Would you stretch for your dream home?

[Bucketattheready]

A property has come up we love. We went to see it and its what I would describe as the dream home. Perfect for us (we both work from home so we would each have an office) lovely private gardens etc.
I spoke to my mortgage broker and he says we fit affordability, and we had our house valued.
We would be jumping from a mortgage at 18% take home pay to a mortgage worth 30% take home pay. Adding over £600 per month to the mortgage.
I am going from three days to four days at work anyway as my kids are that bit older and less reliant on me now which was happening anyway. But all that benefit will be wiped out.
I just can’t decide.
Our own home needs a bit of work on it, kitchen/garden mainly. The new house is great internally with nice kitchen and bathrooms but the wooden windows will need replacing as over 30 years old.
Would you take such a jump? My family don’t think we should, but we love the house and it’s easier for kids friends and school and much more private. It just feels so expensive.
What would you do?

I regret not stretching ourselves tbh.

That's not to say you should, but if we'd gone for the house my husband wanted it'd be worth twice what we'd have paid for it by now. Instead, our own house has prob only increased in value 80k.

I wish I'd not kyboshed it really.

If you feel it could be your forever home then yes I'd stretch.

Property prices are only likely to go up in the long term - so in the future you may not be able to afford this move - but now - you just about can afford it so if you love it go for it.

I would probably go for it if you can afford it without totally compromising your way of life. I think it’s important to live in a place you like, especially if you’re not planning to move for a long time.

Personally I think it is worth pushing yourselves (not to a ridiculous degree), especially if it will become the family home in which your children will grow up. We did this nearly 30 years ago (including paying way over the valuation), it is still our home full of memories, and the cost we paid is forgotten (not really, but you know what I mean).

I always find it rather sad - although often unavoidable - when people move into their dream home when their DC are mid teens, and will be away in no time.

There is no such thing as a "dream home".

Every home will come with hidden costs. Some not so hidden!

I blame property porn TV programming for encouraging this sort of thinking.

We did exactly this earlier this year and have zero regrets. We wake up everyday thankful we took.the.plunge and grateful we get to call this place home.

If you can reasonably stretch. Go for it.

Yes definitely.

We stretched.. never regretted it.

We did this - and have just spent a huge sum on renos. We love being at home so for us it’s well worth it and we wanted our kids (5&3) to get maximum benefit from it.

if you can still maintain your lifestyle and won’t need to sell for 20/30 years I would.

Depends on how much disposable income you have left! Our mortgage payments are 50% of our salary, but that still leaves plenty to live on.

From the figures, you bring home about £5k per month and your payments are going up from £900 to £1500? So you’ll still have £3500 every month. I’d be fairly comfortable with that.

Yes I would. You only live once and if you can afford it then I don’t think you’d regret it. Every move up we’ve done has been a stretch at the time, but I do believe in ‘the dream house’ and will sacrifice other things to obtain it.

Yes! As long as still have all of the disposable income you need and your rainy day fund, then absolutely.

Thank you for replies.
@Saschka sums are correct for mortgage. Bring in minimum £5400, more depending on how much self employed income I make which varies month to month but I try keep that for holidays or special occasions. After all other regular bills including insurance, council tax has and electric I think we will be left around £2600 for food, fuel, spending and saving.
food and fuel £750
so about 1800 for fun money and saving.
we are 35 if that makes any difference.

Presumably you will have to sell your house for?

I would, it is affordable, it’s just more than you are used to paying at the moment.

Not to be negative but what if something happened and only one of you could work? Could you afford the mortgage on one wage? These are the things that worry me when we think about stretching too much.

@ScoobyRuby - I'm similarly cool about this.

I also wouldn't over reach myself for bricks and mortar - the world seems more uncertain and unpredictable than ever - gas and electricity supplies are not stable and secure so prices are likely to fluctuate at the whim of any number of global issues, the same goes for mortgage interest rates and employment security. I've found that the location and what it offers you at a certain time in your life matter far more than the actual physical building and it's internal appeal - and of course what you value changes depending on what stage you at in life - your needs when your kids are in school are different to the time when your kids leave home and it's different again when you retire; no new house is a dream house IMHO - you make it what you want and that takes time - there are always some important good and bad points about a new house in a new location that will take you some time to really appreciate. How long might you be staying in this new place if you did go ahead? What threats to job security do you see ahead of you and how might you manage on one income if it came to it? I've been through redundancy 6 times so have always sat on a relatively large amount of savings.

@larkstar I do understand.
the house is at the end of a quiet cul de sac and we are currently on a busy main road so that is a big draw. Kids are 9&11 and we would plan to stay here until retirement.

I would go for it as long as it's affordable. Made a similar decision and I love my house. It does mean we still have a mortgage in our late 50s/early 60s but that's ok with us, as long as it's paid off by the time my husband retires.

I would go for it. You would have enough money over to do things too. It’s your dream house therefore it would be somebody else’s dream house too so would be a great investment too.

Update, we had our offer accepted yesterday and our house is going on the market this week. Excited but nervous, but more on the excited side!