Smaller or bigger home? Which to choose!

[Louise0923]

We’ve seen two houses we like on the same estate. One is larger and the other smaller, they are the exact same layout, same number of bed rooms (4) and same bathrooms (3). The larger one is my preference, it has the wow factor kitchen and master bedroom. The smaller one is still nice but everything is just smaller! There’s a £35k difference in price, and a £200 a month mortgage difference.

The larger one is definitely top end of our budget, but doable, the smaller is more comfortable. My partner and I are in total disagreement on which to go for.

My argument is if we are paying stamp duty and solicitor fees anyway, why not stretch to another £200 a month, and hopefully, our pay will increase as we go (which it should do).

My partners argument is, we are starting a family and an extra £200 a month would be useful, especially when I go on maternity, and as our pay goes up, spend more on the children and experiences.

However, the large home is also in a nicer position, tucked into a cul-de-sac, with a larger garden and it would mean we don’t have to move again if we outgrew the smaller one.

My partners argument on this, is if we outgrow the smaller one we would probably need more bedrooms, so a larger 4 bed probably won’t be of much use anyway!

Anybody have any ideas around stretching the budget for dream house or keeping it sensible with what partner says is already a dream house (just slightly smaller ha!).

Kids are not guaranteed. Buy a house that suits you now and save the money to enjoy your life

£200 a month is less than £7 a day, sell it to him like that. If you think the bigger house is worth the extra £7 a day (at current mortgage rates) and you can afford it, then you should go for the bigger one. I think you'd always feel a bit of slight disappointment going for the smaller one when you can afford either.

Has the small house got any potential for an extension?

Plus, if you had to move again, that's an extra dose of solicitors fees, stamp duty, moving costs, which as we know, don't come cheap, would very quickly eat up all the money saved buying the smaller house, if you wanted to move again in 5 years.

No not at all! It’s laid out lovely though, and the same as the bigger one. It’s just smaller!

Neither. You both need to be comfortable with this. Keep looking.

If it helps anyone, these are the two floor plans!

Why neither? I definitely want one of them!

Seeing those floorplans, I wouldn't buy either. Its unbalanced... you need living space with children, not just bedrooms. Unless you convert the garage into another living room.

If you can definitely afford it, go bigger. Our house felt large when we moved in as a couple, but kids take up a lot of space! A bigger garden and a cul-de-sac are bonuses too.

Cul de sac is worth a lot , will be quieter for kids riding bikes etc

Okay. So the upstairs are similar enough to exclude from your thinking if they can all accommodate a decent double bed with wardrobe and chest of draws for clothes.

What about the areas where you will both be in, where future children will be. How much space does it feel like once you imagine sofas, large TV, shelf unit and toys. Will you have "elbow room" ? Is there space for a highchair in the kitchen for when you are cooking etc? Imagine you both there, moving around (getting in each others way). Then decide.

Btw even non gardeners will buy a house with a bigger garden - office shed, trampolines, large paddling pools in summer, hot tubs and future extensions are all possible thoughts in future buyers minds, so probably more sellable.

I'm in the process of looking to buy so I would love to hear which you go for in then end, and the reasoning. It might help my thought processes too

It wouldnt be the house size that drew me to the bigger one but the cul de sac. The location is far more important and with children the location of the larger would be so much better .

Which way do gardens face?
A south or south westerly facing back garden is also good .

I think it’s the kitchen, garden and cul de sac which draw me to the bigger one, and I think I’m sold on the bigger one but I’m also trying to see if I could be happier in the smaller one if my partner just isn’t willing to increase the size!

We did this in our old house, which was also 4 beds, but not massive bedrooms. Converting the garage to a 2nd living space made all the difference and made the house work for us for 20 years.

We’ve since moved, again a 4 bed, but much bigger rooms, and more than once I’ve actually said that it’s great having big rooms, till you come to buy carpets and furnishings-it’s been eye watering (but worthwhile), amd we’re at a different life stage to the OP.

Id be tempted to not stretch to that extra £200 if you’re planning kids, that can be the difference between living and existing

I agree but we haven’t found anything else we like and need to get somewhere to live as we are moving for a job!

Thank you! I think this is my partners angle. It’s not just the £200 it’s £200+ our other disposable income, and over a year that’s a holiday, or new bikes, or days trips, uniform etc!

Get the smaller one. Your husband is right.

I think your attitude is bordering on reckless op. You seem to think it is guaranteed that the extra will always be affordable. You'll be paying the mortgage off for the next 30 years. That's a lot of extra interest. No one knows what interest rates will do. It could be considerably more than £200 in the future. Also, you say pay rises are guaranteed, but nothing is guaranteed. The future could hold ill health affecting your ability to work, or some unforseen change to your industry impacting your job.

Actually, I'm baffled by the idea of buying a 4 bed, 3 bathroom house when you're no where needing that space .

Thank you for this! Well we’ve sold our first home and we are moving for a job, and we know we are starting a family so it seems silly to not factor in needing a bigger house at this point when stamp duty is a little lower. We don’t want to move again for a while, so I think growing room is important. We also have parents who live abroad (2 sets) and want them to feel comfortable coming home. One has just been diagnosed with an illness and I want them to have somewhere they can live if they need to come back temporarily.

When we bought our previous house, we could have stretched to slightly bigger at the point we bought it, but even though we didn’t, and were both on decent increasing salaries, life with kids isn’t cheap, and if you can you need some wiggle room, which the stretch to the bigger house won’t give you…it needs to be more a head than a heart decision

Like I said, I now have the dream house, but we’re at a different life stage now, and have come through the expensive years of raising kids…a new build was the last thing I wanted when we bought the last house, but it was in the right area (which is v important to me) and it just made financial sense, amd it worked for over 20 years

Definitely the bigger one if you can comfortably afford it. Write down what all
of your outgoings will be in this house, electricity, mortgage, council tax, bins, broadband, insurance etc. Then factor in nursery fees and see how tight things look before you decide. I would stick to the rule of the mortgage being no more than 1/3 of your household income as a rule.

We had no children when we bought our house and it seemed huge and we thought we would never outgrow it. Two kids and all their stuff later plus working from home means we are looking at either moving or doing a loft conversion. Your wages will increase and there is scope for promotion. I’d go for it.

That’s is really helpful thank you! I think your route sounds similar to ours and might be the right path for us. I also worry incase we need to sell if I get a job in a different area as my job is quite niche and I either need to be promoted at my current workplace and move quite far for one!

I'd go for the smaller one. If you are starting a family that is likely to cause your household income to drop and costs increase. It will also cost less to run and be less to clean/maintain. When we last moved it just happened that the house we bought was at the lower end of our budget. A few years on with the cost of living I'm so grateful for that, as we can live comfortably, and for me that is worth losing a bit of living space.

Id buy the smaller one and convert the garage. Neither house has good living space for a family home.

are they new builds? If so are you aware that a lot of people lose money on new builds? Only a concern if you’re selling in a few years I guess. How do the prices compare to non new builds?