Which house/lifestyle would you choose

[ilovemynewjumper]

This is for a family of four, one boy one girl. We own a few bikes between us which is relevant (storage issue). Before anyone says anything, I know this is a lovely dilemma to have, and I'm enormously grateful for everything I already have in my life! Just wondering what others would do.

Option 1: current house. Three bedrooms (two reasonable doubles, one very small double/large single). Terraced. No garage. No spare room. Laundry has to be dried in sitting room. But also: we can live mortgage free giving us a few hundred extra a month to have a really comfortable lifestyle, nicer holidays, not have to worry where the money will come from for new boiler etc, and also put something aside to cover university costs in due course.

Option 2: Move house to one like ours but end of terrace. Four bedrooms. Garage. Bigger garden. Similar size rooms to current house, same area. Will have to keep mortgage and savings massively decreased.

Basically option 1 is better lifestyle, option 2 is bigger house.

Thanks everyone, you've given me lots to think about.

I think it's about two thirds option 1 / one third option 2.

I'd move. An extra 120k mortgage isn't really that much and your current house does sound too small.

Option 1.

We have a relatively small mortgage and the prospect of being an extra £500 per month better off would have me picking Option 1 every time (only 16 years left to go... sigh)
Could you reconfigure the space you have to make more room - e.g. attic conversion etc? It would still be cheaper than buying a bigger house

I would choose the bigger house and take on a small mortgage.

Considering the housing market/cost of living etc, chances are that today's dc are more likely to be living at home for longer.

I'd be looking at your house and thinking about four adults living there - if it's too small for that, I'd trying to move somewhere bigger.

Bigger house kids will need space as they grow also they are not leaving home early these days as they can’t get on to housing ladder. Small mortgage easily affordable and you would make money with the equity long term

Why are people inferring that OP is overcrowded or 'squished up?'. There are 4 of them in a 3 bed + study property with a utility room. She's already in a very good position. All that is missing is the MN obligatory teens having their own ensuite, but that doesn't seem to be an option for OP!

This has made me smile! We do have three bedrooms, study, utility, small sitting room and really spacious kitchen/diner. Other than the kitchen/diner (which is an extension), none of these rooms is particularly large. We don't have a garage or spare room, and our garden is pretty small (though still a garden not a yard). I do feel in a good position, and I'm very grateful for everything I have. We're certainly not overcrowded. I'm just wondering whether to get a fourth bedroom and garage or to pay off the mortgage and put something aside for university costs in a few years. I do feel extremely lucky.

I'd go with option 2
Your children will not get smaller and the SE will not get cheaper
I'd take the small mortgage and larger space over all of it
Your children could still be with you well into their 20s and you'll all need your own space

With your updates that there’s a study and utility, I’d stay put – low/no mortgage is a wonderful position – and look for ways to reduce the laundry clutter: can the utility fit a clothes horse or ceiling-mounted rack? Dry the clothes in the bedroom - still cluttery but you may spend less time there than family rooms? Use the tumble dryer and hang the cost since you’re saving on mortgage costs?

Can you tweak your current home? Go up in the loft? Extend?

I would always choose lifestyle and I wouldn't move my kiddo from their home unless it would be of benefit them and also ideally not too far from their school friends ect.

Bigger houses and mortgages are so much more stress, esp with the unreliable market atm. Would it impact on your outings? No point getting storage for hobby if the new life prevents you from doing the hobby :) x

the 3rd bedroom is already in the loft

Where are the bikes currently kept?
what’s your driveway situation? Thinking about older terms having cars. I’d stay personally unless current house very unsuited to older children. Think of the holidays you could have with them growing up with the mortgage money.

Yeah the house is already maxed out in terms of extensions. We can sort out some bike storage for the front garden to save us dragging the bikes through the house, or maybe build a bigger shed, but that's about it :-)

I definitely don't feel we're all on top of each other at the moment. Maybe I will do when we have teenagers - but I guess we can always review it then.

Financial stability is worth more.

FWIW many houses sold as four beds, have a fourth bedroom so small, a bed has to be made specially for it!

Are the current rooms large enough to have desks?

You will end up with wet laundry regardless of how big the house is. Could you put the clothes horse into the study in the evenings?

The only issue really that I can see are bikes and if you have somewhere to put the bikes in the front, that isn’t an issue.

Being mortgage free is a really big deal esp with interest rates and the cost of living. Why would you want to take on unnecessary debt ?

The more rooms you have, the more you will fill with unnecessary stuff. When there isn’t any room left in the house, you will start filling the garage. You can bypass all this by throwing things away!