Is it sensible to move up the property ladder when you can?

[Lrti]

Financially? I guess you can always sell and move smaller but could potentially miss the boat to make more money if you don’t sell and move up when you can?

Do you want/need to move up the property ladder? If you stretch yourself and house prices crash you could be in negative equity or in a market where no one is buying and is unable to sell.

Some people do this but I have bought to make a home rather than a financial gain. So, depends on your outlook.

Do you want or need a bigger, better house? Why max out on your mortgage if you don't need to. We have a small house, but a relatively small mortgage. It's lovely having lots of money left to enjoy life with. But then I value family, friendships and life experiences greatly and want to max out on that.
But if you desperately need the space or investment for the future then I guess you need to push on up the property ladder. XX

It's not for us. We live in a 3 bed flat. To buy the same space in a house would be another £150k.

We did actually try to move last year but felt relief and not upset when it fell through (our buyers pulled out last minute and the chain collapsed).

We decided not to try again and for us that's the right decision.

As I said upthread I’m not driven by the finance side. We could have made one more move but repaid mortgage 5 years ago(bought in late 90s) and now Dc are adults and moving on and uni so we are glad we didn’t saddle ourselves with a bigger mortgage. Then again, like you say, you can sell. But moving costs a lot of money these days. Think about your future earning potential/ children and go with your gut.

I'm not sure. With interest rates the way they are, I'd prefer to stay with a smaller and definitely affordable option

Historically looking over many years it would have been financially beneficial to move up when you can. If house price growth is 10% you make more on a more expensive property (assuming similar levels of growth across the market). However it's always going to depend on your longer term plans, individual circumstances, appetite for risk and preferences. Also house prices are really only 'real' money if you can downsize/ sell up completely.
Larger properties also tend to have larger running costs so although you may have more wealth on paper you may not have the same disposable income which leads to a better life.

Nope. We deliberately didn't stretch ourselves to the max when we bought this house. And we could definitely have spent more on the house we are moving to. But it does everything we require it to do, in the nearly ideal location (and, to be fair, the house we want doesn't exist in the exact location we want, so house or location needed to give). And because we didn't stretch to the max, we can do all sorts of other things with the money the bank thought we could be giving them.

House price rises aren't a given - been here 15 years, and just sold it for pretty much what we bought it for.

I wouldn’t buy now unless I had to. If you’re already a homeowner, then stay put. Interest rates will continue to rise and inflation will soar. I teach economic policy at university and I don’t think people yet realise the economic juggernaut that’s heading towards the economy this coming winter. It will be carnage and could potentially be worse than the 1930s. Please save as much money as you can.

Crikey @AchillesLastStand ! I’m not worried about us as we repaid our mortgage but I worry for my newly graduated DD. She’s about to start renting and prices are so high already. I dread to think how landlords will react.