Active discussions

Best Amazon Prime Day deals: Mumsnet favourites

Best Amazon Prime Day deals:
Mumsnet favourites

Shop now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Two questions about priorities (house related)

54 replies

Cuddlycatlady · 03/06/2020 19:35

First question is how high on your list of priorities in life is your house? Is it the most important thing and you’d sacrifice other things eg car and holidays to have what you want? Or do you prefer to compromise a bit house wise in order to have more of the other things? Obviously assuming you’re not a millionaire who can have it all.

I’m eyeing up a house which would be a big increase month to month for us - around a £400-500 increase when taking into account both mortgage and council tax. I’d love a big house that we can enjoy without feeling on top of each other. It’s also really important to me for my kids to have space where they can gather with friends in the future. We are very much homebodies and would always choose a night in with a takeaway in front of the tv over a meal out type of thing. If we bought this house it would probably mean not updating our car until one of us was earning enough more to account for that. That sort of thing.

Second question is what are your priorities when looking for a house? Is it size, location, decor, layout? The house we like is nothing to write home about decor wise and because we currently live in a shithole (to put it kindly) I kind of wanted our next house to just be lovely but then I think even if it was lovely it still might not be to our exact tastes and home decor is an ongoing thing anyway so regardless of what it looks like now you’d likely redecorate within 5 or so years anyway. It’s fairly inoffensive - just some naff laminate etc.

Any thoughts?

OP posts:
PurBal · 04/06/2020 08:14

Oh, and I'd never choose somewhere because it was decorated nicely or not. That can be changed. I've looked at recently refurbished places (including kitchen and bathroom) and know I'd have to rip it out to get what we want. Wouldn't pay a premium for it.

Original poster
Cuddlycatlady · 04/06/2020 11:02

Well after all my sums and discussions on here the house is under offer! Apparently the seller asked the estate agents not to make it as under offer due to Covid19. So it doesn’t look like we’ll need to worry about a big new mortgage any time soon! Thanks for everyone’s thoughts though because I’m sure the right house will come along.

OP posts:
Jenjenn · 04/06/2020 11:13

Your plan sounds reasonable. My priorities would be location, location, location then orientation (back of house facing S or SW), then size/layout/garden. Then structural elements such as insulation etc. Decor would not matter.

Desiringonlychild · 04/06/2020 11:19

Top priority for me is location-proximity to work, in-laws and good state schools. I don't want to spend a penny more than I need to on commuting as that is a sunk cost. I may get a car in the future but I want the feeling that it would be no hardship to give up if circumstances changes as the public transport is ok; I have a feeling that car ownership is going to be much more expensive in the future due to climate change and the fact that lithium (in electric cars) us also a finite resource. I want to be near in law's for backup childcare. I want to be near good state schools in case I can't afford private school for whatever reason.

The combination of factors means that my choice ultimately is a 2 bed flat in zone 3 London. Good state school areas in well connected North London suburbs are ££££.

ChicCroissant · 04/06/2020 11:57

Sorry to hear that OP, I know that you shouldn't picture yourself in a house until the deal is done but most people do! I hope another lovely house comes along very soon, but keep an eye on the sale in case it falls through.

GemmeFatale · 05/06/2020 16:18

It’s worth asking the agent to keep you in mind. We were the third couple to try to buy our house. The first one pulled out because there was an issue with some work on the property which was sorted by the time we came along. The second couple lost their sale because of a floating freehold. Apparently about ten percent of purchases fail somewhere between offer and completion so it’s worth making your interest known.

Original poster
Cuddlycatlady · 05/06/2020 17:04

I replied to their email just saying if anything changed we’d be keen to view so we will see if we hear from them.

I think it has made me realise I want the size though. Checked out another house online and yes it has enough bedrooms for us but I really think I want the extra bedroom and possibly second living room too. £100k price difference though!

OP posts:
easterbrook · 05/06/2020 17:15

I'd rather live in an amazing forever house and drive around in an old banger.

notheragain4 · 05/06/2020 17:26

@Cuddlycatlady and usually you need the extra bedroom to get the appropriate sized downstairs space.

Have you considered a new build and help to buy? It's not for everyone, you'd need to make sure you understood all the ramifications, but it's what is (hopefully) getting us into our forever home quicker. We like new builds though, I know they're not everyone's cup of tea!

notheragain4 · 05/06/2020 17:26

@Cuddlycatlady and usually you need the extra bedroom to get the appropriate sized downstairs space.

Have you considered a new build and help to buy? It's not for everyone, you'd need to make sure you understood all the ramifications, but it's what is (hopefully) getting us into our forever home quicker. We like new builds though, I know they're not everyone's cup of tea!

notheragain4 · 05/06/2020 17:27

Sorry for double post!

Original poster
Cuddlycatlady · 05/06/2020 17:33

There are some GORGEOUS new builds near us which we’ve been to see 2/3 times but it would mean us moving our kids school and I’m just not sure I want to do that. The ones we saw had the big dining kitchen, living room and the dining room that we could let the kids use as their own little space.

I agree - were unlikely to get a 3 bed with 2 living rooms I think!

OP posts:
GallusAlice79 · 05/06/2020 18:10

Incidentally our house is a new build, which was not what we originally intended to buy and we are SO glad we did!

New builds are a great way to keep costs down (if you splurge on a more expensive house) as you have no decoration costs, and don't need to worry about unexpected bills.

Original poster
Cuddlycatlady · 05/06/2020 18:44

The new builds we looked at are a good £40k more than the house this thread was actually about so even more of a stretch unfortunately.

I know there’s a ‘preloved’ new build coming up for sale soon but a small 4 bed - we’d need to convert the garage or add a sunroom for that second living space. It might be worth viewing though.

I wonder how much bad karma I’ll receive for praying this person’s mortgage falls through and we can see that first house.

OP posts:
intheningnangnong · 05/06/2020 18:56

My priorities are:

Travel
House
Entertainment
Car
Clothes
‘Stuff’

notheragain4 · 05/06/2020 19:11

@Cuddlycatlady yes we are having to move the kids' school, I'm pretty gutted tbh as we love the school, I feel so guilty to disrupt them, but there's just such limited housing options here so we figured we need to do now before they start high school. Not an easy decision and it's taken us 2-3 years to make, so I understand wanting to avoid it.

notheragain4 · 05/06/2020 19:14

Help to buy would mean the government front 20% of the cost which is interest free for the first 5 years and means lower mortgage payments. Only available to second time buyers until March 2021, not a decision to be taken lightly as there are strings of course, but may be worth speaking to the developer's financial advisor for more info to see if it would be suitable for you?

notheragain4 · 05/06/2020 19:14

Sorry I've just seen the new builds would mean moving schools, ignore me!

Original poster
Cuddlycatlady · 05/06/2020 19:20

Interesting to see travel at the top of someone’s list!

Moving schools isn’t definitely out of the question but it’s just the guilt. The kids are dead set against it. I would feel absolutely awful! I’m not sure a second living space makes up for the guilt Blush

OP posts:
Original poster
Cuddlycatlady · 05/06/2020 19:20

The help to buy thing scares me a little but admittedly it’s because I don’t know much about it!

OP posts:
notheragain4 · 05/06/2020 19:33

Yes my eldest really wasn't keen. It was only because we found the perfect house that gives him a big bedroom, park right outside, double garage to "tinker" in with his dad that he has tolerated it. I am dreading the day when it comes though. Youngest doesn't care! He's in the box room though so very happy to be getting an upgrade ha!

I understand apprehension towards HTB, ideally we wouldn't need it, but it works for our circumstances for several reasons but it won't suit everyone, so something to research maybe :)

GemmeFatale · 05/06/2020 19:36

You could also look at longer term mortgages. We were offered up to 35 years Which I was surprised at. Ended up going for a more standard term but it might be an option.

RippleEffects · 05/06/2020 20:00

If you really liked the new builds you could put your cards on the table and offer £40k less, whats the worst that could happen? - wouldn't change the school situation though.

My first house we came off a fixed mortgage rate of about 8% and were trapped on a rate just above that. They'd been higher than that in previous years.

People like to fret about all sorts of things and worry people about all sorts of things but if you average interest rates over 10/ 20/ 30/ 50/ 100 years they don't come out any where near as low as they are now.

What would happen if they go upto 5%? Do you have enough equity (within the new price) that you could cut loses if the market drops by 30%? How much comfort flexibility is there in your numbers

SprogletsMum · 05/06/2020 20:59

We just downsized from a 4 bed with two living spaces to a small 3 bed semi with only 1 living space, and there's 6 of us.
I just couldn't cope with the amount of cleaning and the heating bill was astronomical.

isitamapletree · 05/06/2020 21:00

Location is more important to me than holidays/lifestyle spending but not the house.

We moved when dd1 was one to a good location where we were happy bringing up children but the house was just ok, we didn't stretch ourselves. But I would have stayed there forever as dc in a nice community, good schools etc. And we love to have 5/6 holidays a year as that's our thing. We don't care about cars so that would be low on the list.

We were able to move up the ladder a few years ago and now have a bigger, nicer detached house but I would never have done it if we had to give up our holidays for it. I would wait until you can comfortably afford it or really decide on your priorities. If you're homebodies it may be worth it. The only factor I wouldn't compromise on is location. Size and layout are important but you can make sacrifices/adjustments to suit your budget and needs. Decor you can change over time so wouldn't be an issue at all for me.