Downsize and be mortgage free or move and get bigger mortgage?

[QueenBhannae]

What would you do?

I would like to move house to be nearer,well, people really rather than ponies and grass and bugs.Plus I would like an extra bedroom, although dh did say he would do the loft when we moved in here. I am still waiting on that 2 children and 3 years later

We bought at a good time and as such have good equity through my buying and selling since I was 18 and putting a good deposit down.We have a three bed 2 rec detached bungalow in the middle of nowhere with land all sides.

Do we move to a house that is smaller inside and out but has more rooms and would enable us to be mortgage free but nearer to town rather than the village where school is?

OR increase mortgage and buy in the village a house that has the space wanted?

OR sell our house and live in static/park home/timber build on side bit of land which we could retain?

We are 26 and 48 and have 22 years left to run on this mortgage which means dh would be 70 by the time it was paid off.

We have sold and have enough to be mortgage free and are currently renting and looking for a bargain.It depends on how you see your day to day life.We couldn't bear to be tied to the banks again and are looking forward to the freedom of lots of travelling.Considering your dh's age (mine is 47 too) I would ditch the mortgage

Sounds like you have lots of options with different financial implications. I think you and your DH have got to work out what your priorities are first, don't you?

Not just number of bedrooms, but also leisure activities, distance vs number of journeys you have to do regularly, location of jobs, childcarers or schools, friendships, family, future ambitions, comfort with financial risk...

The really anal thing to do is to list them and prioritise them.

The financial side is the relatively easy bit. It's just maths, where you factor in the likelihood of various risks/rewards.

I'd work out what I wanted first, then try and find the best way of achieving it that fitted those priorities.

Personally I'd go mortgage free route.

Me too, I'd go mortgage free every time - but only on hte basis that the house/location etc suited me. LOVE being out in the country surrounded by horses and bugs. But if that doesn't suit you, you really should move to a town.

how old are the kids, will they be going to school in the town any time soon ?

Any chance of getting a house in the village that doesn't increase the mortgage much ?

Can you easily afford your mortgage now? If not then I'd get rid of it if I could!

Ooh, I've always wanted to build my own house. So I'd do that - not often you have the chance of a good plot somewhere you actually want to live. Although obv. check planning permission. But you could design exactly the house you want..

Especially in this financial climate!

Thanks for the replies everyone.

The mortgage is affordable so we could stretch it. Im just not sure that I want to?

I would like the house at the side option but it puts me in the same location lol so is last on my option list.

The dc are 7,2 and 7mths so will all be at school in the village for a while yet.

I am going to llook at a couple of houses in the village at the weekend to see if its justifiable to move there financially.

I do love the bugs and horses and they would still be about up in the village but I dont have any neighbours here as only 3 more houses near and they are all old people The grass I can do without as my hayfever is awful!