if you live in a big house, do you regret the size of your morgage

[Lardlizard]

Or are you glad ?

14 rooms not including bogs and bathrooms. Circa 3700 sq ft.

@Maydayredalert That’s hilarious

I once had a tradesman at the door who wanted me to give his marketing pamphlet to the homeowner!

We are always joking that the neighbours think we are bringing the house prices down

I said up thread as well that people had been really funny with me and I had actually lost friends (surely you'd be happy for your friends? Anyway, whatever) but someone actually asked me if we'd won the lottery.

You might think it, but you'd never say it would you. (we hadn't! A combination of hard work and lots and lots of saving).

Needed the space for a few years but now kids need money not a big garden and a big playroom.

I’d do it again but not because of the house, our neighbors are brilliant.

I don’t regret my big mortgage because:

A) I love the House and it brings me a lot of pleasure to live here

B) it’s increased in value more than double since I bought it. I wouldn’t buy an expensive car (even though I would like one) because it would depreciate in value. But with the house I didn’t mind stretching to the max of my budget because it’s an investment and so far it’s paid off. If I had put my money in ISAs or bonds it wouldn’t have made as much as it has in property.

@StubbleTurnips you’re so right. We have never had flash cars, expensive clothes, we don’t constantly go out because our priorities are different. We both wanted a spacious house and have ploughed our money into it. Good luck. I hope you’re as happy in your new home as we have been in ours.

We have a nice house. I am a scruffy so and so. Sometimes when I give my address in local shops people raise their eyebrows.

Funnily enough I was in Fortnums on Tuesday. Spent £30. Nobody raised an eyebrow and there were tons of "scruffy middle aged women --but I know where the bogs and knicker dept are

Sometimes. But I do love my house and when we talk about trying to save money or go cheaper nothing else would come close as our house is quite unique. We say it's our pension fund but I'd be gutted to leave.

We don’t regret the mortgage but do regret the house we bought. Bought it pre-DC and now wish we had smaller rooms but more of them. We’re going to sell next year or year after and buy something we can extend the hell out of and male exactly how we want it

No regrets. We have a beautiful 2200 square foot house with more than enough space for all of us. We took the view that a big mortgage was the best place to put our money and that long term it would always be profitable (London)

Bought for £440k extended house and mortgage a few years later, house worth £1.2M. My husband died recently and I’ll have the mortgage cleared and the knowledge that with having made so much on the house if ever I need money I can downsize and still live well.

I also get mistaken for the nanny when I open the door sometimes, or get raised eyebrows as I'm not what people are expecting.

And we also frequently get comments on the house from delivery people, taxi drivers etc, people asking questions about it.

I also know that I'm likely to get a higher quote from workmen due to the house itself. It's quite frustrating that they think they can take the piss and that I don't notice about being overcharged

Oh, missed the info bit, we are 6000 sq foot, 7000 sq ft including out buildings, circa 21 rooms, 3 acres (some woodland so luckily not all grass), grade 2 listed.

Agree with evryone else re upkeep. I rented a huge, beautiful house for a year. Loved it, wanted it, still pine for it. Never felt happier. BUT it was freezing. Single glazed, poor insulation, draughty. The heating bill in December was terrifying so after that we closed off half the rooms, used electric blankets and space heaters and wore more clothes. Keeping warm became an obsession.
Council tax, a gardener (part of our contract), and utilities took all our spare cash. It was unsustainable but short term I loved it. I will never have anything like that again.

We don't have a massive house but it is quite big. We had to slightly increase our max budget and were going to take on a huge mortgage. We decided to go for 25 years instead of 20 with a lower monthly repayment. Am so glad we did as I ended up leaving my job and starting to work as a freelancer so income is less dependable. However we are hoping the gamble pays off and will end up paying it in 20 years anyway :)

I was in the same situation, my solicitor advised me to put my name on the land registry as my family home ( think they changed the law in 1980’s) it’s free and it’s one form . Although your not entitled to the house he has to have your permission to sell , etc . Obviously Get legal advice but I found it helpful xx

I deliberately bought a small cheap house as I didn't want a huge mortgage. Sometimes I wish it was a bit bigger but overall I am happy with it. Thinking of building a big conservatory for extra space.

Not as large as some here but big by London standards. We're lucky to have paid off the mortgage but have many have said the cost of upkeep is staggering and it is a PITA to run generally with constant niggles. But I love it

It's not a given that a large house neans a large mortgage. We made quite a lot on our first house and sold shares accrued over a decade or so when we upped from our city starter home to a ksrge country house. Our mortgage isn't large. Council tax & heating bills much larger but we don't regret the move at all.

Not an owner of a big house (a very small 3 bed new build here ) but I don't pity the stress of having a big house. In the country in NI where my parents live, a man has a huge house. 6 bedrooms, stables, arena, huge garden, etc. It's been on the market over 6 years now. He can't drop the price anymore because he'll be making a huge loss, but no one wants to buy it. It's a beautiful house (was my dream house as a child), but it's in an area where all the detached homes either come with farms or are around 250k-400k. Not nearly 700k.

The uncertainty of being not able to easily sell definitely would put me off.

No, but we were very fortunate that I had two properties to sell so the mortgage is almost exactly the same as we had on the two-bed flat we lived in before.

My mum always said to go for as much space as you can afford and it has been great having somewhere we can host both our families at once for a meal, and have a spare room for an au pair.

We've got a large 5 bed with over an acre and our mortgage is £400 per month. We bought at a good time and we make sure that we change the mortgage lender at least every 2 years which takes £s and years off the term. We also move up the property ladder every 6 years or so. We've done that 3 times now and have purchased a larger property each time with the equity. Never buy a new build if you want to make money, always buy somewhere that needs work/ extending.
I can't comprehend anyone who pays more than £500/£600 per month mortgage let alone wasting that on rental. I love my family home and do feel lucky, but then we have worked hard for it and made sacrifices to get to this stage.

We are the same, it is big and tbh big enough!! We have not decorated especially being an on And off working mum 😄 a different story!! which frustrates the hell out of me!! We just survive and not enjoy it!! I guess when the DC’s were young it was trashed we just have not given it any tlc to it!!

No, It’s a big house but it wasn’t a big mortgage and it’s paid off now.

No not really. We used to pay £800 for our three bed terrace and now pay £1400 but it’s a big four bed detached with a large garden. It feels like a huge chunk but our kids (two have special needs) have a lot more space.

Wow ours is quadruple of £400!! How long have you lived in the current house...