WWYD- Equity

[TheBurdenIsMine]

We bought our house for £225k, have £192k left on the mortgage. With house prices are what they are, we could sell for £300-£310k so have a good amount of equity in it.

Its a small three bed, we desperately need more space. Were due to remortgage in just under 2 years and trying to work out our options (taking into consideration house prices could change drastically but working theoretically obviously)

We have the space to extend to the side, which would give us the space we want. Location wise, close to schools, work, family- all good.

Our garden isnt very big and obviously just selling and buying something bigger is an option but the thought of dealing with estate agents, viewings, chains etc all fills me with dread and we would rather live on a building site and extend.

Second option is use the equity to buy a second property to rent out, kids could live in as a first home when adults, inheritance, retirement nest egg etc.

What would you do?

Well, location, location, location.

I would move if I needed more space - you would seriously rather live in a building site and deal with builders etc for months rather then short term pain of buying another house? Won't extending take up some of your already small garden?

And option 2 is a non-starter as far as I am concerned. It won't solve the immediate issue of needing more space and you would still need to deal with estate agents etc!

Having lived in a building site and moved house , I'd choose the former any day if you like the location

Assumes you can get a recommended builder though

When we were in a similar position, we spoke to an estate agent, he actually said if we like the house and the area, he would advise to extend. The reasoning was that by the time we had paid out all the moving costs, we would have spent most of what an extension would cost.
So we decided to extend and endure 3 months of hassel, about the same length of time moving would have taken.