Would you be happy with this life?

[heatherboo]

I don't know how to say any of this without coming across like I'm showing off so I'm sorry if it seems that way.

Me and DH are in our 30's with two beautiful DC (10 and 5) we inherited a house from my grandparents and are completely mortgage free. DH family helped in a complete renovation of the house. The house is an end of terrace built in the 80's.

Not having a mortgage allows me to work part time and gives us the freedom to go on big holidays and the luxury of not having to worry when an unexpected bill comes up or when grocery shopping.

We live in a small town up north so house costs are relativity low but with the increase in interest rates this wouldn't prevent first time buyers from having a high mortgage.

Down the road from us is what is considered the "posh" area of our town filled with beautiful detached houses. DH is always saying we can move into one of those one day. Obviously it would be lovely but to do so would result in us having a giant mortgage even if we sold this house for a large deposit. Our house is worth around £120k and a nice detached house around this area would be around £250,000. All houses are old so would most likely need some work doing to them.

My thoughts are us moving to a house like this would be nothing more than feeling better about ourselves and so that are children don't compare themselves to those that have giant gardens.

To explain our house, it lacks a driveway and a big garden but we do have two very large downstairs rooms, a large kitchen and 3 large bedrooms. We may have no garden but we have plenty of giant parks in this town and are always taking DC out. The street itself is filled with nice families so there's no trouble at all, I just can't help but think other people push themselves to upgrade even if it means a bigger mortgage and making sacrifices in life but what would you do personally if you were in my situation?

I earn £12k a year and DH earns around £40k ish after tax. We own one car outright which I drive and DH has a company car with fuel expenses paid. This leaves us with quite a bit of disposable income a month. Would you rather have this for freedom and holidays or stretch yourselves to live in a house that just looks nicer on the outside and your own parking space? We'd be talking a minimum £1k a month mortgage.

I'd move. £130k is not a giant mortgage to be taking out in your 30s by any stretch of the imagination. So your mortgage would be relatively small for the size and style of house you'd be getting. £52k income is plenty to cover a £1k mortgage. I earn less than that and my mortgage payments are more than £1k!

I wouldn't move for a detached house/driveway but I did move to a nicer/posher area, because it had better schools and amenities. Would moving to the other house make a difference for schools OP? For me it's something that made a big difference to quality of life and opportunities, but as your dcs are already school age you might not want to change schools anyway.

One aspect of moving to a more expensive house is that it's an investment - where we are (in London) more expensive houses tend to increase in value more than flats or smaller houses. So it made sense to take the risk in a bigger mortgage, as we plan to downsize when the dcs finish school/uni and use some of the equity to help them with house deposit, first car etc. We'll likely end up with more equity from our bigger house compared to the flat we moved from, and it will be tax-free which is an advantage over other ways of saving.

One aspect of moving to a more expensive house is that it's an investment - where we are (in London) more expensive houses tend to increase in value more than flats or smaller houses.

I personally wouldn’t rely on that if buying today or in the last few years, particularly allowing for inflation. London property has been the worst performing market in the UK I believe since Brexit. Now much of this is due flats as you say but so much of the market has historically been driven by equity. Stagnant flat prices will impact some houses because there won’t be enough people with high salaries to buy the larger homes particular in parts of London that have gentrified price wise but not much else.

Hybrid working/high prices have pushed many families out to other areas & young people are finding that selling their London flat now won’t get them a house in another city without significantly upping their budget. Plus schools particularly in inner London are seeing big falls in numbers which will undoubtedly affect performance for some based in the funding model & many deter future buyers.

I can see both points of view but I'd probably come down on DH's side.

These days disposable income is more important with a young family than the size of your house, I think.
Saying that, we are moving for the reasons you state -we have a small garden etc. The difference we aren’t mortgage-free. I think if I was mortgage-free I would stay where I was.

You seem happy where you are and it sounds like you are doing it more for what other people think than anything. Me personally, I do have the big detached how and I love it and it has provided us with a lovely lifestyle and quality of life. We love gardening and being outside and the kids are really active and we literally are not in the house at all on the weekends in the summer because everything is outside. But we did all the working and saving in our 30s to get there, so that now, in our 40s, we can enjoy it. But it very much depends on what you want and that in the balance of things. That said, you very likely have scope to earn more if you wanted to and could have a house that might have a bit more of what you want without having to have the detached house in the 'posh' area. It isn't all or nothing. That said, if you need a mortgage, now wouldn't be the time I'd be looking to get one personally. Wait til rates come down.

im ‘Up north too’ and a a semi worth £120k would tell me it’s in an area that isn’t that great. Even if it has lovely neighbours.
And the £250k will be in a nicer area but still not super duper rich iyswim.

Which makes me wonder.

Is your dh from the same area than you and what sort of environment did he grow up in?
Im wondering if he isn’t looking at those ´posher’ houses because they remind him more of the environment he grew up in iyswim

id be thinking secondary schools and catchment areas too (parks won’t be relevant to dc1 and dc2 for very long tbh).

Otherwise, I can see why you’d prefer to stay where you are!!

(btw, a £150k mortgage wouldn’t be a big, unsustainable mortgage with your salaries)

OP, your title asks 'Would you be happy with this life?' but your actual post is about a completely different issue, whether you should move to a bigger house or not. To which the answer is you should do exactly as you feel like about it -- there's no 'correct' answer.

You're happy. Why would you move?

I'd buy the bigger house but I've always liked large houses with large gardens. If you have a $1 K mortgage, that's not expensive, it would be very manageable.

Besides enjoying the house, I would look at it as an investment to leave it for inheritance for my children.

Have they ever made comments about bigger houses?

Obviously, is up to you, what lifestyle you prefer. Will working part time be enough to save for your retirement? You could buy a bigger house then downsize at retirement to get extra funds.

A big garden needs maintenance and work all year round. I live in a moderate size home and my only dream is to downsize. I'm tired of cleaning and always paying for something else to be fixed.

As everyone has their own bedroom I would stay put. Your house sounds spacious enough and you would be effectively paying £125K for a garden. Driveways are not that much of a big deal imo, if you're already used to not having one.
We moved for an extra bedroom but at the same time got a bigger garden, one you could actually play in. It was lovely to have the space, but after about 2/3 years eldest stopped playing in it as he was a teenager, and I had to send youngest plus friends to the park to play football (all they wanted to do in it) as their kicks were too powerful and broke everything. So, it was nice but depends how much you think that's worth.
I would rather have the money to spend on holidays and other experiences, personally.

I would stay. We have a large garden which was great for the dc and their friends. Then they became teens and had no time or interest to bother much with the garden. Now they are adults and gone we want to downsize especially as the garden is too much work. Stay where you are. Enjoy holidays and the freedom from money worries.

In our 50s we're currently moving to a bigger house in a nicer location, which personally I'm not completely happy about but know it's probably our chance to get our last mortgage. So similar situation, our house will be paid off next year so I do wonder what on earth we're doing! Detached with a small but beautiful back garden, conservatory, extra shower room, to an older semi with a big garden, bigger rooms and a garage.

It's a tough dilemma but guess I've been convinced it will be better in the long run, ie greater value asset, more space for us all.

Will you be considering moving again anyway at some point? Having a garden is a real bonus imo but ues being mortgage free is without doubt the best! X

I used to watch these property programmes and have nothing but jealousy of people lobbing up 100k extensions to have a kitchen diner sliding door combo. Nowadays, I’m thankful to have a cosy, working house. I’d much rather spend money on experiences with my kids and holidays. Much better than doing crap in a £13k bathroom. I guess what I’m trying to say is, it doesn’t matter. Big garden, fancy doors, big shiny bathroom. Don’t stretch yourselves in this unstable financial climate.

@DullFanFiction Our house was 117k in 2016 and is in a lovely private crescent! Semi detached, drive, decent gardens back and front, quiet, no crime and nice neighbours who keep themselves to themselves, but look out for each other when it comes to bins etc. I'm sorry, but your comment really doesn't fit in some circumstances and is a bit crass if I'm honest.

DH and I are have a very similar life to you but for different reasons. We’re not moving until DS leaves home.

Stay where you are , sounds like a lovely life.
How about renting an alotment to make a beautiful garden ?

I'd stay put, sounds like a home not a status symbol.... puts me right off!

Agree.
It's perfect for now.
I'd have stayed in our first house but dh has dreams.
And i dud too.
We moved not once but twice.
Now we a good bit if investment.
A beautiful garden and a lovely drive

So see how you feel, in 7 ish years time, it may be the perfect time.

If I were you I'd try and buy a similar house with a garden in the same area. But if you don't need a garden then stay!

I'd be moving.

Stay put
Use extra money saved to boost pensions for you both, or for private tutors/private school
If your local state is good enough, you don't even need to do that
Spare money could go into accounts to help out kids at 18 with uni fees or first car, deposit etc
You are very fortunate x

I’d want a garden and a driveway so I’d move. I would have thought £130k at todays rates would be more like £800. We have about that and currently pay £500.
Thats manageable on those wages.

I'd feel like this too. I'd also want a bigger home for my kids to enjoy