Move house or stay?

gadget88

So where i am with this is I have a house almost 30 years old. Stayed here six years and it’s great. We have done cosmetic things new tiles floors and blinds and looks modern and good. So I feel I need to spend 20k to bring it to standard or am I better using it to move? I need new windows they are timber and require painting had a failed double glazing unit before. I would like new stones or driveway. The kitchen we got wrapped new fronts but it’s starting to show age. And the bathroom is ok but original. We seen a similar house only newer by over 20 years. So windows kitchen all new. Done a valuation my deposit could go from 18k to 80k in six years. New mortgage will cost £300 more per month but on a two year deal I expect 5 interest rate drops so will soon pay less. Whats the best solution? I am scared I will either be lazy and not do the work here or take years to do it but if I move I can get a slightly larger newer house? Any tips? 

elsien

There’s always going to be some work needing doing on a house at some point, so would you be planning to move every time the windows need sorting or the kitchen feels dated? 

Do you want and need more space, or prefer a different location or is this just about it being newer? 

RHemmings

To me a 30 year old house is still ... new-ish. I'm with @elsien in that I think you'll find that there will still be, or soon will be, stuff to do on a new house. 

But, reading your post, I wonder if you've decided that you don't like your current house and are looking for reasons to support the move. If that is the case, and it's only a guess, then I would say that being generally dissatisfied with a house is reason enough to move in itself. You should be happy and comfortable in your house. 

clive0510

If you are happy and contented where you are and have what you need to hand, then why move? if on the other hand you feel the urge to move on to something new, then maybe now is the time. every ones situation is different. 
I bought this place completely derelict 38 yrs ago. lived in a caravan whilst refurbishing the whole thing. still here now and still doing bits to it.

Albermarle

gadget88 said:

So where i am with this is I have a house almost 30 years old. Stayed here six years and it’s great. We have done cosmetic things new tiles floors and blinds and looks modern and good. So I feel I need to spend 20k to bring it to standard or am I better using it to move? I need new windows they are timber and require painting had a failed double glazing unit before. I would like new stones or driveway. The kitchen we got wrapped new fronts but it’s starting to show age. And the bathroom is ok but original. We seen a similar house only newer by over 20 years. So windows kitchen all new. Done a valuation my deposit could go from 18k to 80k in six years. New mortgage will cost £300 more per month but on a two year deal I expect 5 interest rate drops so will soon pay less. Whats the best solution? I am scared I will either be lazy and not do the work here or take years to do it but if I move I can get a slightly larger newer house? Any tips? 

 I need new windows they are timber and require painting had a failed double glazing unit before. 

Why do you 'need' new windows. You could paint them for £50 and a few hours of your time. Replacing double glazed units is not expensive either ( £150 to £200?) .
,
Of course new windows may look better/insulate better, but they are not cheap.

I expect 5 interest rate drops 

Predicting future interest rates is very difficult, as the Bank of England, the Government, and the financial markets have found recently.

gadget88

Yes i get what people mean it won’t stay new. Just I would be looking at doing some of those jobs in 20 years rather than now. I did get new windows in my old flat it was fine alot of painting round the window sills to do. Cost a few grand too. I did new floors painting tiling but feel there’s more work and money in new kitchen and windows and the current house seems small. Seems a good time to move with the current house value. But that said a neighbour has new windows and a driveway and i feel it looks very good and add to that house.

SDLT_Geek

gadget88 said:

So where i am with this is I have a house almost 30 years old. Stayed here six years and it’s great. We have done cosmetic things new tiles floors and blinds and looks modern and good. So I feel I need to spend 20k to bring it to standard or am I better using it to move? I need new windows they are timber and require painting had a failed double glazing unit before. I would like new stones or driveway. The kitchen we got wrapped new fronts but it’s starting to show age. And the bathroom is ok but original. We seen a similar house only newer by over 20 years. So windows kitchen all new. Done a valuation my deposit could go from 18k to 80k in six years. New mortgage will cost £300 more per month but on a two year deal I expect 5 interest rate drops so will soon pay less. Whats the best solution? I am scared I will either be lazy and not do the work here or take years to do it but if I move I can get a slightly larger newer house? Any tips? 

Have you worked out the direct costs of moving yet?  The stamp duty alone could be considerable if you are in a high value area.  Would the house you are buying be in England?  If so the relevant stamp duty would be stamp duty land tax.  It is zero up to £250,000 on present rules, but is a significant amount on higher value properties.

gadget88

SDLT_Geek said:

gadget88 said:

So where i am with this is I have a house almost 30 years old. Stayed here six years and it’s great. We have done cosmetic things new tiles floors and blinds and looks modern and good. So I feel I need to spend 20k to bring it to standard or am I better using it to move? I need new windows they are timber and require painting had a failed double glazing unit before. I would like new stones or driveway. The kitchen we got wrapped new fronts but it’s starting to show age. And the bathroom is ok but original. We seen a similar house only newer by over 20 years. So windows kitchen all new. Done a valuation my deposit could go from 18k to 80k in six years. New mortgage will cost £300 more per month but on a two year deal I expect 5 interest rate drops so will soon pay less. Whats the best solution? I am scared I will either be lazy and not do the work here or take years to do it but if I move I can get a slightly larger newer house? Any tips? 

Have you worked out the direct costs of moving yet?  The stamp duty alone could be considerable if you are in a high value area.  Would the house you are buying be in England?  If so the relevant stamp duty would be stamp duty land tax.  It is zero up to £250,000 on present rules, but is a significant amount on higher value properties.

Thanks I should have said it’s Scotland and have around 20k in savings. 

EssexHebridean

If you do move, (or come to that, even if you don’t!) I would strongly suggest immediately starting to put aside a home maintenance amount into savings each month so that when jobs do need doing, you have the money there to do them. It’s not really practical to move house to avoid doing the sort of routine maintenance jobs that houses need - better to plan ahead and save to ensure that the costs can be covered when needed. Similarly things like windows - better by far to paint them as a routine maintenance thing every few years rather than leaving it until the point where they “need painting” as this can cause damage and the risk of rot.