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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Would you rather be mortgage free or bigger house

124 replies

Bells3032 · 04/12/2022 16:04

Just a hypothetical for now but it may be due to the sale of a family business that in a few years we could have our mortgage paid off for us.

Our house is a very nice 4 bed semi, with an excellent school near us that we are pretty much guarented entry and can walk within 5 mins too. So it won't be for a few years til I can get our child into the school.

However there are a few things id like in a new home eg different kitchen, seperate playroom and a bigger bedroom as well as a bigger garden as ours is quite small and just a bit more space in general. There's no option to extend. I'd also like detached.

The area with most of the bigger houses is about a 20 min walk or 5 min drive from thr school but also v close to my family who I see a lot.

We have a good joint salary (6 figures between us). We have a one year old and looking to start ttc no 2 soon. Once we've had no 2 I'm likely to want to go part time but we can still afford life at thst salary even with our mortgage.

So would you pay off your mortgage and just enjoy life a bit more eg expensive holidays and days out or would you upgrade your house? Money won't be overally tight but we would need to budget.

We live in London too so a bigger house is likely to increase in value more than a current house.

Any thoughts? What would you do.

Tldr: would uou prefer a mortgage free life in a nice but not your dream house or a nicer house but have to budget?

OP posts:

EngTech · 04/12/2022 18:27

Mortgage free 👍👍

Simple reason - A large chunk of money does not go out of your bank account every month and that money allows you to do other things

Got made redundant years ago 👍

Best decision they made as allowed me to clear mortgage 12 years early 👍👍👍

yoyy · 04/12/2022 18:29

I also think it depends on personal situation.

If you were buying a 1m house with 650k equity & servicing a mortgage of 350k on an income of 150k that's a lot more secure than borrowing 700k & paying high childcare costs.

Essexhousehusbands · 04/12/2022 18:33

Mortgage free here, in a small terrace house, but there is a bedroom each, we can walk to the beach, great shops and lovely bars and restaurants, and it’s a sun trap! Love it. Walking distance to the dcs schools.

we could prob mortgage again and get a massive house but why really? Just to have more rooms to hoover (well not me obv, my lovely cleaner does). I love that every inch of my house is used everyday. And yes, CoL has entirely missed us.

but I don’t care about having a drive way and a big house to show off so that helps.

Nevermind31 · 04/12/2022 18:33

Space, always space. Especially with children…

Zanatdy · 04/12/2022 18:34

Now I’d say mortgage free (kids 14 & 18, one gone to Uni) but when the kids were little I’d have done anything for a bit more space. Nice to have a detached too. 6 figure salary sounds a lot, but living in london isn’t cheap, so I guess it would depend for me what the trade off’s if any there would be from your current lifestyle

Ivyblu · 04/12/2022 18:35

Mortgage free as your child is young and you are trying for another. Kids are expensive and it gets worse as time goes on.

I prefer quality of life so for me I would organise the house some how and create space.

Ivyblu · 04/12/2022 18:37

userxx · 04/12/2022 16:17

Bigger house. I'm very nearly mortgage free, it doesn't excite me, I just crave more space!

OP has 4 beds to be fair! Unless she's planning on a huge family it should be plenty. Ohhh and cleaning a big house is no fun! Agree it's nice to have space but I would love to be rent free anyway!

yoyy · 04/12/2022 18:40

And yes, CoL has entirely missed us.

How?

money has been wiped off pensions. investments are declining, higher taxes on income, inflation eating away at savings. I'm not sure how anyone can entirely be unaffected by COL, I'm using private healthcare more as it's too difficult to see a GP.

ScrambledOrPoached · 04/12/2022 18:45

We chose mortgage free, as our house is actually amazing already. Yes we’d like another bedroom and a bigger bathroom but in the grand scheme of things, we are very lucky

Blondeshavemorefun · 04/12/2022 18:57

Mortgage free def

I am so relieved I don't have a mortgage now

With the col increases I can afford just - but cutting down on takeaway (was weekly) now 1/4 - less food /names brands /nice stuff - heating on less - less takeaway sb/coffee to name a few

Know lucky I have the above to cut down compared to some

If I hand mortgage and 800 as well would be screwed

RobinRobinMouse · 04/12/2022 19:02

For me it would depend on the situation, e.g. how much mortgage it would be and how many extra years there would be paying it. I'd also rather know I was in a home I wanted to be in for a long time without the annoyance of moving hanging over me. Detached would also be a big temptation for me as you never know in a semi who will end up living next door, which can have a major impact on the quality of your life. Actually for me I'd say I really wouldn't be bothered on a much bigger house, but would want a big garden and to be detached.

Cozytoesandtoast00 · 04/12/2022 19:25

My children are 11 and 14 and we live in a 4 bed semi with enough space. But I've wanted a house with more kerb appeal.
I'm trying to think sensibly though as I really wouldn't want to move and then have to downsize when the kids left home. We could stay in our current home forever.

Essexhousehusbands · 04/12/2022 19:26

yoyy · 04/12/2022 18:40

And yes, CoL has entirely missed us.

How?

No you are right, all those things have affected us and we might notice long term, but in terms of having to make changes to shopping or heating, we haven’t had to. Kids in state school, old reliable car…

I’d Marie Kondo the fuck of the house, install soundproofing on the shared walls and crack on with saving.

AngeloMysterioso · 04/12/2022 19:51

Bigger house… we’re a family of 4 in a 700ish sq. ft. 2 bedroom flat, so I would very much like a bigger house. Or even just a house, instead of a flat.

This thread is the epitome of #champagneproblems.

mast0650 · 04/12/2022 20:02

It sounds like you can fairly comfortably afford it, in which case I would definitely consider moving for the bigger garden and more space. You probably won't be part time for long. Technically we had enough space in our previous house, where our two chidren (now 19 and 20) were born. We had 4 bedrooms, though used one as a kind of second sitting room/family room. But we moved to something big and lovely with gorgeous garden (also in village rather than then city, so a little different). Definitely don't regret. Money has not been tight. It's ok to spend money on a bigger nicer house if it won't leave you doing without other things that are important to you.

Have you considered the possibility that you may want to pay for schooling in the future and factored that in (it wasn't a factor for us)>

AnneElliott · 04/12/2022 20:44

Since you ha e 4 bedrooms already I'd go for mortgage free. I can't wait to pay mine off - the sense of relief must be fantastic.

RandomUsernameHere · 04/12/2022 20:54

At the moment, mortgage free, given the current economic situation. We are living in a smaller house than we could afford at the moment, but own it outright. It's fine (eg the DCs have their own rooms, there's a study etc) but it's not my dream home. We will reassess in the next 2-3 years and may consider moving then but not before.

VestaTilley · 04/12/2022 21:11

In this market? Pay off your mortgage ASAP and stay put.

You can always look to move again 5 years down the line when we have a clearer idea of where the economy is going.

PurpleButterflyWings · 04/12/2022 21:17

Mortgage free any bloody day of the week. Been mortgage free now for nearly 10 years. It's just so amazing. No worries about rising interest rates or being kicked out of our home, because WE own it, and not the bank.

It's quite small - 3 bed cottage (but one bedroom is just 10 foot by 8.) has a big garden, but it's not a massive house. Suits me and DH.

We know a couple (bit older than us - we're mid 50s, they are late 50s -) who took out a £220,000 mortgage 3 years ago (aged 55 and 56) just so they could have a big 5 bedroom house with a double garage. The house was 23 years old when they bought it in 2019, and as soon as they bought it they needed to spend 1000s of £££ on it.

After 20-25 years a lot of things start showing their age on a house... So they have this huge mortgage which means they need to both work full time to pay, and they also have a load of debt now because of having to borrow money for repairs. Just to say 'we have a big 5 bed house,' they have bills and a mortgage they can barely afford, and are working all the hours God sends in jobs they hate, at 60!

Probably need to work to 75 now!

Unicorn2022 · 04/12/2022 21:49

I've always gone for the best house I could possibly afford and really stretched myself to do it. I've always seen the mortgage as an investment rather than as a millstone around my neck, as the vast majority of it is paying back capital. There's good debt and bad debt, and the London property market will always be a good investment. I have been mortgage free before but the appeal of having an extra £1500 or whatever a month to save or spend is nowhere near the pleasure I get from my house on a daily basis.

LolaSmiles · 04/12/2022 21:53

It would depend on circumstances.

In a 4 bed house in a nice area, then I'd choose mortgage free.

If I had 2 children already in a small 2 or 3 bed semi with a small garden then I'd choose the bigger house.

ehb102 · 04/12/2022 22:41

I had the chance of my dream house. Big. Outbuildings. Land. I realised in time that I don't like housework and I hate gardening. So we stay in a one bedroom per person house.

TippledPink · 04/12/2022 22:48

We have chosen to buy a bigger house-we have a 4 bed semi but as much as I love it, we need more space. We are getting a 5 bed new build, loads more space. I don't spend lavishly and it's my one main enjoyment. I could die in a year, I don't want to just have piles of money and no enjoyment from it.

BlueWalnut · 06/12/2022 08:57

I was in conversation with a professional landlord about the residential property market yesterday. Putting it here because mortgage free status means you don’t have to worry about the market or motivations behind it all in the same way. You have a roof over your head and it’s secure.

Banks are now investing more heavily in their own portfolios of housing for rent. See Lloyds bank here. The theory is that interest rates will be raised further by the Bank of England to ‘curb inflation’, and since banks make a good margin on residential mortgages, they will wait for the repossessions and then buy up property cheaply to add to their portfolios, making even more money.

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