just gutted our current house but now spotted one that would suit us better.

[thomasland]

just that really.

have after 7 years, finished completely finished our 1930s 3 bed semi, new flooring, 3 year old boiler, wiring, kitchen, painted, decorated, carpeted, small extension etc.

it really needed doing as untouched since the 1990s and badly bodged DIY by previous owner.

we always knew it could happen and it did... a good house, not a dream house has come on the market - 3 bed detached.

its the same floor size as our current one but is detached, has a 4 car drive way and has better size of kitchen, a downstairs toilet and a utility room. it means DC can stay at their school too. it has a garage too. Its aspect is closer to east than south east and feels a touch gloomy.

DH and i are really stuck. we can afford to move and the new mortgage (roughly calculated) will be affordable too. Our house is looking "good" now and we'd be heartbroken to leave it as it because it almost south facing and beautiful light in house.

We would love a detached house and this house is lovely, just needs an interior overhaul - the kitchen is 3 years old and good (not my style but i'd be more than happy with it). bathrooms are fine too.

its the detached - ness (bliss!) , the fact its in our budget, has a garage and is in our school area that is making us really hanker for it.

we've been for a viewing already, vendor obviously aware we arent on marketand the agent selling the detached has said ours would sell very quickly (could be the sales patter pre cursor).

Feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.
houses like the detached dont come up often in our area, ie a detached that we could afford.

the draw of a detached is huge as is the 4 car drive! are we mad considering this?

we are not worried about extra borrowing and this would be a house we would stay in a long time unless extenuating circumstances.

I don't understand the obsession with detached houses (I just think harder to heat and easier for burglars to get into) but, if that's what you want, then you should buy it. You'll get a premium for your house being all newly done and so maybe it's best just to cash in.

I misunderstood your thread title, OP, as I took the bit "just gutted our current house" to mean you had just started work on it

As you sound as though you have actually finished it and I guess you are in a fast moving area and that it's not merely typical EA bullshit, I would definitely get it in the market ASAP if you are sure the other house is perfect for your family's needs.

We did this in 2014, although ours wasn't quite finished - it had been a major DIY restoration project of a period house and tbh we were both knackered when our ideal house was relisted after a sale fell through. Neither ours nor the one we wanted to buy were in fast moving areas - different parts of the country too - but we got our arses into gear, finished most of the work on ours and had it on the market in a month. Five weeks later we were SSTC and we moved in less than two months later

Having viewed before putting ours on the market we did put in a cheeky offer - based on the fact it had been for sale for 18 months, but of course this wasn't taken seriously.

Of course there's a risk that if property is selling fast where you are the other house will go SSTC before yours, but going with the same EA might encourage them to find a buyer for yours quickly so they get two sets of commission.

I wouldn't for same size house. You have a better aspect. You've just done it up to exactly how you like it. I would stay put and enjoy it. If it were more bedrooms, better aspect, location, etc... Then I would consider it, but it doesn't sound like it is a 'wow' house to move to.

Give it a go. Get yours on the market, put an offer in and see what happens. You're not committed until a long way through the process and I get the feeling you'll always wonder "what if" if you don't.

If you didn't go for it would it really annoy you when someone else moves in?

Is it likely they will accept your offer if their house is desirable and doesn't come up often and you are not yet proceedable? Guess you can try but aspect is very important to me so personally I would wait for something that ticks all the boxes

It feels to me like moving for not much extra. I don't see it being worth the trouble, esp. as you said it is a good house not your dream house.

Thanks for the replies, dh and i have the whole afternoon pondering. I do like it alot. the main things i dislike are the almost east aspect (not very worried though as the living room will get west/evening sun) and i forgot to mention it is a sixties property so i wonder if there could be asbestos present.

indeed, they might not accept our offer as we are not at the best position for proceeding.

its not a wow house, a 4 bed detached would cost 100k more than our max and we cant borrow from family. its just a well maintained house with a better kitchen size, garage and 4 car drive. oh, did i mention detached?! . detached is important so we can watch tv/ have music etc and never have to worry.

Does the large drive mean you could extend later on if needed? If so then I'd go for it, simply because you could add value/space if you wanted to.

Just to say, detached is great but not always. In my many moves I have had a few detached homes and twice I have decided to move on because of unpleasant neighbours. [Parking/barbeques/shared drive/cats/dogs issues].

I had trouble with weird people in other detached houses who seemed to be very self important and think they owned the street [obviously chuffed to finally be detached themselves]...but I won't put up with bullying so choose to move. I do up properties/move a lot anyway so no big deal.

The benefits of detached are there re: noise issues, but people can be downright unpleasant and make living in yours quite uncomfortable and reluctant to bump into them outside whether you are both detached or not.

Also a neighbour of mine has a house facing south east and the sun is gone by 4-5pm. However you say the one you saw had sun from the west in the living room, maybe that will compensate.

Yes, would upset if we another family bought it. Put an offer to EA this morning and waiting for response. Think we are mad given the carpet in our current house is literally a week old and paint not dried!

Yes, not getting more living space or sleeping space for our money but hoping valuation of propery will be solid and we are getting detached, extra toilet, 4 car drive and garage.

Larger kitchen and utility though too.