I currently rent a 3 bed property in a nice area for £800. (We’re in a cheap area). Current landlord is very hands off - has lots of properties, hasn’t asked to increase rent, whenever we’ve had an issue it has been quickly sorted. His parents manage the property for him and have told me they think he’d be happy to sell it to me if I wanted to buy it in the future, and he’s very happy with me/has no plans to sell or swap tenants. (Obviously this could be untrue/could change especially with interest rates rising).
Reasons we’re considering a move - there are some sad memories here for me with my ex partner - though there are some happy memories too - my daughter was born here at home. I like the idea of a fresh start and a place that has only ever been “ours”. Our other major concern is storage. Part of the problem is that I admittedly need to declutter, but we are currently filling every cupboard/wardrobe etc. DP has a lot of stuff in a storage unit - furniture but also books/tech/clothes - and I can’t see where it could physically go in this house. We do have a garage which is currently packed full of old furniture which is due to go next week which will help. It would probably be doable if we both drastically decluttered/and or dealt with all the cupboards being packed full etc. DP has also got a new job starting next month which is fully remote with the exception of the occasional meeting. I am setting up a business which I will also be running from home. I’m currently using the box room as a dressing room/office - so one of us could work there and the other in the dining room. We would like to have another child in the next couple of years, and once they’re old enough to have their own room we could use the box room as a nursery for them but would then have no office. I’d be on maternity but this would mean him working in the dining room next to the living room which would be very difficult with a young child and newborn around.
With my partners new job, his income will increase. We have been looking at new places to rent and it’s so hard to know what to do.
Ideally we’d like a 4 bed - room to grow and a space we could use as an office. These start at around £1200 around here. There are a couple at this price point - all in quite soulless/new build village type places but great location for us in terms of nursery/future school/work. We’d have more bedrooms but they are newer properties than our current one so possibly smaller rooms. We haven’t been looking for very long but don’t love any of the ones we’ve seen.
The spanner in the works - we’ve seen a gorgeous house. Only 3 bedrooms, but all a good size (current house is 2 double bedrooms and a box). The house is bigger, finished to an excellent standard, really beautiful. The selling point though is the location - right in the middle of a town that we adore. We’d be walking distance to a good train station, loads of restaurants/cafes/baby groups, a huge gorgeous park with a play area, a leisure centre. Lots of lovely independent shops, local events etc on. Loads of excellent schools in walking distance. I absolutely love the idea of being able to walk straight into town. I remember driving down this street when I was younger and thinking I would love to live there. Parking/traffic can be difficult which is one of the reasons we don’t go there as often as we’d like - but the property comes with private parking spaces which would be a huge bonus. Basically - it’s our dream home, and we’d probably never be able to buy one as nice/as central. The big downside is the rent is double what we’re currently paying, and about £400 more than other 4 bed properties in different areas.
We live 5 minutes drive from a (different) town center at the moment - so near lots of amenities, but have nothing in walking distance except a co-op so the idea of this kind of lifestyle is very appealing. Properties right in town like this don’t seem to come up very often. We could also wait for a 4 bed to come up in one of the residential areas near the town, which would probably be about £1300, which would be lovely but without the appeal of walking straight in etc.
Logically, it seems stupid to throw so much money at a rental property, and my head says we should stay where we are or rent something bigger but closer to the £1200 mark. My heart thinks why not just go for it? The council tax would also be more expensive than where we are, as would heating I think as the EPC is not brilliant. We aren’t on the property ladder, but with DP’s new job and my business hopefully picking up soon we will have a lot more disposable income. Obviously the less we spend on rent, the more we can put towards a deposit. We could comfortably afford to stay here, save for a deposit, and still go on nice holidays/have treats etc. We would still be able to afford a holiday etc in the dream house, but obviously would have less disposable income. Equally with maternity leave etc - we wouldn’t have to worry either way but would be less tight if we stayed here. We have 5k saved so far, so we are still quite a way off a deposit for something comparable to where we are now/bigger. DP has been working really hard, and this new job is a huge achievement. He also loves the idea of the dream house/location but part of me thinks we should stay where we are and enjoy some really nice holidays/enjoy a better lifestyle while saving. I don’t want him to feel he’s worked so hard but we still don’t have much more disposable income because our bills are much higher.
So would you
A) stay where we are, declutter/deal with less storage, save as much as we can to hopefully buy in the next few years
B) stay where we are, declutter, save but save less and enjoy a nicer lifestyle - holidays/experiences etc.
C) rent one of the bigger houses at £1200
D) rent the dream house and accept that saving will take longer/we will have less disposable income?
Any advice appreciated, and apologies for the hugely long post - I’m a worrier/over thinker as is DP. We’re both usually very risk averse, but this house and the way of life we imagine there is really turning our head!