Cheap house or max budget?

[ChampagneLassie]

help! Deliberating between houses. I’m trying to decide between buying a cheaper house with a small garden (size of a room) and a bigger more expensive house with a bigger garden (size of small park with mature trees etc). We could afford the more expensive house but it willl inevitably mean trade offs, lesss/cheaper holiday (and we’ve talked about air bnding the anex but this is all more work). Harder if my partner lost his job or if either of us couldn’t work health wise. Etc the garden is the main thing I’m swaying on as I know many people move for a bigger garden with kids. My kids are only 2 & 4 and right now a small garden is fine and I’m trying to work out if we opt for the smaller house if I’ll be kicking myself in a few years or not.

If interest rates went up could you afford several hundred more a month? Could you survive on one salary? I personally chose an affordable house, have nearly paid of the mortgage and feel relieved that we have a home no matter what, it's meant I can work part time and pursue other interests.

We’ve modelled many things…7% interest rate. I think even if it went super high we’d find a way, but obviously there’s the opportunity cost of what we’re not doing instead

Which is closest to best school?
That would be my overriding priority

Buy as big as you can, as soon as you can

Even if in shite location not near to good schools?

no thanks

Buy as small and cheap as you can get by with and live your life with the money you save

by the time they need a big garden they can go to the park

I would look for another house with an average size garden.

If you could comfortably afford the bigger house on one income then go for it. Otherwise (in this terrible economy) nope.

I would go for the bigger house and garden. A big garden is highly sought after.

I would go for the bigger house. It's so expensive to move, if you outgrow the smaller one in 5 years you'll have all the moving costs again.
You'd have the potential revenue from renting out the annex if money gets a big tight which massively reduces the risk.

Can’t believe zero mention of schools from the op or posters given these children’s ages

Is there nothing in between?!

I would point out the work required to maintain a big garden - the people I know with big mortgages and massive gardens pay for someone to mow the grass for them.

A few thoughts.

1. Go small and affordable. Save the money saved in a pension (for future resilience) and/or ISA (for future large house purchase)
2. The market could fall away from underneath you, trapping you in negative equity or poor financial position for 10+ years.
3. Mr Burnham may push forward with plans to eliminate SDLT and bring in a Land Value Tax. You need to have some idea as to whether that will be affordable for you.
4. Can you manage a large amount of land?

Good luck whatever you choose.

7% will probably happen, they always used to say plan for 10%, that is still low by historical standards but not sure they would stay at 10% long term if that happened. The best thing to do is get the bigger house/garden but can you handle it if/when the value drops below what you paid/borrowed?

People with massive gardens and no mortgage also get the gardens done.

Mr Burnham may push forward with plans to eliminate SDLT and bring in a Land Value Tax. You need to have some idea as to whether that will be affordable for you

eliminating stamp duty and replacing it with a different form of tax, is currently only an idea, no more than that. It would take at least another 5-7 years before it became a reality, if it ever does. At this stage, people shouldn't stop their property move plans based on an idea.

The Community Charge only took 4 years to roll out.

There is pressing demand for all kinds of spending commitment such as adult social care, cost of living relief, water supply resilience, housing, NHS, and so on. But there's precious few people asking to be taxed more to fund them. This is one method by which those with the broadest shoulders, and who have typically gained the most, can contribute more fairly. And yes, there are all kinds of edge scenarios such as asset rich cash poor widows, but those are easily accommodated with charges against their property.

I spoke with my Lib Dem MP the other day and they appreciated the nonsense and friction resulting from SDLT.

What sort of area are you in? My relative lives in a flat in London with no garden, but they have a huge park with trails and trees and a pond, etc., within less than 5 minutes walk, so it really doesn't matter. We live rurally and the nearest big space is a way away so a garden is helpful.

Smaller house, more money in pocket / bank. The kids will only use the garden for a few years and by the time they’re 12 they won’t be bothered anymore. Don’t think ours have been in ours for 5 years now. Once they’re old enough to see their friends independently they’ll rarely use it, and that time will come round quicker than paying off a massive mortgage will.

When we bought 7 years ago we bought a small (but big enough) house with potential to extend. We very nearly bought a bigger place which was 100k more expensive and needed work. We planned to convert the loft at the very least by now.

Well, the economy went to shit, but we've been able to cope with it because our mortgage is manageable. We can still go on holidays and do nice things with our kids, all of that would be out if we were in the other house.

I'd buy a house that would be ok to live in for 20 years. That might not be either of these options.

Are both houses in same nursery/school catchment area? Can you manage the larger garden?

We have a fairly big garden and its a lot of work to keep it tidy. Takes 2hours to mow the grass, the same again to weed, and we have fruit trees and soft fruit bushes which need regular maintenance during summer and autumn. We also have space for a huge trampoline, a playhouse, a mud kitchen and a slide so the kids love it but it does take up time every week.

We bought the (much) bigger house and I love it every day. Loads of space for everyone, and we’ll be fine if the kids have to bounce back after Uni. Space for kids and grown up living areas. We spend so much time at home I want to be happy here.

We fixed our mortgage for 10 years though so we have absolute certainty about our outgoings until the children have left school though.

Also our big house has a smaller garden than our old house - gardens are an absolute PITA to maintain if you’re not into gardening,so whilst I want a nice outdoor space, it needs to be easy to maintain.

Personally I’d highly value not having to worry so much about money and also having the headroom to afford holidays, so I would probably choose the smaller house.

If you'd find a way, and there are often lots of ways to consider if finances became tricky, then go with the property you want most. Which will you regret more a house you nearly always don't want or one that you might not want if 'bad things' happened. It does of course depend on how well you deal with 'worrying' about the worst happening.