Would I be mad to move to a bigger house right now?

[whereiscaroline]

Last year, my dream home came onto the market. I was too slow and missed out on it. It's just come back on to the market and I was so excited when I saw it listed.

It will take about 5-10 mins off my 60 min commute. Still close enough for DS to get to school (by bus). Has the perfect floor layout, which I've not seen in any other suitable house in 9 months of looking since, and is significantly bigger than where we are now. It's got the potential to be a forever home.

BUT it would mean increasing my mortgage from £560 a month to £850 (with help to buy scheme) or £1050 a month (without help to buy scheme). I'm a single parent and clearly we're not in the most stable economic place globally right now! Would you go for it or let it go?

What s your job like? How secure?

Is it the sort of house that you I'll sell easily if you need to or will you be stuck with it?

What is your back up if you get into troylbd financially? Family / bank or poor credit rating etc

Some questions that I would ask. Buying houses is always risky but it will depend on your circa I guess.

Do you know why they’re selling again so quickly? Does the estate agent?

If they really want to sell now they’re probably nervous about it and you might get a good deal.

I would imagine it didn't actually sell @ElphiasDoge if it was only 9 months ago, my guess would be it went under offer and that sale has fallen through? Either way, the vendors are likely to want a quick sale!

But sorry, to actually answer your question! Can you afford the new mortgage payments? Is your income secure? Do you love it enough to be happy to carry on paying that mortgage if house prices fall and other houses come on to the market for a lower price? If yes, go for it!
We are waiting to exchange on a house, knowing that the market may change, but we love it and we want it enough to weather any storms that may come (I hope!)

Thanks for replies!

Answering questions in order:

I work at Head Office for a (non-food) retailer so it's arguable whether my job is particularly secure right now tbh. I am one of a small number of staff who haven't been furloughed though so I'm taking that as a good sign. My job is non-industry specific though (think along the lines of accounting).

I think it would sell fairly easily if I needed to, but in a recession, who knows?!

Back up if trollied financially - I'm on 3 months' notice and have 3-4 months' of emergency savings stashed. So that would cover me for about 7 months if the worst happened and I couldn't find a new job. After that, I'd struggle.

Yes, it's not being sold again quickly. It's a new build and the two chains it's been in since I saw it have both fallen through.

From the setup, I'd skip it personally. There will be other 'dream' houses.

I'd go for it. You'll forever regret it if you don't.
£1000pm is a big mortgage though (our is it? We bought our house yonks ago, so mortgage much smaller than that)

If it's a new build, you could ask if they'd consider part exchange?

If you lost your job how long could you keep up paying the mortgage using savings? In this instance would you be willing to have a contingency plan e.g take in a lodger?

Do you get child support ? How secure is his job ? Tbh I’ve been paying £1099 a month on £2000 a month income and nobody’s died. It’s nicer the months I earn £3000 but it’s not impossible

I don’t think new builds will drop in price they will just make the scheme 25% instead of 20% if that’s what it comes to.

I think you need a full structural survey, ideally by a surveyor who specialises in New Builds.

You don't know why the previous sales fell through. You need to be sure that there are no issues with the building.

On the other side, do you know c about the Government's Rent a Room Scheme? If you have have a lodger, you can receive rent of around £7,500 free of tax. This would help towards the mortgage should things get tough.

Yes, it is a big mortgage. About £260K. Or I could take a £200k mortgage and use the Help To Buy scheme to have a lower mortgage payment for the next 5 years.

I do get child support but it's laughable (he's self employed). My main source of income is my salary.

Lodger is an excellent shout. That could work very well - there is a separate downstairs bedroom and full bathroom with bath and shower down there so that would actually be a great short term solution if I was in dire straits. I think that's probably enough to convince me to go for it actually! Argh!

@whereiscaroline I’m looking at something very similar myself. It’s a horribly big mortgage but the entire top floor could be rented out and my bit of the house would be Undisturbed

You cant have a lodger if you use help to buy, just keep that in mind!

I think you can @Picklesprout you can’t let out the whole property - but tbh even if you can’t - you’d just keep your mouth shut wouldn’t you

You definitely can't as we had issues with this previously, but yeah keeping your mouth shut is also an option!

Ahhh fair enough