AIBU to buy the house I’ve fallen in love with

[Summeryjustice]

I have the choice between two houses in the same town:

A - Modern, brilliant condition, big garden, but terraced. 3 bedrooms. I’d be mortgage free if I bought it.

B - Dream house. Old, detached, enormous garden, views. Also 3 bed. Would be paying off mortgage for 20 years plus.

Houses are similar size but obviously there’s a massive price difference. Me and DP are early 40s with secure jobs. Would we be crazy to buy the dream house?

Its such a personal decision, dependant hugely on your attitude to work, risk and how much pleasure you get from your home. Personally, I'd be inclined to go for the dream house if the sums stacked up, but in your shoes the things I'd be considering are the following:
How much do you enjoy gardening, and if not, could you afford a gardener long term? If you love gardening it could be the best thing ever, but if you don't, or don't have much time it could become a huge burden. I love gardening and I'm out whenever I get a spare moment; but I can just imagine what a constant, enormous chore it would feel if I didn't.
How do the EPCs of the two houses compare? I moved from a terraced to a detached house and as expected the costs of running the two are very different. My detached house is much newer and more insulated than my old terraced house, but it still takes ages longer for the new house to heat up than the old one did. When doing your sums have you factored in the higher stamp duty, likely higher council tax, and the higher maintenance costs?
Does the detached house need much work? If its a doer upper and you're not particularly handy or don't have much spare time this would make me wary in the current climate- labour and materials have gone up enormously over the last few of years, and the waiting times for tradespeople can be very long.
Do you enjoy your jobs and what's your attitude to working and retirement? If I'm honest I'd love to work a wee bit less, but having taken on a big mortgage a few years ago to move to its not realistic for me at the moment. If I'd stayed in my old home it could have been an option. I'm at peace with that decision as I love my new house so much more than my old one, enjoy my work, really appreciate being detached after having some bad neighbour experiences previously, and I'm also aware that my husband's work is a complete vocation to him and all being well he has no intention of retiring at 65. But you can see the large number of personal circumstances we've balanced there to make the right decision for us! There are always trade offs to be made and only you can decide which are more important for you.

Good luck! Which ever you choose I hope you're very happy there

If you can afford it dream home 100%! I’ve just bought my dream flat that I own and I’m extremely happy! You should have seen me!
if not, then go with the other one x

3 years ago we bought a 1910 house in good condition with a new kitchen and new windows.

We had a survey done.

Since then:
$70k for a full electrical rewiring
$45k to replace the sewers including out to the street
$22k to remodel the bathroom as water came through the living room ceiling and there's no goddam access hatch to get the plumbing fixed
$32k to pave the yard (this was partly cosmetic but it also had a drainage problem

We had luckily kept back some equity in anticipation of capital spend but we have spent it all!

Don't stretch too much...

Definitely the dream house. We did it and have never regretted it even when it’s been a slog. True we haven’t had a fancy summer holiday every year or loads of extras, but we haven’t missed them. The garden just gets mowed and not having loads of fiddly, time consuming flower borders helps. If we want to do more with it we’ve got room to experiment. The babies are now teens and we’re renovating for the last time. We don’t need to add costly extensions, just adapt the existing space for what we want now. .Given that they’ll stay at home during uni holidays and may need to come back afterwards, it makes sense not to downsize either.
We calculated what we’d spent on renovations and upkeep and it was much, much less than we’d have paid in moving costs (tax, legal & surveyors fees, etc) every 6 years or so as family needs changed . As a rough comparison friends bought a terraced house (same number of bedrooms and roughly same size & ) a few streets away for the same price as ours and the same time (within a month). They sold just pre covid for about 25% below our house’s value then. Post covid , the gap’s widened further because people really want a detached house with a decent sized garden.

Personally I'd buy A. I'd save for a few years and then go out and buy a dream house with a clear plan of everything I wanted rather than one I've fallen for and feel pressure to buy for fear I'll miss out on it.

If you have DC, factor in future uni costs. They are eye watering and without being mortgage free, would be very difficult for us.

I'd go B every time. But we both love doing up houses. We just do one job at a time. When one room finished we start on second room. If we can't do a job ourselves we get someone in to do it. Just don't try to do jobs in lots of rooms at once, or else it's chaos.

I’m very risk averse and in the current climate not sure I’d go for the dream house. Also I prioritise disposable income I guess. We have a tiny mortgage which will be paid off next year. Even now it’s less than the energy bill. But I guess it depends on your overall income. I know you say it’s a third of your income, but would you have 2k left a month or 10k left a month?

I'd go for house a. Mortgage free would give you such security , lower heating and maintenance costs. The mortgage might only be a third of your income but how much work does it need, how much will it cost to heat. This is definitely one of those times where it should be head over heart.

B all the way. I'd be miserable in a modern terrace, but that's because I LOVE old houses and am fortunate that it's an option for me.

But post your joint income and how much your mortgage would be...there might be a clear answer then. If B's barely affordable then that could sway it.

It comes down to the nitty gritty of can you afford to pay current interest rates and current utility costs to heat it. And if it needs any renovation can you afford the current high prices.

A year ago I’d have said B hands down. Now the devil is in the detail.

@Wexone .. I have to agree.. I adored my old cottage. I loved every mason's mark, the horsehair in the walls when I chiselled some tiles off.. but OMG it was COLD. The beautiful single glazed sash windows ran with condensation that had to be dried off several times a day. Yes, the views were outstanding, & the cottage garden I'd created was wonderful, but I couldn't manage it now, just a few short years down the line.
This room in my current 2006 built house is over 20C at the mo, no heating on at all. :-) Plus no mortgage!

House B. You never know if you'll get terrible neighbours in a terrace house and if you love it you are probably going to be happier to live their longer.

Buy the dream house. I missed out on a house on my dream road years ago because I didn’t fight hard enough for it. It’s taken me 20 years but we finally got there and bought the house next door.

B. B means you can have the benefits of A later if/when you want them, you just sell it. So, B lets you do both.

@mamabear715 is gas ain't it. we had those small dehumidifiers you can buy in b and m stores they have the balls at the top and they soak in the water in the air. I had two in every room and would have to replace them every month. the walls at the front were three feet thick. same here had the back doors open this afternoon as room was very warm. landlord needs to replace stove and we trying to convince him to go for a wood pellet one as apposed replacing the log burning one as less cleaning and maintenance. ease of use too and more cost effective. congrats on being mortgage free. enjoy it

Buy your dream house or you’ll always regret it OP!

B You never regret buying the best house you can. Plus once you go detached, you’ll never want anything else.

Thanks @Wexone :-)

Get B surveyed. Maybe even twice by different specialists.

For me heart (B) would probably over-rule head (A) but only if it wasn't a total money-pit.

That said, detached is fantastic, apart from any other factor. Better chance of quality of life which is often ruined by shitty neighbours (as I've read endlessly about on here).

I don’t get comments like this, if she struggles she can sell and live mortgage free. It’s not like if she buys it she needs to live there for twenty years.

B
But I don’t mind having a mortgage into my 60s and have zero interest in retiring

B. The mortgage might seem high now but in a few years will seem a lot more manageable.

A all day every day for me. Being mortgage free and being able to really save will give you so many options as you get older - working less, retiring early, changing career. You’ll be able to weather any storm. Plus think of all the fun you can have with your disposable income!

B bet you'll earn more money from it longer term and it's the one you love.