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.

You're young enough to take out a 25 year mortgage and still pay it off before you retire. That said, I also understand the desire not to put yourself under too much financial burden, and although I think you may be able to get a better mortgage rate than you assume, a house that needs fixing up can end up being a money pit and put the entire family under a lot of stress.

I think two things would be my main consideration: (i) what do you and your family really want (even though we're lucky enough to live near 3 parks, my DS really wants a garden, so I hope to move to give him that) and (ii) which property will increase in value / be worth more in the long run.

You'd be absolutely insane to move! Don't do it!

You're in the exact same position as my family except I work full time! A northern town, large 3 bed end terrace, would love a nice detached in the posher bit. I will not move. We have such a good lifestyle and that's more important to me than a house in a posher area!

I live in a relatively small house and we are mortgage free but we are much older and live down south where house prices are much higher unfortunately! Being mortgage free is liberating but with 2 dc at university it is like having a mortgage as they cost us upwards of £600 a month. That’s something to consider.

Your income isn’t huge in my opinion so yes, a large (relatively) mortgage might be a struggle. I guess you need a discussion about priorities with your dh.

I’d go for a detached house but maybe in a less posh area so you can have the best of both worlds. But then I’m always pushing myself to do more because I like a challenge.

If you're happy where you are and don't need to be in a detached house, I'd stay.

I'll never take for granted living somewhere I actually like, because I've been miserable for years and desperately need to live away from people (I'm autistic).