem when all the family comes to stay at once.  We had a few years of very large mortgage until some endownments paid out and we were able to reduce the mortgage. 

Retireby40

Spend the extra money on experiences. 40-50 years from now your kids and maybe grandkids will remember the wonderful holidays (after covid) the nice restaurants and trips shopping/to the theatre/to sports events etc than an extra living room or bedroom.

Also if you save the money you would spend from now until your kids are say 25 you could effectively give them each a substantial deposit for a house and set them up well for their future.....and subsequently they may do the same in the future for their kids. Without having to go down the roads of selling houses, maybe them having different ideas about the family property etc etc if something were to happen.

You and your hubby of course could retire early, when the kids grow up you could travel/do all the things you wanted to do and having the cash in the bank to do that is much better than a bigger house. 

In 6-8 years your kids well be probably off to uni living at home part time and a big house with less people isnt great.

Basically I'm saying keep the £££ enjoy it with experiences. An extra reception room and an extra few metres squared of a garden isnt worth the hassle. Oh and the moving process is a nightmare.

babyblade41

I downsized just over 2 years ago from 6 bedroom to 3 but with large plot and detached. 

Only 2 of us but with quite a few animals ... I hated rattling round in a big house but certainly had no qualms when the kids were at home.

I went with what we needed and eventually came down as I got older , the amount of times I have all the family at one go I can count on one hand every year as they all live in different places so pointless being in a big  house and costs that go with it for no reason 

Rambosmum

Do not underestimate the increase in bills - the council tax and Oh My God - the heating. We have smart heating, only heating rooms we need, when we need them but still. The bills are shocking! Maintenance is more, everything is just more...

Octothorpe

Thanks everyone! It's really interesting hearing both sides.

I guess as we will be 36 this year it was just making me think is it now or never? And worried the gap would increase too much if waited then did it.
But i do agree, knowing we can now afford all the luxuries especially at a time when many are sadly struggling (we did a lot of struggling early on) it makes me very risk adverse despite the call of rightmove  😄 

Octothorpe

UnderOffer said:

I’d go for it, though I’d probably not commit myself to the maximum loan (risk averse) is there anything suitable around the £400-£425 price bracket where you can get 4 bed still? 

I’d not max out as it would give leeway to be able to afford payments on one wage if there was a job loss or perhaps 2 lower wages if your DH could not earn back at 70k. My DH grew up in a house where his parents regretted not moving to a more suitable property when they were younger and they referred to that often so for him, he’s always had the attitude to do it now and not look back. 

There is, but there are so many compromises. Our terrace is lovely and we've spent years making it a home we are proud of. The lower priced houses are mainly really small and cramped with just the detached aspect bumping the price up. And many of them are so dated and would need loads spent on modernisation. 😊