Small house - are we making a mistake?

[Dariastar]

We are just about to exchange on our flat in London as we have a one-year-old and are hoping to have another child as soon as possible and need more space.
We found a lovely little Victorian cottage in East Finchley - it's well-priced, because it's half a mile from the station and not the best area (there's a fair amount of traffic on the road, but not an A road or anything like that).
Ultimately it's a two bed with a lovely new kitchen (that's what lured me in the first place!), small south west facing garden, and we would convert the loft to make it a three-bed as soon as we moved in. It's well within our means, even factoring in the loft, but my DH has suddenly got very cold feet and wants to move two stops further away, and stretch ourselves to the absolute max (5 times our joint salary) and buy the "house for life". There's not much available right now, so would mean renting while we wait for the dream home to come up (we don't want to lose our buyer). I really like that cottage, but do see what he means - I am very risk averse, work in an unstable profession, while he has a very stable career that's on the up, with salary rises in coming years. And the thought of another baby put me off stretching ourselves. But will it be ridiculous to buy a small house with small garden now and then have to move in say 6 years? Would we regret buying this small place? Any advice would be most welcome!

Based in SW London, currently living in Paris for DH's job.

When you buy at the top of your budget you can't do anything to it for years. But the potential is there to expand living space later on, without the costs of moving, if your family grows or you want to increase the value of the property.

Lofts are really expensive to do and fiddly. Having seen the bigger house, I think your husband's right.

would the parents aka free childcarer be willing to take the bus to the new house?

are you happy with bus/car to local finchley central for shops rather than into nice muswell hill... ? (tho you could bus/drive across n circ...)

arts depot is good tho for kids stuff

i think this is about lifestyle tho and the location.

[and it is ridiculous that the Finchley house has only one bathroom!)

I'd go for the bigger one to save moving again in 5 years

Exactly - in the time you are in the small house, if house prices continue to rise then the bigger house will get more expensive comparatively i.e. 650 and 850 now is a £200k difference +10% is a £220k difference.

Stamp duty is going to be £32k on the larger house. Do you really want to be paying stamp duty on the small house, and then in 5 years ANOTHER £32k? Makes sense to stretch now if you can to reduce the numbers of moves.

Do you think you can have a lodger in the loft room and they use only the kitchen but not the rest of the house?

You absolutely can – but you would obvs have to charge a little bit less than if this were an equal house share type arrangement though to reflect that. However with a nice sofa area up in the loft this would probably be preferable for the lodger hanging out awkwardly with your family!

What is it to the tube? 15 mins?

I am 100% with your husband on this one :-) Think how nice it will be having friends over - plenty of space for kids to play, lovely dining area - will be WAY better for socialing at home.

It has taken 5 pages for people to get to my way of thinking. I was getting concerned that I surely can't be the only one out there that doesn't enjoy moving too many times and the successive expense and upheaval that goes with it.

That house in the link that your husband likes is great. If you can afford it just go for it.

Cestlavie with a bigger house and garden I'd probs be less inclined to seek out cafes etc, but even if we did want the loveliness of muswell hill, we can bus it or drive. it's so quick. still have Victoria Park on the doorstep.

Whois the comparative price rise is a few years pricing us our of a bigger home is what's putting me off the small one. Whathe do you mean by +10%? the small house is a good investment because after the development it'll be worth more and there would be a 10k profit before the usual inflation with time. The big house is slightly overpriced imo. however it will surely go up more in value comparatively. Ultimately you have to buy somewhere you want to live rather than what's going to make most money. But we don't want to be priced out in 6 years...

less than 15 min walk to tube. And will do living area in loft room including table for eating!

Whathe do you mean by +10%?

I was just doing a crude calculation to show that any % increase in house prices would put the gap between the price of the small house and the larger house wider apart.

he small house is a good investment because after the development it'll be worth more and there would be a 10k profit before the usual inflation with time
But you loose that £10k profit with stamp duty if you make an extra move on the ladder.

will do living area in loft room including table for eating!
Maybe a bit harsh to make them eat upo there as well ;-) Long way to carry breakfast plates up and down etc.

if you put a shower room and add kettle, microwave, small fridge it isnt a bad rental bed sit...

Never mind the bars and restaurants. What are the child centric facilities like? For example which house is closer to nice parks and playgrounds? What about availability of childcare options in both locations (or would you have a nanny)? Are there lots of young families in both areas?

From your later posts it sounds like the suburb is more young family centric and that really does make a big difference when you have toddlers/preschoolers and especially once you have 2 young DC - bluntly at that point your life is all about them and trendy bars are a bit irrelevant!

And yes, space at home makes a MASSIVE difference when you have a toddler and baby and all the associated crap kit.

Whois sorry about the terrible autocorrect on my phone.

Re the profit I've factored in stamp duty and lawyer fees. So 10-20k profit as no loss of fees by doing next purchase. However it would undeniably be a pain to do...

The bigger house is a no-brainer if it's affordable and commutable.

*affordable =
Can be afforded if OP loses her job / goes part-time / becomes SAHM
Can be afforded if the OP's husband loses his job / becomes SAHD
Can be afforded with the cost of childcare for two children
Can be afford with all of the above with higher commute costs
Can be afforded if OP and her DH are not forced to put their kids into independent school.

Commutable =
Respective workplaces can be reached factoring in dropping off children at 7.30am/8am and being back to place of childcare by 6pm.
Can this commute be done solo by either parent if business trips or inflexible working hours are an issue
Can this be managed by the OP in a non stable job.

Of course moving home should be minimised, it's the logical answer. It's not always that easy though unless you have all the answers.

House is showing as Sold STC in any case.

TreadSoftly good points - totally not affordable should any of those worst things happen (job loss/illness) BUT would rent out loft room which would be the buffer.
As for commute, it'll be rubbish for me (just over an hour) but easy for DH so he will do the children chauffeuring

House is available not sold :)

This one?
www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/40598007#stV6cYm5fs9eEvUs.97

It's got a SOLD STC triangle in the corner of the first pic?

Having recently moved, I would not recommend buying a house that you think you will out grow in 5 years. If I thought I would have to move again that soon, I don't think I would sleep at night. it can't be that bad again. it can't be that bad again