Would you chose a wow house or a more luxurious lifestyle

[Lardlizard]

Say a three bed house in the same really nice area, or day a 5 bed in the same area but you would have less for days out ok holidays and weekends away
Although you would still be able to afford at least one holiday a year if you went off the bigger house

I really rate experience over material things but don't underestimate the value of day to day experiences. A big kitchen where you can all eat together, play games and do craft. A room dedicated to hobbies the family love - whether it's music or gym. A big enough garden for them to spend loads of time outdoors in the summer - put up a paddling pool, slide, climbing frame, swings, sand pit and later in life for them and their friends to sit around a fire pit chatting or to have people round for dinner and sit by candlelight in the garden. Old friends and family staying over. Their mates having comfortable beds to crash in after a party. Those are good experiences too. More valuable imo than being able to afford an extra holiday a year but live in a cramped space. When they are grown up they will remember the home they lived in far more than they'll remember the holidays.

This applies to the three bed house
A big kitchen where you can all eat together, play games and do craft.
A big enough garden for them to spend loads of time outdoors in the summer - put up a paddling pool, slide, climbing frame, swings, sand pit and later in life for them and their friends to sit around a fire pit chatting or to have people round for dinner and sit by candlelight in the garden.

Old friends and family staying over. Their mates having comfortable beds to crash in after a party. Those are good experiences too. More valuable imo than being able to afford an extra holiday a year but live in a cramped space

Never said the three bed was cramped
Has all the above
Apart from a hobby room
Big garden
Able to have sleepovers
Big 6 seater table in the kitchen for games and. Crafts
But it’s obviously not as wow as say a larger house

I got the wow house, and eventually also the luxuries (or perhaps I just realised I could still do a lot with less money than before), but I am now dreaming of selling it up, move to a full of character tiny house and be mortgage free.

Why are you doing that now then ?

@Lardlizard - then it sounds like the 3 bed is perfect for you. If you don't need extra space to have a good life style day to day then buy the 3 bed and spend the extra cash on luxuries or save some for when DC start adult life (uni fees. house deposit etc.) That would be a really enjoyable life.

Millie we are already in the 3 bed which is adequate for us, but Considering moving to a larger more fancy house

We went for lifestyle and good job we did as due to unexpected and difficult circumstances our income reduced by quite a bit. Not having to worry about money has made this significantly easier to deal with.

We had the wow house in the home counties. 18 rooms, high ceilings, designer decor, hand-made bespoke furniture, featured in a magazine, blah blah blah.

Didn’t have a cleaner or gardener but the mortgage was massive and as a result we ended up working to fund the building rather than living for ‘us’.

It got to the point where we made ourselves ill so sold it. Downsized to be almost mortgage-free - we now have 7 rooms in total (3 bedrooms and one bathroom)

Life is ours now

I guess what I’m saying is if you can financially afford it (& continue paying into a pension etc) without sacrificing health and time out, then go for it. If there’s a question mark over it, I wouldn’t recommend it.

So interesting to talk to other people that have gone for it, as I certainly don’t know anyone in rl with a 17 room
House

Cheaper house for me - I prefer smaller space living, I find big houses become clutter magnets, but it's easier for me to stay disciplined about not having a lot of stuff if I'm living in a smaller home. I don't want to be the person with the big house who's always got houseguests dropping in, or having a lot of rooms to clean. But it's personal preference, and there's no right answer.

@Lardlizard i grew up in a house with about 23 (very large) rooms. My bedroom was the size of about half the first floor of my current (rather nice) 5 bed house.
My favourite house was the "normal" 3 bed but we felt squeezed in their with 4 children.

Big houses are great for getting peace and quiet/throwing parties /having house guests. But they are hugely more expensive to run and maintain. Worth it if you have a big family and /or love hosting big gatherings. But otherwise really not worth it unless you just want to impress people, which seems like s desperately tragic reason to take on s big mortgage.

So my answer is - get the house if you will genuinely use and benefit from its space. That's such a personal decision, it depends on how you like to live your life.

But if you just want people to go "wow" then I would say that is better spent on holidays etc. I never think more or less of a person based on their house. ( Or their car or handbag etc for that matter).

Smaller house. Spend/save the difference. Have fun and some security.

Defiantly the smaller house and a better lifestyle..I can’t understand big homes..

I’d do the smaller house, as long as it wasn’t prohibitively small. Just comfortable and ‘just enough’ space would be fine for me.

Sounds like you are just buying a bigger version of what you have now, what gives it the Wow factor? does it have lovely architectural features?, a stunning view? charm and character? If it’s just more bedrooms I don’t really see the point unless you are tight for space.