Okay so I live in a house that I'm hoping to sell for £400k, I'm mortgage free. I recognise this is a very fortunate position to be in.
2 houses have come on the market which are in the catchment of the school we want and near my elderly parent.
House A) £510k 3 bed detatched lovely looking house, high ceilings and curved bay windows however close to a fairly "quiet" trainline and has a small (9m deep) North East facing garden, potential to extend but not alot and will compromise an already compromised garden. 30 min walk into town centre. Early 60s house.
Mortgage would be £640.
House b) £670k (although think its overpriced atm) 3 bed detatched less pretty but looks better than our current house. South West facing garden that is twice the size of the other house so potential for bigger extention that won't compromise the garden. 15 mins walk to town, very close to lovely park. Late 50s/early 60s. Mortgage would be £1500.
Both streets are fairly quiet and seem child/cat safe.
Both need updating but are liveable, property B is slightly more suitable as it has a bath (A has a shower only and we have a young child), wouldn't be able to extend property B for years but might be able to extend A soon after we buy.
Property B would definitely be "forever" home. Property A could potentially be forever home but maybe 10 year home because of the compromises so a step on the ladder.
Both streets only seem to have houses pop up to sell every couple of years or so. We would really be pushing our budget to afford property B) maybe we are bananas to be thinking of moving in this market with high prices and high interest rates, but we really dislike our neighbour who can be nice as pie one minute and be a right nasty bastard to us the next.
We have a joint household income of approx £65k and I currently work part time and pay £420 a month in childcare. In a couple of years household income could potentially be £80 or £90k when I go full time with no childcare costs.
We have a MIP.
What think you Mumsnet? x