Cost of living crisis/cheaper house?

[DidYeEye]

Hi!

I've had a bit of nightmare with my chain since the beginning of the year, I'm now searching again as I'm ready to give up on my onward.

Found a cheaper property that I love, and with the changes in rates, it'll wind up roughly the same monthly payments as the other. The other, I won't be able to hang on to my offer as it expires soon, and I'll definitely be paying more.

I'm conscious of the cost of living crisis. I'm inclined to go with the cheaper property, it has a lot of potential, location is better.

Both houses are great, both have pros and cons.

WWYD though? Is now the time to stretch ourselves financially? I feel maybe not?

I'd go with location, particularly if it has potential. There's no rule to say you have to spend as much as you possibly can on property.

That's my thinking. Location is great, it's a semi, the other is detached though.

Chain wise, I feel both present a bit of risk but the original has been a 7 month disaster already.

We thought we could comfortably afford the house we bought and moved into in January. But with childcare costs and rising energy bills, we're really having to tighten our belts. I think in winter we'll be struggling. Go for the cheaper option if you can ☝🏼

I’d go detached every time.

I saw that thread the other day. It's a tough decision though as ideally detached but that can't be the only thing going for it.

As things are at the moment I would definitely not stretch yourself. You don't want to struggle to meet repayments in another year.

Ditto this.

we’re not struggling at the moment but we don’t have anywhere near as much left over as we thought we would. mortgage payments are less than rent was but the other outgoings have gone up by like 75%.

I have lived through a recession. It is dreadful. People who think their jobs are secure suddenly lose their jobs. I would advise not to overstretch yourself in the current climate. Definately make sure you fix before your offer runs out. I hope to goodness we don't have a recession but I fear there will be one. Nothing wrong with a good semi in a nice area.

My vote is to go for the cheaper property .
Give yourself some breathing space. Also with detached property that's a lot of exposed walls. Heating bills for detached must be a pain.

I would suggest doing a bit more investigation if a semi or terraced - new builds are insulated for noise (I literally never hear my neighbours unless we both have windows/balcony doors open, whereas older properties especially 60's-80's era can have paper thin walls

Cheaper if the location is better too, sounds like a win win. I live in a mid terrace and it's the quietest house I've ever lived in.

Better location.
I moved from a detached to a terrace and was worried but have had no issues whatsoever (one middle aged couple who travel a lot on one side, the other first had a young family, now young couple with dogs).

We just went for the cheaper property and cut our heating bill and mortgage payment in half.

I’ve gone for a cheaper house (terraced) but had also offered on a detached that was £40k more (right at top of budget). I’m glad I’m buying this one; I would have had to get a lodger to make ends meet in the other, whereas this one gives me some wiggle room financially . It’ll also be cheaper to run, being terraced, as mentioned upthread. I’ll take neighbour noise if it means I can afford to put the heating on!

A good location is massively important in my books.
I'm not particularly fussed about whether a property is detached or not so long as the walls are thick.