How far ahead to plan when finding a house?

[Mmmmcarrotcake]

DP and I are looking to buy a house and start a family. I'm not sure whether it's a better idea to buy a smaller house and move when we need more space, or something bigger so we can stay put, but not use all the space in the immediate future? I can't imagine we'll need more than 2 bedrooms in the next few years i.e. one for us and one for a child - but maybe in 10-15 years we might have multiple teenagers and then need 3 or 4 bedrooms? Moving is a hassle and we are lucky enough to be able to afford a bigger house now - but would it be a waste to buy a bigger house with 1-2 bedrooms sitting empty, especially when we'll be paying more in mortgage interest? It seems a bit silly to plan for multiple hypothetical children at this point. Would love to hear everyone's thoughts and experiences...

If you can afford a bigger house now, then it would save moving again in the future. With babies and everything they bring, even having extra storage for your own things can't be a bad thing. I would carefully research schools though in the area if you are looks at starting a family. I'd make that a priority.

All depends really - I mean if you can afford a larger property then go for it - saves the hassle of moving further down the line possibly - you could also purchase a smaller home 2/3 beds with the scope to extend in the future if that is your thing?

We purchased our current home - a standard conventional 3 bed semi back in 1991 - planned to only be there for a max of 15 years, we’re still here 32 years later - we’ve demolished the garage and built new garage with 2 new bedrooms above - extended into the loft - and created a large bedroom/office space and extended the kitchen/ dining room to have it open plan. We paid £45k for it back then - it’s now worth £475k.

my advice to you is to see what you both can realistically afford and go from there.

Sorry £675k -
we got it so cheap back in 1991 because it was a probate property that hadn’t been touched since the 1950s - probably spent about £350k all in all over the years to get it to where we wanted it.

I would buy a larger property or something you can extend to give you options in the future.

I would buy a 3 bed if you can afford one.

Moving is very expensive, what with stamp duty, legal costs etc.

If you can afford to buy a home in an area you like, in a location that works for your careers, and that you can envisage spending more than a decade in - I would 100% do it.

Agree with everyone else,. If you can afford the bigger house now, it makes financial sense and sense in terms of stress later down the line to buy a 'future house' now, rather than selling and buying later down the line.

Obviously, most people can't afford the bigger house for their first home.