750 square feet - 5 people

[Nimbus1999]

Currently going through a divorce and toying with the idea of buying a 750 square feet house for 5 of us (1 adult, 4 children aged 7-13). The plan would be 2 kids share biggest bedroom & other 2 a room each and I’ll sleep on sofa/in trundle bed in kids room. Downstairs in just a living room and separate kitchen diner.

pros - I can afford it without stretching myself financially, close to school, good location.

obvious cons - very small!

Has anyone got any experience / has made this work? I would hope it wouldn’t be forever, maybe 2-3 years until I find my feet.

Thanks for reading

i like the floor plan and i would make it work.

I wouldn’t be better off renting though? I worked out that would cost £38,000 for 2 years based on going rates. Stamp duty to buy & legal fees are approx £10,000 and interest on the mortgage £7,000 (I can port at 1.69%) so actually buying would be half the cost? Obviously there would be additional moving costs when selling though in 2 years but still cheaper that renting? Plus prices might increase.

I haven’t but I’ll take a look, thank you! The little one sleeps with me every night now so the other option is the older DD having the little room and me & younger DD sharing the medium bedroom.

Moving costs will be more than 10k, are you paying stamp duty? Will you be paying stamp duty in 2 years and have included those moving costs, if this house increases in value so will the next house you want to buy.

I really don't think the size is too bad, I'm in a house this size ( in fact my box room is smaller) and it's fine. I have got an extension on the back now which makes a difference but prior to that we spent 4 years without one.
We're a family of four, and a dog. Did plan to move one day as want a bigger box room for the youngest but as we're now paying an extra 250 intersect a month I don't know whether we will ever afford to.

Also is your current mortgage with your husband, as I am not sure the bank will let you port it, as the mortgage will change to one name only and a new house? They will only let you change the name of the mortgage on the same house.

The layout and size looks like my house, but it’s a 2 bed. The main bedroom is all of bedroom 1 and 3 on your layout. Just me and H here, and it feels snug. Not sure I want to be here with an extra 3 people!

Could you buy it, rent it out and rent something bigger to live in? That way you could always move into it at a later stage

Would you get more for your money if you bought an apt in the area instead?

Have they messed up the upstairs measurements? Bedroom one can't only be 6ft something looking at both downstairs and the proportions drawn

It's a pretty good layout of a three bed with little wasted hallway space and decent cupboards.

The kitchen is a decent size as is the lounge. All the bedrooms are reasonable.

If course it would be nice if you could have an extra bedroom but if this is the best available for your money that keeps your kids in the right area, it looks do-able.

Little one sharing with you for now is probably easier than keep rearranging downstairs for a sofa bed.

As PP said, clutter down to a minimum and buy some big, well sealed plastic crates so you can rotate winter/summer clothes etc making most of loft or garage space.

Don't store stuff just go with the very bare minimum.

Plenty of folk make this sort of thing work, it's not luxurious or easy but doable.

That plan cant be right
The bedroom sizes dont make sense

Your maths don't add up because in your scenario you'll be moving TWICE. So your moving costs will be £20k.

Was the previous mortgage just in your name? If it wasn't, it's unlikely you'll be able to port it, so you need to recalculate this using current rates, which are much higher than 1.7%. I'd call your bank and find out so that you know what exactly you're dealing with.

Bedroom 1 must be 9.5 foot wide based on the size of the other rooms.

It's not ideal but you could make it work although I wouldn't say moving in 2 years is financially do able. It'll be very expensive. And also a huge upheaval for not much benefit. Your 13 year old potentially could move out in 4 years so it'd be worth staying until then

Trouble is, by the time you’ve paid 40% on rental income, unless you’ve got a pretty small mortgage you’re going to lose money. Well, I was going to when I looked at trying to this, so I assume it’s the same here. I know rents are sky high at the moment, but there’s so much risk of people trashing the place or not paying, plus there’s two lots of upkeep to pay, and op would be paying high rents too. It just feels very risky unless there’s a decent financial cushion?

Ok you can make this work but not by sofa surfing. Small bedroom yours. The kids share the other two rooms. I get your daughter likes her own space, but you can’t afford that luxury. You can maybe divide the rooms with a screen, but it is what it is.

Re: porting the mortgage, Op, there was a poster on here recently in a similar situation, and as I recall her bank were willing to let she and her ex each take on and port half the mortgage. Obviously it depends on the lender, and individual circumstances, so definitely worth checking.

I grew up in a multigenerational home, and live in one now, and I didn’t have my own room for years, so to me this feels pretty normal. Private space is a luxury, and one I do think the parent needs to be able to survive!

Having said that, sharing with your little one for now, Op, and eldest child having the small bedroom, sounds like a good call. Then at some point you can change things around. DD was happy to share her room with me (and then her grandma) till she was about 8. She had to share for longer, but she was happy to until then 😂

I’ve agreed to port it - they’re fine. It’s less than 50% of our current mortgage.

It sounds fine. Snug, but fine. I'd go with the older DD in the little room and you and the younger one sharing. You could even have something simple like a curtain down the middle of the room for privacy, for now. In time, could you convert the garage and have an extra bedroom downstairs?

It's a good location, and it's affordable
Take it while you all adjust and heal and move on with the next stage of your life.

I’ve already called the bank and agreed to port 50% of our existing mortgage. It’s a done deal.

Yes, there will be 2 lots of moving costs but that’s will be £17,000 plus say £15,000 which is still cheaper than £38,000. Plus prices might increase…

Less is more.

Decluttering and chucking out and having little is very freeing.

It will be fine!

You mention house price's possibly increasing as a positive?

It's not a positive if you want to move to something bigger as the gap to a larger house will grow, not shrink.

OK, good that bank is on board with this.

I still think it's mad to buy a house just for 2 years. Moving is very stressful. Moving with 4 kids will be extremely stressful!

You keep mentioning that house prices might go up. Yes, they might, but so will the price for your next house! It's unlikely that you would gain so much in equity in 2 years that you'd be able to afford a much bigger house. I don't know when your current deal expires, but you'd also be looking at much higher rate than what you're paying now, as it's extremely unlikely interest rates will drop dramatically in the next 2 years.

As someone else said, I'd look at flats. They are often cheaper than houses, and usually have a bit more space, which will also mean you can stay there for 5 years rather than 2, as you won't be so squashed.

If you absolutely had to buy that house though...

Having living room as a bedroom is pretty normal where I'm from. I wouldn't choose to do it myself, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do!

Another option would be to put teenager in box room, and 7yo with you.

But I would seriously consider what you could do with extending your current hoise in any way possible (loft and/or garage) so that you can all stay there as long as you can.

My SIL did something similar but when her son hit 16 bought a caravan to put on the drive as an additional bedroom.

It will be tricky but worth it for the security.

The layout looks very good for the square footage.

Bear in mind if house prices increase that makes your next move less attainable, unless you can borrow more. If you want to upsize in a couple of years you want the market to decrease.