AIBU to give up being mortgage-free to buy our dream home?

[Dreamhome4]

We’ve been offered what feels like our dream house — it’s spacious, in a great location, and ideal for our young family. The current owners are relocating abroad and have offered it to us for £50k below market value.
Right now, we’re mortgage-free, which I know is a rare and lucky position to be in. But to buy this house, we’d need to take out a £275,000 mortgage over 35 years. Monthly payments would be £1,220. I’m currently a stay-at-home mum to our toddlers, so we’re living on one salary. After all bills, we’d have about £500 left over each month for the next two years — but we’ve also got a £20,000 emergency fund as a safety net.
In two years I’ll be going back to work, and we plan to start overpaying to bring the mortgage down.
We could wait until I’m working again to buy, but honestly I don’t think a house like this will come up again — it would give the kids so much more space to grow up in, and really feels like a forever home.
AIBU to even consider this when we’re currently mortgage-free? Or is this the kind of opportunity that’s worth stretching a bit for? No matter what, we will definitely have to move in the next five years for more space.
Would really appreciate your thoughts.

In your situation, I'd do it. My home always means 10 x more to me than any holidays etc.. but that's just my personal opinion.

Do it.
I regret not doing this sooner

What’s the diff between the houses

as in size /rooms etx

I’m mortgage free. I wouldn’t ever upsize and get a mortgage again esp as now a single parent

I’m forever grateful I have a forever roof over dd and I head and if work is slow as se I can survive

A girl after my own heart! We didn’t have a holiday abroad for ten years so that we could work towards eventually buying our dream home..it was all worth it. Absolutely no regrets…

what is your gut instinct? When making big decisions part of the process is how we ‘feel’ about making that choice

@Dreamhome4
you've done the numbers! Its your dream.

based on your updates I'd go for it!!!

If you’ve been saving for years for your dream house and whenever someone gives you a negative reason not to get a mortgage - you say have it covered so you might as well just do it

You can then sell the home and buy smaller or rent.

We will own 63% of the property outright with our current savings and using the money from our house.
I just don’t want to buy it, regret it, and then sell it. We would have then wasted all that money on stamp duty.

Have you factored in stamp duty, EA and lawyer costs?

Have you factored in the need for redecorating the new property? New boiler? New windows? New carpets? New doors? Or anything else that may need sorting?

We have factored in all the costs for buying. We were previously looking at buying another house 100k cheaper. However, it needed modernisation- a new kitchen and new bathroom which we realised would cost us. This has been recently redecorated and wouldn’t need anything updated.

Indeed - an old friend who lost his wife recently told me "Nothing is promised". We paid off our mortgage as soon as we could and currently live in a smaller house - THAT was our "dream".

Bricks and mortar that stretch your finances to the limit - especially if something unforeseen acts to make you poorer than you anticipated - can easily turn into a nightmare.

From what you’ve said, that £500 left over is really extra on top of everything else, that sounds good to me! I’d do it! (But then my mortgage is £6000…I’d kill for one your size!

Do it! Do it! Having plenty of space is such a fab feeling that cannot be underestimated.

I agree with this. If that's what you have left after only bills and it would be this way for 2 years, then I definitely would not do it now.

Have you looked into this because they will exclude pre existing health conditions, also the payments for a 275K mortgage will be high.
Also many moons ago we had this insurance, however when dh was out of work due to the recession the conditions were that we had to wait 30 days until we could make a claim and he had to sign on at the job centre for benefits, as we would not have survived for more than 30 days on benefits and the mortgage would have been due he didn’t bother to make a claim and found another job. We haven’t bothered with it since but made sure we had savings to cover the mortgage and essentials for a while.

I now live in my dream home, we were mortgage free before deciding to go for it, however our mortgage now is about £400 per month and if we couldn't pay that we have enough equity in this house to buy another house mortgage free, otherwise I wouldn't have moved.

I wouldn’t.

Keep current house or change later for something with a smaller mortgage.

a 35 year mortgage is bonkers at nearly 40.

mid 70s before paid off. So your whole life saving and being careful

Personally I would prefer to not have to work full time at 70 and spend time with family, grandchildren potentially and life

Sounds far too tight to me. You will spend more than your savings for the next two years. You have no spare cash. £500 after bills for a family is nothing. What happens if something unexpected comes up? Do you have any other way of getting some additional money?

Ignore my reply. I completely misunderstood! I thought you were already on £500 per month to live on after bills and were going to dig into the 20k to pay the mortgage for two years.

What is so bad about your current house?

I would rather be mortgage free than stuck with a mortgage I would be paying possibly into my 70s.
You say you will pick up a job in 2 years and it only needs to be a few hours - will that actually be possible? The job market is tough at the moment and even getting a supermarket job isn't as easy as people once considered.

I would do it but I'd also go back to work now in order to increase the amount you have leftover at the end of the month. I think a 35 year mortgage is lengthy at this age so I'd want to be overpaying it as soon as possible.

I think you need to really consider what is wrong with your current house? There will always be bigger houses and fancier things but there comes a point where you need to learn to be content with what you have and put blinkers on to the rest. It's ultimately your choice at the end of the day.

Mortgage free is the dream! But saying that, if moving is your end goal - houses are only going to get more expensive. Lock it in!

Given what you've said about what the £500 needs to cover and what you've already accounted for, I'd go for it. You'll be getting a great deal so in the long term it will pay off financially.

Am I the only person thinking that £500 disposable income a month plus £20k in savings is beyond the reach of most people?! Mumsnet can be incredibly out of touch sometimes. OP, I would do it. You can always sell up if it gets too much, and if the house is in a desirable area you will make the money back and more.

Mn covers all walks of life so to speak

you only need to look at the pb thread to see what a vast diff incomes and savings are

many on mn have £50k+ x 2/3 - equally many struggle every month and live literally hand to mouth on nmw

I would buy the house. 500 pounds savings each month is plenty for most people. A house already done up is cheaper than buying one that needs loads of work. If it is the house you think you will be happy in, go for it. There is a sense of contentment and wellbeing that comes with living in the right house for you and your family - especially if you aren't that into spending money on expensive holidays. You have options later too. You can make overpayments when you earn more, or downsize when the kids leave home.