Would you move in my situation?

[booomshackalack]

We've lived in this house for 7 years, since DD was a few weeks old. We also have a DS who is 11. The house is a two up two down (kids share a bedroom at present), 18 steps up to the front door and on-street parking which is gradually getting worse as the neighbours pass their tests and new cars appear on the road.

We have recently come into inheritances after the last of our parents passing away and feel unsure about what to do. We do like this house and it has potential to extend into the loft to create an extra bedroom and give the kids their own space. The garden and outlook are lovely, the immediate neighbours are great. Limited with actual extensions as it's a mid terrace and can only really make a kitchen diner. The inheritances mean we can pay off the mortgage and buy a loft extension but I'm not 100% sure I want to stay despite the positives. The parking has been winding me up more and more and the stairs aren't exactly future-proof.

This is an expensive area, which we want to stay in for the kids schools, so we would be looking at a three bed semi (with better extension potential) with better parking situation or even off-street parking depending what comes on the market.

If you were me what would you do? I like this house and we would be mortgage free if we stayed, but the things that annoy me can't really be changed. If we move, we would still have a mortgage that may be a bit higher (inherited money would mean a deposit of about 60%) and our fixed rate of 1.5% still has 3 years on it.

I would move in that situation as if you stay where you are, you will look back in later years and wish you had moved to a bigger house. If you have the opportunity, do it while you are still young, otherwise you will be in that terrace for ever.

I would move.

I would also love. I’d hate not to be able to park on a driveway and it’s the first thing I did when I moved here (SE London).

Can you move to a bigger house without stretching yourself too much? I mean it’s up to everyone how much they stretch of course but I wouldn’t want an enormous mortgage personally.

I can get a slightly bigger mortgage, which won't go far in this area tbh. I'm a FT student and got a year of my course to go, once I'm working we could get a bigger mortgage. But I hate the thought of waiting another year because of the kids sharing a room. They hate it and they fight a lot

Move x x

100% move

Move. How old are your children?

I'd move. The cost of work has shot up and it will be noisy and disruptive anyway. Not to mention, there's always the risk of ending up with a dodgy builder. Better to find a bigger house and sell the current one to someone who can only afford a two up/ two down.

Port the mortgage and move.

@sunshinesupermum . it's in the OP. 11 and 7

Do you mean move within the area? Have the other houses near you done the extension to loft and ground? Have you been in to see what they are like space wise?
The steps to your door - I would have thought more an issue when you had a pushchair right deal with.
Parking - not sure I'd move for that issue.
But have a look around at what you can get.

Absolutely move.

Move. It’s no fun living in a house during a loft conversion, or any form of extension. Let someone else endure the mess, noise and hassle.

I've had a look at a loft extension in a similar house to ours. They had to take a chunk of space from the master bedroom to create a corridor leading to stairs up to the loft room, otherwise you're walking through one bedroom to get to another. In these types of houses the loft room is never advertised as a third bedroom as they don't have sufficient head height to be classed as a bedroom.

The stairs don't bother me 90% of the time but it does get annoying if I can't get parked as near to the house as I'd like and then have to lug 6 shopping bags up the stairs, usually done in two trips.

I would definitely move if I were you. You have a great opportunity to be able to do it and somewhere with off street parking will be a game changer for you!

You need to fully research your options. Don't assume you will be able to carry forward your mortgage deal. That was for your current house. I'm not sure but I think your agreement will come to an end when you pay it off and you will need to take out another when you buy your new house. If so the Rate is likely to be much higher.

Actually I think if your mortgage deal allows you can transfer it (called porting) but not always so it is best to check before making any decisions

Move, your house sounds unfriendly. 18 steps up is a lot!

Move, I had a similar parking situation and decided it was time to go when I could no longer park on my own street ( having to cart a toddler from the next street when 8 months pregnant with SPD was the final straw).

I would also move. We are in a mid-terrace with 3 beds but I’m still planning on moving next year because I want a drive and a garden. We could spend a lot and redo the kitchen and add a downstairs loo, which would help, but we’d never have the drive and garden no matter how much work we did.

I’d move in a heartbeat - being mortgage free isn’t going to improve your living arrangements but a bigger house etc will.

How much would your house be worth with loft extension versus the cost?

Is the school situation making the area pricer than others close by?

Basically would a two stage plan make sense. Do the loft extension, get the extra bedroom and have a few years to build good savings. Then move to a slightly cheaper post code once you don't need school catchment any longer.

Move.

Definitely move

We probably wouldn't get back half the cost of the loft conversion, seeing as it can't be classed as a bedroom when selling. We would likely have to be here a good number of years to recoup the cost I'd say.