Cold feet- talk sense into me!

[Wellmeetontheledge]

Currently in the process of buying a smallish 2bed house with my boyfriend. At the moment we have no kids but plan on having them within the next five years. The 2 bed is the biggest we can afford and we are stretching ourselves but I now can’t stop worrying about whether it will be big enough to have a child/2 children in. It’s not a house we can add value to so moving house within 5 years is not an option. I think what makes me worry more is that we have been living with my parents in their BIG house.

If it’s all you can afford then it’s all you can afford.

Your parents house might be big but you only have a room there and that’s smaller than a house!

Everyone has to start somewhere!

do you love the house you are buying? Are you 100% sure it’s the right one?

Why not get somewhere run down that you can add value to? Or at least more space for your money. Easier to renovate pre kids...!

Having just moved from a small 3 bed house as we outgrew it with our 2 children within 5 years, I would urge you to look further out/elsewhere where you can get more for your money.

Buying and selling in a chain with things depending on it like school catchment areas and application deadlines was horrible - I became ill and didn't sleep for a while.

If you are already having doubts about where you are buying I would look at alternatives. It might be that you end up in the place you're currently buying but at least explore your options.

When we bought we knew we'd grow out of the house once we had a family but I don't think I appreciated how quickly that happened, nor how stressful the moving process is. That said, I don't regret buying our old house as we loved it and were able to add value and make a lot of money (that has meant we've now bought our forever home)!
I hope my ramblings help! Good luck x

Thank you for your replies.

All of the things you’ve mentioned are the things I’m worrying about. We can’t buy a bigger run down house as none have come up remotely near our budget range. (We’ve been looking for 9 months). We can only afford this house as the people moving want to sell quickly as they have already got their new house. We live in the south east in commuter territory to London which means everything is ridiculously expensive and sells fast. Moving areas dramatically is currently not an option but will be within seven years. Run down 3 beds are around the 250/260 mark minimum and we just can’t stretch to that.

We are already looking the furthest out that it is feasible to with our commutes considered.

Our current choices are; 2 bed flats with associated ground rents and service charges, the house we are buying or very similar, or staying with my parents indefinitely.

I suppose I already know that this is really our only option at the moment and I was hoping that other people had done the same and were happy with their choice.

Have you got the house for less than market value then, if the current owners have wanted a quick sale?

Most people are pleased to be able to get their foot on the property ladder with a small house or flat as the first rung.

I'm not sure what the cold feet are about. If yr partner were the man of your dreams a cardboard box would do wouldn't it?

After reading your last post OP it sounds like this is the best option - indeed personally I'd always go for a house over a flat (where affordable/possible). Plus if you are getting it for a steal as the owners need to move then you will start with some equity in the property.
If all the other options of moving further out/getting somewhere to do up aren't possible then it sounds like you have found your best property in the market right now.
One thing I would advise is keep looking in case anything else comes up but the second you exchange, step away from Rightmove and Zoopla and stop!

Years ago a very small 2 bed house was all we could afford in London. At the time we had no DCs. Dc 1 came along and it was fine. We did manage to move to a larger doer upper by the time DC 2 came along, but many of our friends had 2 DCs in small houses/ flats.
Take this opportunity, life changes throughout the years and you will move on to other properties, but get on the housing ladder now.

I think buying something too small is better than not buying at all - otherwise you will never be able to buy a bigger house. At least being in commuting distance to London means that our house should increase in value (obviously that's not a given) and if you overpay your mortgage as much as possible within the limits of your repayment terms, in 5 years or so you should be able to release enough equity to upsize. If you haven't started trying for children yet you may well not have two within 5 years anyway.

Many many people do this... we bought a 2 bed flat, dis some work to it, got payrises and saved, kept it for three years like the previous 3 owners, bought a 4 bed house on a busy road, had children, moved out of London. It's what people do...

We've bought a 3 bed house with the intention of having two children sharing the second bedroom, leaving the third free!

Currently: Master, two guest bedrooms (one a laundry room/single bed).
First child: 3rd bedroom as nursery room, moved into 2nd when needs space for toys.
Second child: 3rd bedroom as nursery, joins 1st when sleeping well enough.

Then if we can afford to move separate them when we have 4 beds, and if we can't they can split when they're older. Sharing a bedroom should be no chore at all when they're little IMO.

Thank you for your replies :) it’s been great for gaining some perspective! I tend to majorly overthink stuff!