Stick or twist (re buying/selling house)

[lemonfizzysweets]

Can I ask for some frank opinions? I don't have a supportive family and my friends are not really financially literate so I am a bit stuck for advice.

I bought in my early 40's. Moved into a house I could afford (The worst house on the best street situation)

I have been in the house a few years:

House value currently £400000
Remaining Mortage £220000
LTV showing as 51%
Income £100K PA
Savings 25K
No other debt whatsoever

I love the house, but suddenly occurred to me it is not one to retire into. It is part of a large converted mill and the developer used the dogends of the space to squeeze one last house in. So it has random hallways and many many staircases everywhere. Great for big windows, loads of scattered rooms from tiny to HUGE, quirky spaces and lovely atmosphere, bad for ageing ladies with creaking hips.

To be fair I could live with all the stairs..... it is the parking situation. I was not kidding when I said this house was a total afterthought and as such a 'parking bay' was added, but it was added by my door but on the road and not allocated specifically to this house. Anyone and his dog can use it and they do since a daycare opened a street over, about a year ago. Prior to that, no one came into our road and I was always able to park.

There are additional allocated parking spaces for me in a bay, but it is waaaaaaaaay on the other side of the mill and a road over. Driving to check I have a space out front, doubling back and parking then walking 10 mins Every.Single.Time gets very old fast.

Also in a few years the windows & heating will need doing, the kitchen is getting a bit dated too.

I mentioned moving to a house where I could retire into a 'normal' two-storey house with a driveway and garage to my friend and she was horrified!! (houses with driveways here are £500k and that is the range I am looking at)

She kept telling me it was a mistake and that I was over halfway to paying off my mortgage and I would 'undo all my good work' by moving to a more expensive house

Would it be a mistake, am i being bonkers? what do I need to consider?

I think it sounds sensible. You can port the mortgage you have if you find a property of a similar price. I probably wouldn't want to add much to my mortgage later in life but you have a good income to make repayments.

I'd move too. You're future-proofing living in another house against ill health/aches and pains plus taking a fairly major stress away with the parking. If you can get it less than £500k then that's all good.

Phew, thank you.@Ukholidaysaregreat @KarlaKK

She was absolutely horrified and kept mentioning that it was madness to add to a mortgage in your 50s and I would have less equity so if anything went wrong I would be on a weaker footing. She got really wound up about the whole thing!

Every time she has spoken to me since she keeps saying a variation of 'what were you even thinking, be gone with such a daft notion'

You should definitely move. The parking plus the windows needing to be replaced would be enough. Plus you have a good income, and you’re young enough to make new friends/ settle into a new community. It might also take a little while to sell your own place by the sounds of it (it sounds lovely but quirky places can take a bit of time).

With your income though I probably would be trying to overpay the mortgage as much as feasible over the next 10 years so if you want to go part time etc you’ll have the financial freedom to do it.

I would move in your situation to something you prefer that is more future proof. You can afford it and have enough time to pay off a mortgage. There's no big hurry though is there? I might wait a while but keep an eye on your local market, start getting a really good feel for what houses come up, what they sell for etc. Maybe view a few if the EA will allow it before your own is for sale.
Become an expert in your own little property market.

Seems like a no-brainer to me. why stay in a house you aren't completely happy in?
The one thing to watch for is that you are likely getting a relatively short term mortgage so that it is paid off by retirement - so that makes things more expensive than the standard calculators will quote.

You can always move again if absolutely necessary. You won't be trapped there. I'm hoping to move this year and I'm in my 60s. I might have to take on a small mortgage. Do what is right for you.

Thank you @Heronwatcher

@Twiglets1 - I have been thinking about it for about 6mo. I obsessively check Rightmove and do have a good feel for prices. This was the first time I broached my idea with anyone I was taken aback at the shock, followed by dismay she displayed. She was convinced it was a mistake.

Housewise, I am going to have a little bit of an issue. If you have loads of lovely rooms, you get used to and grow into loads of lovely rooms. I have a utility and laundry room, a reading nook, a WFH office, a dining room, a TV snug and a room of neat tidy storage. As well as a few bedrooms and bathrooms scattered higgledy-piggledy about. Finding a house that can also accommodate these spaces might be an impossible task 😆

@Tupster - I am just on the edge of that. If I move soonish I can stay on the right side of needing a mortgage that falls into pension age.

I'd move too, the parking alone would do it for me but plenty of people wouldn't care as much so it'll probably sell. Do it if you think it'll make you happy. That's not a huge amount on your income and you're not old!

I know what you mean about getting used to having lots of rooms, I'm jealous of your reading nook though, sounds lovely!

It will be exciting to have a look at what's out there won't it? To consider possibilities. Because after all if you can't find anything better overall than what you currently have, you don't have to move.

I think that was a strange reaction from your friend tbh. Maybe it's her goal to be mortgage free as soon as possible but that isn't everyone's goal. I just paid off my mortgage in my late 50s and partner is early 60s.

@Twiglets1 - She is a flamboyant spender and is very much of the 'you might get hit by a bus tomorrow so enjoy your money now'. Hence why I was surprised she had such a strong and almost explosive reaction. She and her partner rent and choose holidays over homeownership, their words not mine. (No judgment here, its very much a personal choice how you spend your money!)

I think I would be looking at a nice 2 bed with a drive. Easy to manage, got a spare room. Might have to sacrifice the laundry and separate utility! Haha! Surely unless you have the washing of a local rugby team - should be do able.
I think it sounds exciting!

As @Heronwatcher says its going to be a odd house to sell. It would be great for a big family with older kids who all like their own space (and own floors), but the kitchen has a huge ceiling space and a great big window but very little actual cupboard or side space - so not great for a big family at all. Also no parking and a garden which is walled but around a corner.

DH is very frail and when I am left alone I'll be downsizing. I'll be in my early 60s. My fear is my furniture won't fit, but by the time I have thinned out bedroom furniture and DH's office it should fit in a three bedroom bungalow!

I think your current house sounds lovely, unique and quirky but not ideal for the older years perhaps? I'd move personally...

An easy house is absolutely amazing day to day, we were previously in a 300 year old cottage which I adored but it was freezing (despite a fortune on heating and logs!), very expensive to insure, had no parking etc. moved to a modern house and 0 regrets!

The parking sounds like a nightmare. Has your solicitor carefully checked your deeds to see if there's any mention of the bay beside your door? Who does own it? If you could claim it, or buy it, it would greatly add to the value of your home.

I’d move as well. Lots of rooms and quirky spaces sounds lovely, but the other thing to consider as you get older, is that you won’t want to clean so many spaces, as well as maintain the building.

We’ve just downsized and beforehand, we sold what we knew we wouldn’t need, as well as decluttering like mad. Once we’d moved, we sold one or two more things, which have helped towards soft furnishings etc in this place.

Thank you @snotathing and @Bluevelvetsofa

I already have a cleaner - she was brought in just to do stairs! 😆

Every time she is here I expect it to be her last, she moans and moans about the stairs the whole time. If she brings along a newbie, she always tells them to get on with the stairs like its a favor to them and she will 'do ALL the bathrooms' (she gives me a wink when she does it because the bathrooms are very clean and she knows it) luckily I have a very minimalist lifestyle and generally am tidy. I just like having lots of little nooks and spaces.

The parking bay is on the road, so it is just like any 'on the road' parking first come first served. It is definitely not on the deeds as I had a neighbour who thought both spaces were allocated to her (because I have 3 spaces in the mill's yard and she doesn't) So the origin of the parking came out then. (no longer an issue as another neighbour, with driveway parking, bought her house and knocked through to extend)