Better house or greater financial freedom?

bellsbells

I think you should go an look at the house. If you are going to start your own business and possibly have kids one day a 3 bed house would be a bit tight. If you love the area you live in and love the house then as others have said this could become your keeper! A mortgage of only £41k is TINY and you would be able throw some serious money at it with the amount you usually save every month. You have nothing to loose by looking.....

Also, you are only in your 30's. Even if it took you 10 years to pay off the mortgage you would only be in your 40's when you paid off your mortgage fully! Being able to cut back on hours, concentrate on the pension and be financially secure when in your 40's is no small achievement.

Jonbvn

We are in not too dissimilar position to the OP. We have been looking at larger houses just recently. It is clear that house prices in our area are dropping - I think there may be some way to go yet. Obviously we will also get less money for our house. However, overall the increase in the mortgage we would require to upsize will be smaller.

Based on the above, I would wait for house prices to fall further.

BTW, where do you live where you can upsize from 3 to 5 beds for only 50k? Where we live this would cost 100k+.

setmefree2

Hi

This is just my opinion - I'd move. I don't live in an area were house prices are falling. I live in London. I think you should keep moving when you are young, as house prices rise (generally) faster than your salary and eventually if you stay still (as in don't move up the property ladder) they will move so far away from you that you can't move anyway and the decision is made for you....just my view;)

cupid_s

Whilst your current house is perfectly adequate for you at the moment, will it be when you have kids? (and you say no kids yet so I assume you are planning on having children)

41k is still a tiny mortgage and you'd hardly notice that if you manage to save £1000 a month at the moment. In fact it would be paid off in less than 4 years if you kept paying that £1000 a month off your mortgage, and you'd have a much better house to show for it. I think it's definately worth a look to see if you really want it, and you're not being greedy. You seem to be really sensible with money and if you both really love this house maybe you deserve it, whether you need it or not.

Jonbvn

setmefree2 wrote: »

Hi

This is just my opinion - I'd move. I don't live in an area were house prices are falling.

According to most stats currently available, house prices have fallen everywhere in the UK over the last few months.

osian

Thanks for your replies everyone. I've decided to go and see the house. At least I can get it out of my system one way or another.

The house we live in is great and would be big enough for a future small family, I think that is why we have never considered moving before. The house behind us would be a better size for my new business though so that is an extra too.

House sales here are very static at the moment and in my opinion are starting to drop, the house has been for sale for ages (at least since the summer) but they have recently reduced the price by a fair amount. I was able to ignore it before even though I really fancied it, but now it is just too tempting. Of course that may mean that our house is not worth as much either. Next door (similar house to ours) has been for sale for a similar time and has not been sold yet.

Anyway, if we go and look at it we are not going to lose anything so we may as well do it. Thanks for your advice, I never thought the overall opinion would be so positive.

Jonbvn

Jonbvn wrote: »

According to most stats currently available, house prices have fallen everywhere in the UK over the last few months.

The Times has been kind enough to publish an article in support of my previous statement.

Falls in house prices across the country may now be at their most severe since the property slump of the early Nineties, according to bleak figures today suggesting that Britain's housing downturn is gathering pace.

House prices are seen to be falling in every area of England and Wales - although the results suggest that they rose slightly in Scotland.

meester

osian wrote: »

The only thing is we have fancied the house behind us. In the estate agent's brochure it looks gorgeous, it is a huge town house with 5 bedrooms in a good location. I am planning to start a small business from home this year so the extra room would come in useful. It is on the market for £54K over the market value of our house

Are you sure about your valuation?

You haven't sold your house.

SOunds like they might have cut their price to sell (which may now be necessary), but yours is a rather optimistic valuation.

belfastgirl23

Be sure and let us know how the visit goes

setmefree2

Jonbvn wrote: »

The Times has been kind enough to publish an article in support of my previous statement.

Falls in house prices across the country may now be at their most severe since the property slump of the early Nineties, according to bleak figures today suggesting that Britain's housing downturn is gathering pace.

House prices are seen to be falling in every area of England and Wales - although the results suggest that they rose slightly in Scotland.

Great !:DTime to pick up a bargain them:T