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...

What do you love about the house? Why does it "speak" to you? Is it a house for now or for ever?

Katepol, this is the OP's dream house, she has always wanted to live there and wouldn't have to massively increase her mortgage (another from me!).
If that sort of house is even within her grasp, I would assume that the Op and her family could still afford an extremely decent standard of living.

To the OP, I would have a look around and make a very cheeky offer (it does say that it is empty at present), if you still feel the love, that is, obv.

My understanding is that the choice is to be mortgage free (in a decent house), or have a bigger mortgage on a beautiful house that was a childhood dream.
I personally would choose to be mortgage-free, especially as we have concluded that Squiffy won't exactly be living in squalor if she chooses that option .
My point is just that being mortgage-free opens up so many options - including the opportunity to not work, and maybe fulfil other childhood dreams - that it might be daft to add more to your debt when the have the chance to get rid of your debt.
The questions the OP needs to answer herself is how important a house is to her? Beautiful as it is, it is a house, and could come with a list of hassles that trash the childhood dream.
I would take the life options rather than the house.
Plus, and as may be obvious to some, I find the house very ostentatious and 'look at me!, look at me!', which I don't personally don't like. It looks 'showy' to me, and while 'showy' works for many of us (and may be de riguer in City circles) it doesn't suit me . Not that I have 1.25 million to spend of course

I actually think the house looks quite ugly, though I do like the look of some of the rooms and my husband would (almost!) kill for the land that comes with it.

My first instinct would always be to say go mortgage free, especially as it's not a case of downsizing to a hovel or a horrible area!
A still very nice home with no mortgage and the rest of your life to enjoy being mortgage-free sound very appealing.

However, in this case it's not so clear-cut. It sounds like it wouldn't be a huge additional financial commitment from the existing mortgage, so obviously still manageable. And if the worst came to the worst (job losses, illness or whatever or just a change of heart), the option of downsizing would still remain. Although I think downsizing out of choice would feel very different to downsizing because you have to - once you'd had that house anything else might feel like you're hard done by.

I suppose in one sense you've nothing to lose - go and see the house and if it really is the 'dream house' live that life for a few years and see if it's as good as you think.

squiffy have you been to look at it then?

Thankyou to everyone who has posted - I can promise that even w*anky people like me very much appreciate heartfelt comments about their lifestyles. And yes, when you work in the city you do get drawn into some very bizzare lifestyle choices, which I guess are outrageous when viewed in the context of real life (Real Life being something which you could argue that city workers only visit occasionally).

It has been really wierd seeing people's comments. When I grew up I thought this was the most beautiful house I had ever seen, which was partly I think because it sits behind a huge wall, and I have this thing for walled gardens (I blame it all on early literary exposure to 'the Secret Garden'), but my mum & dad had a look round it for me at the weekend (we have been away on holiday) and they loved the house but commented that this was despite it being so pig ugly from the outside!

We were very lucky when we sold up in London a few years back, because we were able to trade in a very ordinary London flat for a nice house a few miles from this one, so the financial decisions are not as onerous as they would be otherwise. But - like many of the posters here - we are still reeling from the price tag on this house (and also the price we have been told we can get for ours), the numbers seem ridiculous. You read about it all the time but unless you are actually buying or selling it doesn't really register how things have changed - my first house cost £15,750 and I thought that was a fortune!

Anyway we are off to see this house on Saturday, and we are also due to see a downsizing option as well. We have been away discussing it all week and really are in a pickle. On the one side we have:

1. house for my parents (we have been looking for a house for them for some time as their current house is too isolated)
2. parents on tap which will be fabulous for the children and save us a fortune in nanny costs
3. An odd one I know, but flat land for the kids so we can do climbing frames and trampolines and stuff (our current garden has few flat surfaces)
4. Very close to town and on the bus route, so much less isolated than where we are currently, which again will be better for the kids as they grow up - where we live now there are no other children for maybe a mile in any direction
5. Still walking distance to woods
6. Much closer to DS's school
7. Has a swimming pool so very good for DS who is only 4 but already fanatical about swimming and diving.
8. it is the house I dreamed of..

Against...

1. The cost. I will have to continue to work. Which is ok at the moment I think - the headhunters are still in touch at least - but it is never guaranteed in the city.
2. I worry that my priorities may indeed be all over the place. It was my own fault for reading 'Affluenza' on holiday but I do wonder whether I will be happier in this house or in a smaller house where I know that I go to work from choice. But then again would I just walk out of work the minute I didn't have to work? Would I still get the same buzz out of my career? I have no idea if that gets affected by being mortgage free? And does it matter if I feel that way? I just spent last week in a small place we have abroad and it is still a thrill to wander round it knowing that I own every brick outright, no mortgage, no stress....

Maybe I need therapy rather than a new house....

So.... really not sure. We shall see. I am not really looking forward to seeing it because my mum knows my taste inside out (she found us our current house whilst we were living overseas), and she has told me that I will fall in love with this house. Which won't help the decision process one iota. aaargggghhhh

There seem to be far more "fors" than "againsts"! I have to say I would go for it given everything you've said.

We did something a little bit similar about 18 months ago and went almost (but not quite) broke for the mortgage on our current home. We have not regretted it for one single minute as we absolutely love the house along with both our families.

Just one thing I would comment on is the person (sorry can't remember who) who pointed out that houses like this are a constant battle to upkeep and they do take over your lives to a certain extent. I agree with that. The original part of our house is 200 years old and we do seem to be always updating/repairing bits of it!

Keep us posted.

Your for and against arguments seem very well considered Squiffy. I suspect that you will see the house, love it and go for it. You are not at a point where you want to change your world, so why not go for what you really want? It sounds like it has loads of practical advantages too.

I suspect this is not the right time in your life for a lifestyle revolution , so go and enjoy.

Am i ever going to live down my City (can)= w*nky post??

So I got a call last night to tell me they have accepted a cash offer from someone else on my dream house. So I will drop a line to owners in case it falls through and go off to lick my wounds.

oh noooo!!!! squiffy I am gutted for you! (and for myself as I had vision of slending my summer by the pool )
you never know it may fall through.
oh the shame.

Oh Squiffy - how awful.
Write them a letter, and also say how long you have wanted to live in that house. when I bought my first place (considerably smaller than yours, I hasten to add!!! ) I was given it over someone who offered a few grand more because they wanted the person who bought it to love it as much as they did.
Fingers crossed......