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Original poster

What would you do?

26 replies

spanielsandfourbyfours · 02/09/2021 09:38

We have two very young children in a tiny three bed terrace- very top heavy so hardly any space downstairs for toys etc.

Currently have a budget of 900,000 if we moved now which in our area might stretch to a 4 bed semi and the right part of town. Hardly anything is coming on the market though. If we wait 2 or 3 years then we'll probably have a budget of around 1.1-1.2 million as won't be paying such a fortune in childcare and DH is on track to receive some more pay rises- this will get us more of a 'forever' home- 4-5 bed pretty detached. However it would coincide with DC1 starting primary school and we would have to stick it out in our tiny house in the mean time.

What would you do- move now or stick it out a few more years?

OP posts:

AfternoonToffee · 02/09/2021 12:43

What is the deal with school catchment areas? I think I would weigh up those options first.

EverydayCook · 02/09/2021 12:51

The problem is, in 2-3 years the houses which are currently £1.2m could be £1.5-1.6m (this is what has happened in our expensive area). I think it partly depends if you can afford the forever home then, if that happens. The house that's £900k now might be £1.2m then so you may just be paying more for the same house.

Like PP I can't emphasise enough being sure of your primary catchments - it can seem far off but in the not too distant future it will matter hugely to you.

parietal · 02/09/2021 12:54

I dislike the myth of a 'forever home'. people need different homes at different stages of life. right now, you need more space & to be in catchment for the primary you want. So move now. That will give you a good 5-7 yrs in a nice 4 bed semi and move again when the kids get to secondary age.

Original poster

spanielsandfourbyfours · 02/09/2021 13:23

I'm very aware of the importance of catchments as I'm a teacher. We're v lucky in that the school we're currently in catchment for is very good, but as are all of the primaries in this town (bar one which I know to avoid). So we could stick it out here and I'd be v happy for them to attend the local school, it's excellent.

To the poster who said we could move again in the future- that's true- but we are desperate not to if possible. Stamp duty at that level is massive and moving is so stressful!

And it's a good point about house prices rising. They're shooting up around here. The problem is that there are so few suitable houses coming onto the market and I really don't want a compromise house for that much money.

My hope is that DH's salary will continue to rise faster than house prices do. Last year we tried to move with a 700000 budget and so I'm hopeful our budget will continue to grow quite quickly?

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Original poster

spanielsandfourbyfours · 02/09/2021 13:26

Or another option could be to decide on our favourite choice of primary, sell this house and move into a rental in catchment for the school of choice. Then be able to make a competitive, chain free offer on the house of our choosing as and when it comes on the market- instead of being pressured to buy one that isn't perfect- or is that a silly idea?

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optimisticpessimist01 · 02/09/2021 13:51

If you don't want to move again I would wait a few years and buy the bigger, detached forever home. A couple of years will go by really quickly too!

Saz12 · 02/09/2021 19:01

Do t sell and move into rental - it’s too risky if property market goes up. Stay put, if market falls then it won’t matter (as you’re looking to buy more expensive).

Stamp duty, fees, moving costs, and redecoration would put me firmly off moving as a temporary measure. I’m guessing getting DC to share a room to free up a bedroom to have as an upstairs playroom wouldn’t work?

Original poster

spanielsandfourbyfours · 02/09/2021 19:19

Yes being priced out whilst in rental would be a concern.

Both DC are far too young to use a bedroom as a playroom sadly (4 months and 20 months). It's a good idea though!

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EverydayCook · 02/09/2021 19:46

I don’t want to labour the point, but what’s a £900k compromise now will likely be a £1.2m compromise in three years. What’s £1.2 now may be £1.5m then. That’d take a hell of a salary hike in three years to make it doable if you aren’t expecting an inheritance or windfall any time soon.

What you are describing is exactly what we did, and our extra budget isn’t buying us any more - the market has outpaced our earnings and looks like it will continue to do so. I’d upsize now if you can afford it, and see where you are after 3-5 yrs.

Original poster

spanielsandfourbyfours · 02/09/2021 20:00

@EverydayCook I do see your point. Our budget has increased by £200k in one year so I'm hopeful it will continue to rise quickly though (DH is in finance and seems to be doing quite well).

I just don't ever want to move again so am keen to move to the very best home we can, forever!

I do really worry about house prices rising though.

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Original poster

spanielsandfourbyfours · 02/09/2021 20:02

And do we really think prices will continue to rise as quickly as they have done in the last year? Surely a rise of 100k in value a year for three years as you're suggesting is a bit excessive?

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Twizbe · 02/09/2021 20:19

Might be worth a chat to architect your home (pay as you go architect service) to see if there is anything you can do to the current property.

You say it's top heavy so perhaps a small extension and reconfiguration of downstairs could help.

Worth a look and doesn't have to be massively expensive.

Ikeameatballs · 02/09/2021 20:36

I’d sell yours, rent and be in with an excellent chance of getting one of the four bed semi’s when it comes up.

Buy for what you need now and next 5 years then re-evaluate. I think the idea of a forever home is outdated.

muffinfaces · 02/09/2021 20:38

I just want your DHs job, pay rises that mean extra borrowing of 400k in a few yrs!

muffinfaces · 02/09/2021 20:40

I personally think prices won't keep rising so much but who knows. Moving frequently at that level is expensive. Some friends had a similar dilemma, they have sold & are renting but then will move further out in a few yrs.

LopsidedWombat · 02/09/2021 20:44

It is so hard to know the right thing to do and you cannot make a decision with much certainty it feels. When we started looking in late 2019 our current budget would have got us a four bed detached on a good sized plot. We are in process of buying a three bed detached with a small garden and one parking space for fear of being priced out entirely and stuck where we are (renting in a bad area). We do love where we are buying, it is just a hard pill to swallow to know what we could have got for our money not so long ago! I also like the thought of never moving again after all the stress but a lot can change and if we get 15-20 years out of where we are moving to then hopefully we will have recovered from it by then

Original poster

spanielsandfourbyfours · 02/09/2021 21:10

@muffinfaces

Exactly this. We'll be looking at £35k stamp duty at least, which luckily we currently have, but don't want to fork out for it twice, alongside the added stress!

Still, is it silly to stay in a teeny tiny house when we can easily afford a bigger one, just for the sake of avoiding the extra stress/costs of moving twice?

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Original poster

spanielsandfourbyfours · 02/09/2021 21:15

@muffinfaces

I just want your DHs job, pay rises that mean extra borrowing of 400k in a few yrs!

Yes we're very fortunate. His already v good salary has nearly doubled in three years, and he gets a v sizeable annual bonus on top of that (that the mortgage providers don't take into account).

Didn't expect to be in this position a few years ago when we felt a bit over stretched buying our current house.

Still, the thought of borrowing so much money is pretty galling.

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muffinfaces · 02/09/2021 21:16

Personally the stress of buying/selling & moving is worse for me then too small a space.

muffinfaces · 02/09/2021 21:18

Still, the thought of borrowing so much money is pretty galling.

Well if it's affordable it's a necessary evil. Although strange they won't take bonuses into account, my DHs are. Maybe check for a broker that will?

Original poster

spanielsandfourbyfours · 02/09/2021 21:46

If they could take bonuses into account then we could afford about £1.2m immediately, which would be lovely! Seems too risky to me though (I'm rather risk averse)

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EverydayCook · 03/09/2021 09:46

Have you spoken to a good mortgage broker? Ours takes bonuses into account and has been able to find deals that have given us a much more flexible budget - we’d never have known how to/been able to source them ourselves.

If DH’s income is set to raise at the rate you think it is, you’ll have big chunks of bonus to overpay your more expensive mortgage over the next few years, while enjoying your bigger space and benefiting from any house price gains.

Ikeameatballs · 03/09/2021 09:58

35k stamp duty in the context of a potential 1.2million property surely should not be a barrier to moving if your husband is earning as well as you suggest? I’m not trying to say that you are fibbing here btw, just pointing out that I don’t think it’s the barrier you think it is.

Sssloou · 03/09/2021 09:59

Could you move now to something that had extension potential?

Save the SD, gets you out of the tiny house and eventually gets you the bigger house.

Personally I don’t think that loads of huge bedrooms on other floors is great for little kids - they always want to play near you (kitchen area) and have access to garden from playroom / family room…..you want a bottom heavy house.

Even as teenagers when they do hang out in their bedrooms they have much less stuff then and generally they are out and about doing activities rather than hanging around at home.

If all of the primaries are good it would be prudent to position yourself for the best secondaries in this move (even though a lot can change).

Original poster

spanielsandfourbyfours · 03/09/2021 11:36

@Ikeameatballs

It's not a barrier to moving in that we could do it twice, but it seems a bit ridiculous to fork out for that much SD twice when we could spend it on so many other things!

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