Would you / did you buy a bigger house if you didn't "need" one?

[PineappleChutney]

DH and I are in our mid/late 30s, one DC aged 7, no more planned, and are lucky enough to own our home - combination of decent paying jobs and being cheap as hell. Bought late 20s (we're in the North where prices are lower) and paid off mortgage a couple of years ago. It's a standard 3-bed semi (2 proper bedrooms so one for us and one for DD, with the box room used as a study), very small garden. Kitchen is tiny but functional. We don't find it cramped day to day but have no spare space e.g. I'd like a food processor but we literally have no space to keep it.

We are in a position where we could afford a larger / nicer house if we take on a mortgage again - realistically quite a hefty one to make it worth our while. Everyone around us seems to be doing this and I worry that I am somehow missing the boat, as house prices in our area have steadily climbed. We are already being priced out of houses that we could have afforded if we'd bought 2-3 years ago iyswim. Money that would be spent on a mortgage is just going into savings and I worry that it will be eroded over time by inflation and so on, rather than perhaps holding value in a house. A new house could be closer to DD's school and friends, give us more breathing space, a bigger garden for her to play in etc - but we don't "need" one.

WWYD? Any thoughts appreciated!

flowery to answer your question, house prices have gone up by about a third in the last few years. So our house has gone up from say 200 to 300K, but a 600K house (that we could just about have afforded 2-3 years ago) is now over 800K which is out of reach.

museumandgalleries there isn't anywhere to extend without cutting into the already small garden unfortunately. But apart from the tiny kitchen, lack of space isn't the primary issue. We have three reception rooms (spacious living room and dining room, smaller third room which we use as a playroom/guest room), two bathrooms and enough bedrooms for the occupants. We could think about knocking the kitchen and dining room together, hmm there's a thought.

We did, had two DC wasn’t sure whether we would have more, we didn’t! We brought in 2003 a 5 bed house in a very nice area, just so we didn’t have to move again if our plans changed, until we want to downsize, which we are considering now. A 5 bed house is a lot of work, even with help.

Best decision we made house has doubled in price, paid off the mortgage years ago. Of course if pricing falls when we move, when we move to will be cheaper so it’s all relative.

Of course property may fall with the Brexit effect, but it will always rise in the end so if you don’t plan a move for a few years I would do it.

Property is the best investment.

Our push was really just to have a garden. Which is an extra £200k where we are. So....we’re paying a lot of a garden and a drive.

It’s a lifestyle choice not an investment.

I’m still a bit torn and we’re nearly at completion stage. Leaving a perfectly nice house for another bigger house when the kids have left home...we should probably skip a stage and go for a small house in ten years instead and invest the money now.

But....life is to be lived, we have pensions and a reasonable salary.

We were going to but the survey was shocking on the house we were buying. It’s garden was the size of two extra building plots plus a big garden for the main house still.

We only wanted to buy within four roads in our town so have given up looking. We remain living in the house we bought in 1999 in one of our desired roads.

It does mean many years of being able to have lovely holidays and not worry about living expenses. Plus mortgage was paid off within seven years.

Myself and most of my friends that share some sort of financial info are aged between are 47 and 58. How life pans out because of financial decisions made when we were all late twenties early thirties. One regrets her large house as it over stretched them, two have married later in life men that are financially crap and the rest like myself have done ok.

Our house is totally out of keeping as you put it with our income but I live with lovely neighbours and on what is considered a very good area.

Your friends are currently sat in their asset it’s their home. Until it’s liquidated or if they borrow money against it it’s just that. I have known many pensioners who really don’t want to leave their home to downsize because by then thirty years have passed and they are sentimentally attached. It sounds a good idea but a ninety year old who I knew who passed away recently spent almost twenty years living all alone in a huge five bed house. But her DH had lived there, too many memories for her to leave behind.

Yes, if you can afford it buy a bigger house. As a pp said, quality of life is important, you will appreciate the extra space.

Sometimes making better use of the space you've got is possible even if you can't extend. With a small kitchen and three reception rooms I'd certainly be considering a kitchen diner and large spacious living room rather than 4 separate rooms downstairs.

Is an attic conversion possible? I see dd is only 7 now but when she's older I imagine she'd enjoy her own large space with en-suite.

I know a number of people who have dramatically improved their existing home by changing the layout and converting the attic and the difference has been amazing with so much more room, light etc. They've got the house that works for their needs and kept the good nice neighbours, good schools and reasonable commute! It's worth considering.

Thanks for further replies, lots of food for thought.

Adversecamber we sound in a very similar situation. I've just read several threads on MN about people who hate the area they are in - I wonder if it's foolhardy to move from a nice, quiet area when we don't need to. We have a good quality of life here. If you don't mind my asking, what have you done with your income instead?

Yogagirl the extra work of a larger house makes me wary too... Though sounds like it's worked out very well for you

TrumpInflatableChased "It's a lifestyle choice not an investment" This is the bit I'm trying to get my head around. I wouldn't do it if it's purely the lifestyle issue as we're happy enough here. But ultimately if it means we/DD eventually have several hundred thousand more then I would get off my backside and put up with the hassle of doing it

Cross-posted Pauline that's definitely a good idea to think about. Don't think attic is a goer but kitchen diner is a possibility for sure, thank you.

Of course! Your current home sounds too cramped..

We bought a 5 bedroom place just for us!

When people ask when we’re starting a family they are quite shocked when we tell them we’re not having kids. We gets lots of the ‘what’s the point in having all this space if it’s just you two’ comments!

Op, why don't you have a look at some houses within uour price range?

I think uou know intellectually that there is more money to be made in bricks and mortar long term, with the added benefit of living there, but you're trying to intellectualise yourself out of it,

Have a look at what you can afford, if it's not for you, stay as is. If you love what you see, move.

As a child we were very cramped so yes I always wanted a huge family home.
Bought an enormous 5 double bedroom with a massive kitchen/diner two living rooms etc. I loved it at first.
Then when dc moved out and we got divorced it felt really strange living in such a big house by myself.
Dp and I bought our present home together and it's much smaller but perfect.

Oops forgot to say it was a fantastic investment. I was able to buy a lovely home with Dp, a house to let out and still have a lot of savings from my share of the equity.

It is an investment though isn’t it and by living in it you are putting your money into something that will become a tax free asset.

Eventually it's an investment but how you realise it is the thing. Not much point sitting on half a million in a house if you aren't going to downsize to release it.

You might want to stay where you are and save the money up for uni fees, daughter's house deposit. But if you can do both then I'd go for getting more space.

If you are really happy where you are, why not invest it in a buy to let property?

I would / have. We went a bit too far with our last property but have scaled back now to something more affordable.

As long as you can comfortably afford it, why not?

I would go for it, particularly as you would not be sacrificing holidays and days out.

I am utterly envious of those of you who have good space. If we upsized to even a three double bed we would have to pull back in every area. No savings, take aways, days out, dc extra curriculum activities, breaks or holidays.

I bought a ridiculously sized house for just 2 people.
Accused of conspicuous consumerism and being gauche!
But it works for us
And hopefully one day it will be DS’s families home too. Either way, it’s an investment for him.

We bought a much bigger house than we needed but knew we were going to fill it, we now have 3 DC and I'm pleased we are settled somewhere big enough.

In your situation it sounds like you really like your house, I would consider getting an interior designer/architect in to discuss layout options and how you can best utilise your space - 3 reception rooms for a family of 3 doesn't make it sound like the house is too small, just that the space isn't working for how you live. As you mentioned maybe knock a couple of rooms together would open things more. I would also go and see a few houses and see how you feel. You could come away excited for new options or it might just confirm you're not too bothered about moving.