Would you try buy the house?

[littlebird13]

We have found what could potentially be our forever home.
DH and I are 26. Two DC's 4yrs and 4mo.

The home we are in we bought over 4 years ago and is now worth at least 70% more than what we paid. It was a renovation project and they wanted a quick sale so we're lucky to have a very cheap mortgage. We knew when we bought it it wasn't our forever home.

The house we have found literally looks like a haunted house. It needs a lot of work doing. Mainly cosmetic we think. Hasn't been updated in probably 40+ years. But having done the work it could be our dream home.
The one next door is identical and it is really lovely so it's good to be able to see the comparison. However, we know we couldn't afford that one if it ever did come up for sale.
My DH works in construction and has a lot of knowledge so would do most of the work ourselves. We aren't work shy so happy to put the effort in.
It's on the doorstep of a really good school and in a lovely area.

I am unsure because,
The mortgage will be approx 2.5x more than what we pay now. We can afford it but I think im just anxious to take that leap.
As I said, my DH& FIL will be doing majority of the work but that will mean sacrificing a lot of family time for goodness knows how long. As well as giving up our evenings.
It's for sale through online auction which makes the process a lot more complicated and we would risk losing a lot of money if our chain to sell ours fell through.
We aren't exactly unhappy where we are and our home is suitable for us at the moment.
It would mean changing my DC school. She has just started reception so not exactly settled yet but she did go to the nursery there so has a lot of friends already. Having said that, we can't see us being here forever so I guess it would better to move now than in 2 years when she really has settled in.

Part of me is saying, go for it! It could be a wonderful home to raise our children. the other part is saying why rock the boat and make life harder (albeit temporarily) when there's nothing exactly 'wrong' with where we are?

*if anyone has any experience of online auction I'd love to hear it. Luckily FIL is very clued up on this kind of thing so he would help us.

@winniedaisy I definitely would! You just never know what's behind the scenes, vendors might have been persuaded to go down the auction route because nothing else works for example when in reality that's not true, plus what's the worst that could happen? It might be ignored that's all - not exactly the end of the world and certainly something that can happen with traditional offers anyway, when you're looking for a house.

Thanks so much everyone!
We have a lot to think about. I do think there will be another one more suitable to us if this isn't meant to be. My husband came gone from work and said the same thing. Usually he's the more eager one in these scenarios but he doesn't seem so sure in this one.

We've had a pretty stressful year. I lost my mum in November and then we had the baby (she is wonderful of course) and she's only just coming out of the newborn stage so we're obviously still exhausted. The last thing we need is something adding massive amounts of stress to our lives.
The renovation I can deal with. The uncertainty of the auction and potentially putting a lot of money on the line I can not.

I agree we'd like to find something we can make our own but live in too. It'll come in time. Thanks everyone!

You are 26
You might move again for secondary school or other needs
Enjoy family life
Don't spend the next five rennovating

@winniedaisy. We had a 8 month old and then had our second whilst it was still unfinished. We got the messy stuff done in about 4 months before we moved in, rewire, replumb and full wallpaperatrip and replaster, new kitchen and bathroom. Then we lived and slept in the open plan living, dining , kitchen whilst we did the other rooms up. It worked well because the baby slept in the evenings so we could do about 3 hours a night or painting and other non noisy stuff. Obviously not every night!

There's no such thing as a "forever home". It's made up by the media to make people take on bigger mortgages than they can afford.
Don't compare yourself to previous generations who only lived in one home. They mostly did that because at your age they could easily buy a big enough family home on one wage.
Stay where you are and spend the time on your kids not the house. You are a very young parent - once they are teenagers, you will have more time on your hands for a major renovation, and you will still be very young.
Good luck.

@OakPine

There's no such thing as a "forever home". It's made up by the media to make people take on bigger mortgages than they can afford. Don't compare yourself to previous generations who only lived in one home. They mostly did that because at your age they could easily buy a big enough family home on one wage. Stay where you are and spend the time on your kids not the house. You are a very young parent - once they are teenagers, you will have more time on your hands for a major renovation, and you will still be very young. Good luck.

Thank you for your reply! We have decided now isn't the time for us. The new baby and everything else is just a lot never mind a renovation. My DH and I have a wonderful relationship and the last thing we would want is for anything to jeopardise that. We are very young parents, but also very capable. We have good jobs and well grounded. Our children are our highest priority of course. We are happy were we are (although would love a bigger garden for them) so will stay put until the time is right for us to move ☺️

Thanks everyone for your replies. They were really helpful!