What would you rather...?

[Juicyjuicer]

One huge family home or a family home that was big enough and money spare to invest in a second property? (For example like a small cottage near the sea).

My current feeling is to go with the latter. Having a huge family house is a nice idea when kids are young but I rate a homely house over a huge imposing house any day. Thoughts?

IMO holiday homes need to be relatively close (eg less than an hour away) to get regular use to justify the cost both initial and running.

Also consider how your lives will change as the children get older and want Saturday jobs, play football on a Sunday morning or just hang out with friends.

So in conclusion, I'd buy a larger family home - you can always rent (the same) cottage for the few weekends you can really get away!

I'd go for option 2 I think, if the holiday home was somewhere that was easily accessible eg an hour away, and you could go every weekend.

Or I'll suggest a third option that will probably have loads of posters throw up their hands in horror at the naffness of it. Slightly bigger house and a static caravan on a nice quiet caravan park (ie the type where only owners are allowed, not the ones where they hire the vans out to hen parties etc).

When I lived in Glasgow I had a boyfriend whose parents owned a lovely little cottage on Arran. We went over for many weekends and the minute we were on the ferry all the stresses of the city were washed away.

I'd love to do option b. However, the dc have so much on at weekends that it would be sitting empty most of the time.

Option 1. I think it'd be weird being tied to go on holiday to the same place all the time, which I'd have to do to justify having a second property to myself. Much better to rent holiday cottages and see lots more of the country/world.

We maintain holiday homes as a business and a lot of the owners don't take the maintenance costs into consideration. For quite some time we've had 2 properties as well and we've found maintenance of both a chore.

Even if it was for an investment and we had the money to do it again I don't think I would. But I also live in a house with quite a lot of space which I love but both dh and I find that a lot of work too.

In an ideal world we'd do treacle 's 3rd option. Or, medium size house plus boat or campervan.

Thanks girls. I like the idea of a caravan actually. But as some of you suggested you may as well just save your money and go on holiday to different places each year. Anyway the house I was looking at (which was not huge meaning we may have been able to invest in a second property) we lost out on.

I would have chosen option 1 too. I would absolutely hate to go on the same holiday more than once and also agree that the second property needs to be near the first which then wouldn't feel like a holiday to me.