Moving dilemma

[Shellsuitnheels]

I live in a small terraced ex-council house and have a reasonably small mortgage, which I can pay off in 8 years (i'll be 47) if I overpay each month.

We can afford to move to a bigger house, in a nicer area, but will more than double our mortgage and we will still be paying till we're 60.

Would you live in a house that is just ok and be mortgage free much sooner?

• Or - Live in a nice big house that you are proud of and pay it off till you retire?

I don't know what to do 🤷‍♀️

@Disfordarkchocolate

Paying off by 60 still sounds pretty good. I'd be looking for some middle ground though.

I guess it's normal to pay a mortgage till 60. I'm probably overthinking that part.

We definitely stepped up in life with the house….I like coming home to it.

If you can pay it off by 60 I think that’s still pretty good going, I would move, a lovely spacious house in a nice area all paid off 7 years before retirement. House prices are predicted to continue to rise, this means the gap between the house you are in now and the one you aspire to will just get bigger and possibly unaffordable unless you go for it now.

As my husband says - what would it bring to improve your life? I. E if you love gardening and don't have a garden then moving would fulfil a huge interest in your life year after year.

We moved 6months ago to the bigger house and longer mortgage (but both have potential larger future earnings) and honestly I miss my old neighbours, we just don't have that here and by God I didn't realise what that gave us until we didn't have it.

We moved for bigger garden, bigger space for child to play, more bedrooms for relatives to stay comfortbly and enhance relation ship and time spent with grandchildren etc (don't live near either set of relatives) and bigger garden (I'm a gardener) further out of the city for better schools. On the whole if I could have the same neighbours but this house and schools that would be perfect!!!!

Also what would you do with that extra money?? In a bigger house it is keeping if not increasing its value plus as others have said the downsize potential means you may end up with a tidy sum at your disposal later on.

Your neighbours might move
You cannot rely on them always being there

@AmberLynn1536

If you can pay it off by 60 I think that’s still pretty good going, I would move, a lovely spacious house in a nice area all paid off 7 years before retirement. House prices are predicted to continue to rise, this means the gap between the house you are in now and the one you aspire to will just get bigger and possibly unaffordable unless you go for it now.

Ahh that is so true, I didn't think of that.

@SlB09

As my husband says - what would it bring to improve your life? I. E if you love gardening and don't have a garden then moving would fulfil a huge interest in your life year after year.

We moved 6months ago to the bigger house and longer mortgage (but both have potential larger future earnings) and honestly I miss my old neighbours, we just don't have that here and by God I didn't realise what that gave us until we didn't have it.

We moved for bigger garden, bigger space for child to play, more bedrooms for relatives to stay comfortbly and enhance relation ship and time spent with grandchildren etc (don't live near either set of relatives) and bigger garden (I'm a gardener) further out of the city for better schools. On the whole if I could have the same neighbours but this house and schools that would be perfect!!!!

Also what would you do with that extra money?? In a bigger house it is keeping if not increasing its value plus as others have said the downsize potential means you may end up with a tidy sum at your disposal later on.

Totally agree, this is swaying me now. I need to see a bigger house as an investment for the future.

Bigger house. Investment in property is nearly always positive

You're right. I've totally changed my mind and thinking more of moving now.

Thanks everyone. It's been good to get different perspectives ❤

If youve got primary school children then you have another 10-15 years of them living with you so you will all appreciate the space and extra rooms and options that a larger house will give you.

Mortgages are at historic low interest rates so now is the best time to borrow - you probably wont be able to borrow this cheaply again. (on a related note if your mortgage is on a low fixed rate deal it really isnt worth overpaying - you can get more by investing the extra money- you will get a higher return)

We are literally just about to make this move.

We are 44 and 47 with a 4.5yr old and 5.5yr old. We can only get a 22yr mortgage.

My dad said to me "the next 10 years are the years when your children will be at home the most with you. They will need room to run and play and for you all to have your friends round and be together as a family. Their toys are bigger and they will want to be in the garden playing. Buy the best house you can as the next move will be once they move out and you are downsizing. Make the home they remember their childhood in the best it can be".

We will be nearly tripling our payments but I will be able to work from home (rather than renting space) which will save me £600+ on rent and childcare a month.

It's now or never and if it's too much? We move again. Nothing has to be permanent.

We are moving up - mortgage until retirement but we reason that we will be building more equity and could always downsize when kids leave home anyway if we absolutely must stop working early.

Our current home is lovely but I just long for more space and if we don't do it now, we may struggle to borrow more as we get older or if house prices rise any further.