Advice? Moving/upgrading

[24GinDrinkingOnceTheKidsInBed]

Me and DP brought our 2 bed house 3 years ago for £140k it was a little run down and we’ve since made it nicer and had a baby.

We’re now thinking of a second child and thus a 3 bed house. So I had someone out to value it today. We expected a figure of roughly £165k - and talked about trying to get a bit more mortgage so we can afford a house for around the 200k mark. - the estate agent valued out house at 200k, we’re shocked; but apparently it’s a big 2 bedroom house and because we’ve put in parking for 3/4 cars, have a space out the back and a garage it’s higher value than a regular 2 bed.

Now we would like to ideally buy a 3 bed new build. There’s one by us for £217k and would be our forever home.

But I just feel like it’s not as easy as we’re thinking it is, sell our house, try and get more mortgage and buy our dream home?

I mean, has anyone experience with selling a house you profited on and upgrading? As first time buyers before I just don’t know where to start or what to expect when selling and re-hoping.

Any experience stories or advice would be welcome; I don’t mind being told we’re being unrealistic too!

I've sold loads of property that has increased in value. I don't really understand your worry. If you manage a sale if 200k. The. Awesome you only have to find 17k but don't forget stamp duty estate agents solicitor fees etc.

It just seems almost too good to be true? We never imagined ever being able to find the money for a 200k house and now our first little home might sell for that much, a 60k profit. I just feel like gods plying a cruel joke.

Also wanted to check that I’m not missing something I haven’t thought about that could leave us bruised; as were now in that “do we just go for it and sell” stage, umm’ing and ahh’ing.

DP was more sceptical than I was and said if we put it on the market are we rushing into it, but if house prices are up at the moment and we wait.. we could be shooting ourselves in the foot..

We bought our first house for 150k then sold it 4 years later after spending 13k on it for £250k!

House prices are going up and up due to the stamp duty holiday and people assessing their lifestyle so I'd go for it now while you can.

I bought a home once for 52k. Sold it for 82k after 18mths and all I did to it was a paint job
This was back in 2000 tho.

It's crazy out there
I moved in first lockdown and so glad I did as it's really hard out there now

You’re proposing spending more on new house. If market falls then you’re house is worth less, but New House will also sell for less.

In your shoes, I’d get a couple more agents out to value, and see what happens. But that’s because once I’ve got itchy feet I want to go!

@Saz12 yea that is the other side of it, we may buy a new house for 200k in this climate of house prices being up; but if we allow them to go down we won’t afford that house.

We’re hoping that this house will be our forever home so not planning on selling it, this profit for us shouldn’t be a priority (we hope!)

But that is the whole concept behind the property ladder! You buy, add value, sell, increase mortgage a bit, buy bigger/better house. Repeat.

Hahaha which would be great if we hadn’t moved every 6 months or so as children. I can’t think of anything worse than moving house and shifting all our belongings. I want a nice, family home that stays with us until we either A) die and leave it to our children or B) give it to our children and move into a little bungalow when we’re all and lazy

I’m not sure I understand the worry – ideally houses should go up in value so you can climb the ladder, though houses are currently going up at stupid rates.

I would get more valuations though, and look hard at the local market: how many people need parking for 4 cars in a 2-bed house, and a garage? Why would a buyer choose your expensive 2-bed over a cheaper one to which they could add value, or why not stretch themselves to a 3-bed that’s not that much more than your 2-bed at this valuation?

It might be that you go on Rightmove at £200k but it doesn’t sell for that – the key is to not count your chickens til you’ve got an offer, so don’t start making budget plans til you know what that budget is. And as pp have said, don’t forget to consider costs of selling (estate agent, EPC, Conveyancing) as well as buying (Conveyancing, stamp duty), which will eat into some of the sale profit and curtail the budget too.