Has anyone gone for the smaller, more affordable house and not regretted it?

[Housechoice]

As above really! It’s the debate I find myself having with DH. We’ve 2 very young DC (no plans for more) and are weighing up the pro’s and con’s of a reasonable house for say £350,000 with some compromises versus a bigger ‘ideal’ house for say £450,000 which ticks every box. Location wise both would be similar area so no compromises there.

The Mortgage saving would be big by not taking out an extra £100,000, so less financial stress/worry.

I’m looking for any insights on those who found themselves making a similar decision and whether there’s any regrets either way?

We did this. DH's parents divorced when he was a child and his mum has always said that was partly down to the fact that DH's dad insisted on the big house at the top of their price range, and then mortgage rates went through the roof (mid 70s) and they couldn't afford to do anything, go out anywhere, every penny went on the mortgage and the stress and boredom and resentment destroyed their marriage.

Even now - we have a 5 bed semi - we compromised on the garden size and no driveway and as a result are mortgage free and have been since mid-40s. Would I love the driveway and garden? Yes. But it's a happy home and we have financial freedom as a result of our choices.

No regrets on staying in my FTB 2B terrace. Low mortgage (will be gone at 50), cheap to run and heat. I want to ENJOY my home, not struggle to afford it every month.

Is there a middle ground? I have two children and wish I had stretched myself further purely for storage reasons! I wish we had space for a play room for toys too.

We went for the modest cottage and I have no regrets.

Our area has loads of enormous period properties and we looked at a few. Ultimately I wasn’t comfortable taking a larger mortgage. When we are invited to kid’s birthday parties at the 8 bed Victorian mansions, I do feel a pang for high ceilings and mega-kitchens but I do NOT covet the cost.

Have been able to pay for our step daughter to move into private school that supports her recovery from eating disorder and school refusal. Never imagined we’d need to access money for that when we bought the house so enormous relief to have that option for her and not have all our wages committed to massive mortgage repayment every month. Have also just broken ground on a dream kitchen design, which isn’t palatial but is absolutely spot on for the property and what we need. Replete with dream range cooker. Again, not something I ever imagined we’d have.

Plus holidays. In short, we live our BEST life because we didn’t over stretch on the house. And still a lovely house with enough space.

20 years ago, when first entered property market, I was all about “stretch stretch stretch” for property but now I think differently about it. And I’m beginning to consider what I want my retirement to look like, even though it’s another 20+ years away.

Only caveat is that you do spend a lot of time at home so make sure you still choose a house that is “enough” (space, character, garden… whatever is important to you)

This. I think your post is really important and one every woman should consider. Could you afford the mortgage alone on your salary if you were to divorce? Many women say they have great husbands until they aren't great and knowing that you could potentially divorce and move house at the same time is a lot of stress for someone. I know, I've been through it and it was a lot and my dc's were only little.

We went mid-range of our budget. We did want one of the slightly bigger houses which were about 100k more expensive but none came available in the time frame. I still wish we had that extra bedroom. However we bought just before the post COVID housing and Interest rate madness. When we re-mortgaged the extra on the mortgage payment was a blow but not crippling as it would have been in the bigger house. We have just had to do home improvements at a slower rate. So in hindsight the extra bedroom wasn't worth having to live on beans on toast and no holidays.

We bought a house we could afford easily, with a view to moving in 10 years to somewhere bigger. 15 years and we haven’t lived and don’t intend to.
yes I sometimes wish I had a bigger house and garden and there is part of me which thinks we didn’t play the property game properly, but honestly iM happy that we don’t have a huge mortgage that we would have potentially struggled with. It’s allowed me to work part time and be round a bit more for the kids. I really believe there is joy in having enough. I could have a bigger house, more expensive clothes, a nicer car, more holidays but I honestly take satisfaction in having a house that mainly works for us, a stable job, 2 cars in the family, enough money to take the kids on holiday abroad each year. That’s enough and more really compared to a lot of people. I don’t want to chase more. there is no joy for me in financial stress. Although fully understand that People have diffetent priorities and what works for one family may vary to the next

To those saying a bigger house would have allowed someone to downsize later

a smaller house lets you save far more to a pension so that a downsize to release equity isn’t needed - and the older person gets to stay in the house they know and love

We're in the process of moving from the smaller affordable house to a bigger one, it was nice having lower outgoings while the kids were small and we were paying for childcare etc. But suprise baby number 3 means that the house is officially no longer big enough. I do regret not just stretching ourselves in the first place, as moving is such a huge hassle and expense.

It really depends how you use your house, so the one bedroom less, do you need it for a home office? Or do you have family who don't live locally and need somewhere to stay when they visit? We need both of these so the extra bedroom becomes important, but if you don't work from home and your family lives round the corner then it's less important. Bedroom size, do your kids actually hang out in their rooms? Ours don't so small bedrooms are completely fine for us. Just think about how you'd actually use the space and it'll become pretty clear if you would benefit from the bigger house or not.

Very similar to my situation. Paid off at 47. Kids now moved out

I would think long and hard about the space that you actually need and what you envisage needing in the future, because moving is expensive and house prices rarely come down, so what you save now you might have to spend even more in the future. I'm guessing this is your conundrum.

I would think about:

• do you need a spare bedroom for a snoring DH, regular guests, etc?
• do you need a home office and could the guest room work as both?
• do you and your DH really need separate offices because you both WFH?
• what about a utility room? I wouldn't be without mine.
• is the living room big enough to double up as a playroom or would you ideally have a separate playroom? Our kids are teens and the former playroom is now their room for doing homework and gaming with their friends. This can involve a lot of shouting so it's great to be able to close the door!
• what about a utility/loo/shower room downstairs? A lot of people have these multi-function rooms if space is at a premium.
• does the small house offer flexibility in terms of converting spaces? So is there room in the footprint (inc. the garage) to install e.g. a home office, a utility room, a downstairs loo/shower room, a guest room?
• What about the garden? Is there room to install a home office/guest room and would that be cheaper than buying the bigger house? Bear in mind that as your DC are little now you may want room for a trampoline, sand pit, paddling pool now, but in future you won't need those things.
• what about pets? Do you need space for a dog to run around? A catio?

Yes, our house felt tiny when kids were big. At times I regretted not pushing for a bigger home but more as a future asset. Now I’m glad.

That’s a very good point. I don’t know many who have downsized when older, they mostly want to stay in their existing home and “need” the space still (GC staying etc).

OP, I’d look at what the £350k house provides. I assume a bedroom each for dc? I’m in a tiny house with a teen and a younger Dc (both have their own rooms although younger one has a box room) and the only thing I’d really love is another bathroom and maybe a downstairs loo! Possibly a garage or better shed for a bit extra storage (I have no loft so all Christmas things, summer holiday things etc is crammed into the house). Other than that I’m pretty happy in my little house and would prioritise experiences/security/pension over space personally.

I’d also love to do small house with garden pod/guest room/bar/office/teen hangout space (could be used as any or all!). That might be my ideal and could be added later on assuming enough garden space. My teen dc has a tv in their room which isn’t great imo and an extra space for them might mean we could avoid that but for family harmony it works for us just now.

We went for the smaller house, partly because at the time we preferred the layout but also we thought we’d only have 1 DC so this still gave us a spare room. Ended up having another DC (very happy surprise!) and do now sometimes wish we had an extra bedroom. But, and it’s a huge but, this allowed us to pay off the mortgage in our mid 30s and have the freedom that comes with that.

We moved to a smaller/cheaper house than we could have got. I don’t regret it at all. The money spare has been used to make the house exactly as we want it, some home improvements and a few nice holidays. Plus a little extra spending money each month is helpful especially now food, kids activities etc are so expensive.

We didn’t want to stretch ourselves to the top of our budget for mortgage repayments and I’m glad we made that choice. Because I know several people with massive houses who are now selling to downsize as they can’t afford the mortgage after their fixed terms ended.

Nobody can predict your future circumstances and say whether it's a good or bad choice for you.

For me, I'm cheaper house all the way. Less financial stress and more disposable income. Also less to heat, clean and repair. Yes, you may end up with a moany teen saying their friends' houses are bigger, but that's fine, they can be ambitious and aim to buy a bigger house for themselves one day.

We went for the smaller more affordable house.
Mortgage is now paid off, DD through uni and I can think about going part time at 55 and retiring at 60.

Lots of sage advice on here, but I have the perspective of living in enormous house which I always thought I would love but actually was an incredible ball-ache and money pit in so many ways. Forget about the mortgage payments - it was the running costs that started really adding up. Decoration, carpets, curtains - insane costs just because you need so much of everything. Couldn't change lightbulbs without ladders. Never heated up because the rooms were big and ceilings high, energy costs were insane and we ended up closing off rooms and not heating them sometimes. If anything broke - much higher than the normal cost to fix. More space/windows etc meant there was more to actually go wrong. And then even if everything was ok, it took literally hours and hours to clean every week, just because of the size of it. Luckily we were just tenants but it definitely made me realise that there were also serious downsides to living in a place that is too big for you.

So when we bought our own, we decided only to borrow what could be covered on one of our salaries, was manageable on a running costs basis and wasn't a second full-time job staying on top of it all - it's given us a lot of peace of mind as a result.

We bought a house that would allow us to pay the mortgage on one salary. This has been so useful allowing me to work 2 days per week and look after DC the rest of the time without feeling stretched. As long as the house has everything you need I would say it can be a sound financial decision. We could easily have stretched ourselves for more but I am glad we didn't!

We went for the bigger house. I really regret it, dh doesn’t. I’d do anything for some financial security right now.

A friend took the decision for smaller house, it meant lower council tax and bills. She's never regretted it as meant she could work part-time and they've not had the financial stress of a large mortgage. This friend is a born worrier and someone who gets stressed very easily, so it's been for the best.

I have other friends who've stretched themselves and never regretted it.

Us, we've never been in financial position to move up from our starter home.

Go bigger. When your dc are small you underestimate how much space they take up as teens!

I've chosen to stay in a smaller house with an easily manageable mortgage rather than up-size and take on a mortgage stretch. The lack of financial stress is wonderful but it's a bit of a squeeze with 2 teenagers and I also feel a bit self-conscious inviting guests because it's in a grotty area with difficult parking. We're stuck for now with our younger DC's school but we're looking to move as soon as she's finished GCSEs.

I bought the smaller house after living in a large old stone built place. The former was beautiful but freezing, & every little noise brought fear as to what I'd be ringing builders for next.. I bought a practically new 3 bed instead, it's so WARM! Outgoings are low apart from fuel costs, (cheaper house so no mortgage) so how much would I have been paying in the freezing house to try & keep warm since the increases? Nothing is falling off it, so no repair costs! The roof tiles stay where they are meant to be..
I could see the way things were going with the economy & am so pleased to be here.

This is a point actually - I work 20 hours a week around DS and I can do this because our mortgage payment has been £750 for the last 14 years.