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.

People have already stopped their property move plans, based to a large extent on mortgage debt being too expensive, i.e houses are too expensive for the interest rates, people will just stay where they are and not buy until that changes.

Thank you sorry delayed coming back. To answer both houses are 5 mins walk (in different directions) from the same offered outstanding primary school which my daughter has a place. Potentially there is a middle ground of a house that’s somewhere in between but houses rarely come up in this area. We narrowly missed out on one which were gutted about. We need to buy as we’re renting and landlords are selling hence we don’t want to risk waiting and having to keep moving. There are parks a 5-10 mins walk cycle from each house. Not super close and not convenient re school to just go on way back it’s an out of the way trip. The big garden is probably 110ft x 30ft. The small garden probably 15x15ft. The big garden wouldn’t be that hard to manage, it’s definitely not a downside. I probably prefer the small house…but my head is saying that the big is probably a better purchase got more longevity. So tricky. I appreciate everyone’s perspectives

Ok for me this all hinges on how much you want the garden.
We bought last year and have ended up with a garden almost exactly the same size as your bigger one, and we saw some excellent houses but with small gardens that I just couldn't bear the idea of, because I wanted a decent garden.

Do you like gardening? Do you like plants? Does the idea of your very own trees make your heart sing or just go meh? Are you champing at the bit to get your hands on a garden?
Answers for me were yes, yes, heart sing, and yes. So we bought the house. No regrets.

I was always team max your budget, however when we moved to this house it was cheaper. We were mortgage free before 30, in a good location with plenty of amenities within a short walk or drive in a semi rural location. DH and I work less hours, I am considering dropping a day to have more time with the DC and allow us to travel more. Last year we had 4 holidays and countless day trips/weekends away. I don’t miss our big house nor the financial burden that came with it!

I would stretch whilst it's a buyers market. You might not be able to afford a bigger house in the future and even if you could it would mean moving again which is a massive cost.

Loving the range of perspectives I’ll put numbers to it. I don’t love gardens, but I love seeing my kids using the garden and my own childhood memories are predominantly of playing outdoors. We ve got a gardener who comes once a fortnight and that seems to manage it. We could build tree houses and mud kitchen and a trampoline etc. We’re quite close to school so I can imagine hosting play dates, chatting to other mums and our kids running around in the massive garden . I like hosting. But the more expensive house is approximately 1/3 more expensive. And I actually prefer the cheaper house, I had the feels for it. My heart says the smaller house but my head says that in 2 years I’ll be kicking myself and saying we want a bigger garden. Professional opinion is the bigger house is a steal too, it could go for more and I can’t help thinking that’s influencing me everyone likes to feel they’re getting good value.

It is nowhere near a "buyers market", mortgage approvals are at near historical lows, if interest rates start to get forced up it will be the start of a house price correction/buyers market but we are not there yet, buying this house now you would need to be prepared to lose money for a trade off of not having to move again for a very long time in the now seemingly likely scenario that mortgage rates are going to be much higher in future.

Your dc are very young.
I would go for the bigger house and bigger garden.
It just gives you so much more flexibility for the next 20 - 30 years.

What is the difference between the houses ?

If it could go for more and there is a good school nearby then where are all the other offers, the bidding wars, or is demand for the area down for some other reason?

@WallaceinAnderland very good point

We’re renting the property, the owners would rather sell to us than have the hassle and time of waiting till end of our tenancy and then dressing, listing etc. it would take at least an extra year till they were able to complete

In that case and if it is a good price (have you done the research or is it a quite unique house?) then go for it, probably too good an opportunity to miss, if you are using a mortgage try to overpay? And make sure you have a Plan B job plan if anything goes wrong with the main employment. You mentioned lodgers/AirBnB earlier? That is a decent back up plan but personally would be my last option after all other avenues (well most) of income were tried in the event of a job loss.

@KeepPumping its not unique, Ive got a good idea of price i think. I guess there’s lots of potential avenues. I’ve air bnbd before and I guess I like the idea of feeling like we’re deriving value from the additional capital outlay. Truth we really don’t need a house this big or garden but it’s hard to imagine what we would want in 5 years time. Financially things are tight now, I’ve just launched a business so my contribution is negligible but I’d hope I’m out earning my partner in a few years time. And we’re currently paying 2 x nursery fees. Our financial picture will hopefully be much healthier in a few years. But equally things could go wrong. Etc etc. I don’t think m I’d worry about it, or regret. It’s more the opportunity cost. The cheaper house we could enjoy nicer holidays now. Maybe trading up in 5 years would be better than risking feeling a pinch

Yes, depending on how the global economic picture plays out you might get a proper bargain in five years.

It's your home, not an investment. If you're really undecided just go with your gut. Don't overthink it.

I think that puts a whole different number of layers on it.

If I've read it right, you are already living in the larger house?

So it would be much easier to stay where you are, and not have the hassle of the move, but mostly, if you move you would be downsizing ? That seems a really strange thing to do at this stage of life.

@JustGiveMeReason yes we already live in the larger house, renting it. it wasn’t an intended drip feed but I don’t want that to colour anyone’s opinion. Of course not moving would be easier…but if we say moving costs £10k that is negligible to the difference in the house costs.

It’s a known quantity though, you know the house, neighbours and the immediate area. The smaller house will inevitably come with additional costs, even if it’s redecoration. You presumably know your current houses weak spots so can predict repairs needed. That for me would be worth stretching for, and of course you cut out the stress of actually moving house. If I could afford it, I’d stay put if it’s a good deal.

I agree with @Jellycatspyjamas