What would you do? How are we ever supposed to move/upsize?

[Yemelade]

Morning all.

Long ranty thread incoming, but hoping for some guidance! For reference, I turn 30 this year and DH is 33. No kids yet (though would like some in future) just us and pets.

I would say 90% of my personality and who I am is a person is being able to plan my future, know that I will feel safe and secure in that future, and know I have options available to never leave me desolate I.e. never being in a position where we can't afford the mortgage. Up until last year, I'd always had a life plan, but due to cost of living and mortgage rates increasing etc, that simply just hasn't been possible and it's getting to me a fair bit at present...

DH and I had always planned to sell and move this year, though have now decided to think about doing this in April next year. We hate the area (lots of crime, bad neighbours, local kids swearing and urinating on public transport etc 🤢), and our home is too small to even think about having kids in this actual house.

Our home needs a general tidy up/repaint and some work done in the garden, but then we'll be good to go. Neither of us are in a hurry to do this however, because our current mortgage rate is 2%, houses prices in our area aren't great so selling won't be easy or provide us with a figure we would like, and moving to a larger property is now going to be a lot more expensive than we had originally planned (which also makes me question the feasibility of even having children - which is my biggest motivation to move - when money will be so tight??)

I just wondered if you were me, what would you do?

A) Take whatever hit we need to take early next year to sell the house, and hope to buy another house that is affordable at around the same.

B) Sell up, then move to rented whilst waiting (for a potentially indefinite period/delay TTC #1) for rates to stabilise and for an affordable home to come up

C) Stay where we are and try to overpay our current mortgage over the next few years to try and claw back more house buying power in a potentially difficult market

I was leaning towards A), but we both want to be in a 10 year fixed term before we think about kids because the thought of prices shooting up and being unable to afford the roof over my head is sending me into meltdown. On getting quotes for this on homes that are cheaper than the ones we had first started looking at means our mortgage will be 2/3 times what we're paying now. DH mentioned we could always get a 2 years deal and then pay whatever interest rates we need to, and then just live in hope for them to drop... But this seems irresponsible and risky.

I just feel very lost. I don't have anyone in my life that owns their home or has had to face this type of dilemma, and I'm finding that when I talk to friends they just say "have a baby you'll make it work" but that's absolutely not something I can consider unless we've moved, I cannot be stuck in our current home.

Any advice much appreciated!

Save now pay down debt at the end of the fixed rate is good advice.

The news today on FTB loans says it has already started.

My point absolutely stands. Yes, it's stressful for you, but small children won't notice that it's a bad area. They can go to nursery in a nice area of that's important to you and you can save to move before they start school and are big enough to play out. You have to pick which is more important to you: having a family or living in a nicer area. If you wait, you risk having neither.

We did A.

Our first house was in a terrible area but affordable and we'd got married and ready for our next move. It was a different time in 2006 though as the interest rates were 4-5% and house prices were high (before the crash) but we had a decent equity to take to our next home. We traded up to a nice area, slightly smaller home, the mortgage repayment was double but the better area meant we could settle in for the long term for our kids to grow. This was a good job as the house prices crashed and we were stuck there.

House prices were not high then compared to now? The only way people are going to be able to buy and sell houses now and move on with their lives when they feel like doing so is if houses prices crash back to 2006 or earlier prices, this housing market has stalled and that can`t work long term.

Well obviously it's not the only way people can afford to move up. Increased income or buying a doer upper etc.

I've seen your posts crashy time. You've been hoping 🙏 for the BIG crash for how many years? How has that been going for you? As I said we did buy in a peak and although we weren't in negative equity, it took years for the house price to even reach what we bought it for. It still wasn't the worst thing as we were in an area we loved and could happily ride it out. Houses are expensive now but I'd always advocate getting on the ladder and paying off your own assets mortgage rather than your landlord's. But hey, you do you.

I think Option C is best. I think house prices will drop a bit more yet and you don't want to but at a peak. Better to wait for a bit of a trough. BoE base rate might come back down a bit by end of next year too. I'd save like mad overpaying on mortgage and wait until end of 2024.

Definitely option C. Stay put, get your house and garden in excellent shape, build savings, and keep your eyes on your next move. The market is flat anyway.

Also keep your eyes on the benefits of where you are, because when students and young professionals start moving in, an area can change. I live in an area of East London which has gone from cheap and "rough" to arty and flavour-of-the-month, to young families everywhere, to "too expensive to buy a family home". In a few years time your area may feel different.

If you hate your area and def want kids i'd prioritise that dream and do house up (is that really necessary in the area you describe?) and sell it and move to a nicer area but go with a much smaller house instead than u had planned for to make it work financially

no point slogging away for a larger house in nice area if u then find you have trouble conceiving and regret those wasted years

i've seen too many friends who desperately wanted children wait and wait and wait until they had the perfect house, amount of savings, perfect career etc for their real dreams of starting a family to be scuppered and sadly for some never materialise

my advice is to follow the path which lead you to getting what your ultimate goal is - if it's a large house, nice area and a family would be ok but not so sure yet then u may want to think about another path - but if it is definitely children then do what it takes to get there

Thats right, and remember that The Boomers, who many people (wrongly IMO) blame for the fact that you cant buy a decent house in a decent area nowadays without serious money or a seriously long and expensive mortgage journey, were for the most part conceived in council houses?

You don’t sound as though you like the area where you live regardless of whether you have children or not, so if I was in your shoes I would be planning how to make the move next year without stretching yourself to the limit. I’ve noticed around my area that houses in desirable areas rise in price by a greater percentage than houses in undesirable areas, so there’s a risk of being priced out of the better areas when the market recovers if you leave it too long.

That said, I think you have some time before the market starts recovering so I would say plan A, although keep an open mind that you might want to delay marketing your property for a few/6 months if things are still looking iffy at the beginning of the year. Could you perhaps look at a smaller starter property in your desired area(s) so you aren’t pushing yourselves to the limit financially?