Upsize or stay put

amandacat

My husband and I live in a very small 3 bed semi. It’s just the two of us and we’re fortunate to have a relatively small mortgage. 

We like the house and area but the rooms are small and it’s not great when we want to entertain or have family stay but for the 90% of the time we’re on our own it’s fine. 

We are considering upsizing to have more space for when family visit and also to build up equity to downsize at retirement- we’re 48 now. This has the pros of my more space for us and visitors and hopefully some extra money towards retirement if we downsize again in 20 years.

The cons are higher mortgage payments, bills, higher risk if one of us becomes ill or loses our job. 

I know only we can make the decision but interested in views or if there is anything else we should consider? Thanks 

housebuyer143

We upsized to a 4 bed detached from a 2 bed, there are 3 of us and really have no regrets. In fact I have never been happier.
You spend a lot of time in your house and you should have the space to enjoy yourself if you want it and can afford it - you only live once. 

Our plan is also to downside when we are older. 

MikeJXE

The cons are also 

Will you like the area if you move away 

The neighbour's

The house as much as you seem to like the one you have 

jonnydeppiwish!

We’re doing the exact same - seriously, don’t worry about location, go with the feeling.

lika_86

I'm confused as to why upsizing allows you to build equity to downsize. With a smaller mortgage then presumably you could pay it off sooner and then the money you have builds a nest egg for retirement and you don't have to downsize. 

If you want more space though, upsize.

MFWannabe

amandacat said:

My husband and I live in a very small 3 bed semi. It’s just the two of us and we’re fortunate to have a relatively small mortgage. 

We like the house and area but the rooms are small and it’s not great when we want to entertain or have family stay but for the 90% of the time we’re on our own it’s fine. 

We are considering upsizing to have more space for when family visit and also to build up equity to downsize at retirement- we’re 48 now. This has the pros of my more space for us and visitors and hopefully some extra money towards retirement if we downsize again in 20 years.

The cons are higher mortgage payments, bills, higher risk if one of us becomes ill or loses our job. 

I know only we can make the decision but interested in views or if there is anything else we should consider? Thanks 

Would you feel comfortable with higher mortgage payments and bills or would you worry  more? 

If you upsized would it be in same area you like? 

How much more would it cost to upsize? 

If you’re upsizing for the 10% of the time is it worth it? 

Could you extend current property instead? 

If you’re happy with current property 90% of the time doesn’t that outweigh the 10%? 

Moving house is not cheap 

You could then put the extra money into pensions for when you retire 

RelievedSheff

If I were you I would pay off the mortgage as quickly as possible and then use that extra money to build some funds for retirement and stay put where you are.

Seems daft to upsize only to have to downsize again in a relatively short space of time. Moving house is not cheap and it is stressful. Do you really want that added stress when you are older?

It sounds like you enjoy living where you are and are comfortable there, so moving for the sake of some extra space for 10% of the time you are there seems crazy.

Albermarle

As already mentioned from a purely financial viewpoint, it would make more sense to stay put and increase pension payments.
If you do move, then be aware that upsizing is easier than downsizing. This is because after living in a bigger property, then smaller properties will feel small !
Also there is the temptation to spend a bit more than you plan to, therefore not realising the amount of financial gain that you first thought.
Of course the increased space will be good, but I think you should probably moderate your expectations of how it may boost your retirement pots.

silvercar

lika_86 said:

I'm confused as to why upsizing allows you to build equity to downsize. With a smaller mortgage then presumably you could pay it off sooner and then the money you have builds a nest egg for retirement and you don't have to downsize. 

If you want more space though, upsize.

Future house price inflation. If your property is worth £200k and HPI will give you a 20% growth between now and when you sell, you gain £40k. If you upsize to a property worth £400k, the same HPI will double your gain to £80k.

Depends where you live and future HPI. Near London and my property earns more than I do in some years. 

SensibleSarah

I'm having similar thoughts OP. I've wanted to move to a bigger home for a while but then went self-employed so have had to wait a couple of years to gather enough evidence for proof of income and now with interest rates so high, taking on extra borrowing isn't very tempting. 
I probably wouldn't downsize again later though - this would be a forever move for me. I'm currently 44. 
My mortgage went up in October after my previous fix came to an end, but because it's a fairly low amount now owed and 12 years left on the term, it didn't go up by much. Moving to the kind of property I want would see my monthly mortage almost double on today's rates. I could afford it - but is it worth it for the benefits I would gain? I'm still not sure - so I'm sitting tight for now and seeing what happens over the next year or so with interest rates etc and saving a bit in the meantime so I can take on less new borrowing when I do eventually move. 

MultiFuelBurner

We have always pushed as far up the ladder as we can with money for holidays and savings and two very good pensions.

So far the property market hasn't let us down actually we have already done one downsize to add more rentals into the business so years ago and now find ourselves looking for our dream home in 2.5 years where we will push ourselves again as it's 20+ years to retirement.

Our house purchases have always beaten inflation and savings and this was before the 0% rate periods with our first mortgage just shy of 6%

The property ladder has afforded us options when we needed to invest back into a business or when things go a bit pear shaped.

House buying is a life long journey so if you can afford to up size do it. If you love your life as it is stay where you are.