mortgage-free, or house of your dreams?

[Squiffy]

So we are in the really really fortunate position of being able to downsize enough to be mortgage free and still live in a reasonable house, which seems like a really cool deal to me, so I enthusiatically clicked through some property details on the internet and found some nice stuff.

And then I saw it. The house I dreamed of living in when I was a snotty-nosed kid and hanging round outside where the bus stop was, nose pressed up against the railings.

And it is on the market and just at the upper limit of what I can afford to buy if we sold our current house. But i will end up with a slghtly bigger mortgage than I have now so will have to kiss goodbye the vision of having a choice about whether or not I haul my ass into work every day (although would probably still work anyway).

So what do I do? The house of my dreams, or the mortgage free idyll? I'm in my 40's so it's now or never in terms of being able to do it. Please let me have your honest opinions...

I am mortgage-free at the moment which is fantastic because it means I can cut right back on my work and be around for the children (still do work but from home and fit it around nap times/times when dh is at home). However, if I didn't have that commitment - the children were older or whatever - I would go for dream home if I could negotiate a good deal on it.

Thanks everyone for advice.

I have decided to go have a look, but not for a week or two - will look at the mortgage-free options first (that way if it sells first I can blame it on fate...) the niggling thing is that we can afford it, with no increase in mtgg (just the stamp and stuff to pay). And there's room for my parents to move in as well so there is lots going for it. But I had also got very excited about our mortgage free option as well....

With the city and the housing market as they are now, I would definitely, definitely not extend yourself. Unless you can comfortably afford a 20-year repayment mortgage even if you/your husband get made redundant (presumably redundancy would help pay off the mortgage a bit?) and I would also allow for bills/high inflation.

I work in the City too and am about to go off on maternity leave for DC2 and not go back. For me it's a quality of life thing. We are currently renting but plan to buy (with any luck mortgage-free, but will be much smaller than where we live now) in 2-5 years. Love the flexibility of no mortgage. Then again, I am not at all materialistic (not preen, I'm just not!) and I value time with people above all else - working consists of spending far too much time with people I seriously dislike and far too little time with my amazing DD!

(I am 29, btw.)

Sorry - you're not extending yourself, just keeping same mortgage as now (+ stamp). The parent thing is a big deal - we would consider getting a mortgage for this!

We have been mortgage free in our old house and moved and got mortgage for this house, we will be mortgage free again in the next 2-3 years but without a doubt would take on a mortgage to move to dream house.
As much as it is great being mortgage free, if you can afford the repayments then go for it.

I absolutely adore being mortgage free. mentally is a great place to be... you sleep so soundly, you can worry less about the future and have a bit more choice.

however if my dream house would come up (and I've got one too - I lived there when a kid)I'd def go for it if. I would trade the current mortgage free situation for a mortgaged one (as long as it is affordable obviously).

Squiffy this advice is not free though you must send me the link to me too .

ok here it is (but please don't look if you are going to hate me)

I vote for the dream house too - it's lovely. But then I was sold on the argument of "its all about the affordability of the mortgage, rather than the amount of the mortgage", and " you have to think about this as somewhere you potentially want to live permanently", myself (on a much smaller scale).

BUy the house its fab

Can I come and live in the garden?

wow it looks fabulous - I think you'll kick yourselves if you don't get it! Can you afford the mortgage as it is (and don;t forget to make a silly offer - you might get it for much less than the asking price - dare we ask how much it is? ). Could you rent (or sell?) the cottage and use that for pay your mortgage off?

Or live in the cottage for a couple of years and rent out the main house for tens of thousands a year?

How much!!!

Lovely, lovely, lovely house. Can you go for a viewing and take pics of the bedrooms and bathrooms please.

Adore property porn.

thanks for that . It's absolutely lovely squiffy. I'd go and look at it asap and see how you feel.

I am normally cautious but a dream house you can afford is priceless...

Yippe - at long last a permanent venue for the mumsnet Xmas Party

Oh yes, I said do it before but that is definitely real dream house stuff. You have to see it.

In fact go now and tell us whether or not you really do love it.

Maybe you won't, maybe it won't feel right but at least you will know.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

Buy the house
You will work anyway and probably fritter money away instead if you don't buy
Lovely if you have flexible accomadation for older generation

I can't open the link - really want to see the house

Wow

Message withdrawn

I would love not to have a mortgage but then I don't have a dream house to dream of.

It's a lovely house btw.

it would be worth being penniless to live there its lovely

I ROFL at MrsR's comments, and sprayed my coffee all over the pc at comment that DH could live in the coach house. But mellowma has certainly given me food for thought and I now have firm plans for the cellar.

cooooo. Buy it, if only for the kitchen