What would you do… Dream house vs or mortgage free

[Potatomashed]

Interested what you would do…

We own our house outright after renovating a few houses in our twenties. It’s the right size for our family and a great location but it’s always been a head over heart decision because of the layout, small garden and it’s a somewhat unattractive terrace. We did a full renovation so it’s energy efficient, warm and the inside is as attractive as it could be.

Our dream house has come on the market. We live in a small village and don’t want to move, but this is the ideal location (literally I can see it from my window). It is a gorgeous detached property which needs some work to modernise but we could live there during and feel proud of it forever… but it would require a mortgage of at least £100k plus time and money spent on renovations (which we have enjoyed in the past although we now have young kids). I’ve spent the past 5 years dreaming about this house when I walk past!

My DH recently went self employed and I am on mat leave so I don’t think we’ll get a traditional mortgage but my heart doesn’t want to see my dream house go!

If you afford it, go for it. If you have young kids, you are young enough to cover £100k easily.

I’d stay put unless you actually want to do a renovation

The mortgage wouldn't put me off, but the thought of living in a do-er upper with young dc would.
It could be a miserable place to live for many years if you were doing it yourselves, the dc likely wouldn't enjoy living in a building site.

You sound like you like doing renovations, so that bit wouldn't put me off. You need to go to a mortgage advisor and get the numbers before you make a decision - how much a month, how long for, etc.

Good luck!

You only live once. Go for it!

If it needs work and the house you had is right size and location I think you’d be nuts tbh!!!!

How old are you ? You seem fairly young and £100k
isnt a huge mortgage to take on - how much are renovations likely to cost on top of that ?
what are the extent or works that need doing a total gut job with young kids is a lot especially if you will have to go back to work but if it’s updating kitchen and bathrooms it’s do able.
That being said I wouldn’t want to be getting a non standard mortgage on self employed and Mat pay given the current climate and be stuck with a high % rate and burning money on renos.
We prioritise being mortgage free early as possible over the “dream” home - though I do love our detached home and amazing space it gives us we still need a new kitchen ! But prefer smashing our mortgage over getting a huge mortgage for a perfect home and overstretch. We’re 42 and 41 one tho it sounds like you’re younger

Go for it.

Well impossible to answer without further detail..

How old are you both? How old are the children (with one on the way)? What's your income compared to the 100k mortgage? How long would it take to do up? How much would it cost? etc.

On the info you've given ofc you shouldn't do it, he's just gone SE and you're on maternity.

Go for it.

It doesn’t sound as if you live in a family house so I’d get this pretty small mortgaged and go for it. You’ll regret it if you don’t try.

I’d go for it, you sound young enough for it to make sense and you have experience doing a fixer upper. I think you’d regret it if you didn’t at least try!

I think you will forever regret it if you don’t but without more financial information it’s impossible to know if it’s a good idea or not. Terrible timing though with current rates, self employment and mat leave.

The mortgage in itself wouldn’t be scary but the fact you are on mat leave and DP recently self employed makes me think you would either not get a mortgage or get a very high interest one.

Have you done renovations with young kids around - it’s not easy or fun? - also if your DP is self employed will he have time and energy to renovate.

I think the timing for you and this dream house is just off - it’s not the right time

Sounds like a terrible idea with your DH going self employed which will likely eat up all of his time plus be extremely stressful for him. With that and kids you will struggle to find the time, energy and money to do the renovation.

Mortgage free and have the dream life. Holidays, days out, treats for the kids less financial stress.

I love my house so for me I would go for your dream house if you think you'll be happier. As others have said £100000 is a very small mortgage this day and age.

I don't think there is a bad decision here. Either way will be fine. If the mortgage was only 100k and the house definitely what you wanted and you could live in it now without immediate renovations, I would probably go for the new house. but if you stay put you will be happy anyway and could always move in a few years.

Go for it. You will always regret it if you don't

Will you regret not buying it. Will you resent the people who do?
Go for it.

I’m in this position and I’ve gone for the dream house. But since I own my house outright, I’ve taken a remortgage on that and will rent it out, and the rent will pay the mortgage, so I’m not having to sell the house - perhaps you can do the same?

This.
I did this and love every moment in my home.
Took a few years to do the remodeling and was as miserable 6 months when I repeatedly wondered if it was worth it.
Sitting here more -it was worth it!
Never want to live anywhere else ever.

Ahh honestly I was thinking everyone was going to tell me be happy with my lot (I recognise it’s a good position to be in!) and not to be so silly!

I think like @Ilovemyshed said, I will totally resent whoever buys the house if it isn’t me (plus I have to watch and hear their renovation or them having a happy life in the garden! We could definitely live in it- there’s an old couple there at the moment- it would just be initial cosmetic upgrades I think but with knowledge of the disruption of a rewire and stuff later on…

I will definitely need a specialist mortgage broker, if anyone can recommend one for our circumstances?

We did similar with young children and I was starting a business from mat leave (largely because of the poor options for post maternity in those days). We also had experience of renovating. We lived in whilst modernising.

My question would be around if you have money for the essentials in the first year? Ours had falling out windows, no heating, 100 year old wiring - we had to get these done with the initial money but were willing to live without a modern kitchen or modern bathrooms until we could afford to do more. We did a lot of our own work. For various reasons it was very tough in the first couple of years (I swore my next move would be in a box!) but we ended up with a much better house than we could have bought new at that time and its been a great family home. The DC were young enough that they don't remember the painful bits, they just remember having bigger gardens (and spending a lot of time in them during work) and didn't care about old cast iron baths or tatty carpets.

The key thing is that you can live in it and do a lot of the work yourself so you should also be able to make a realistic plan to help you decide.

We have been mortgage free for many years, I would never take on a new mortgage. Interest rates are rising, buildings supply costs also risen steeply. The market is generally slow, assuming you will need to sell in order to purchase. Mortgage companies aren’t too keen on recent self employed apps, so if you can borrow it may not be at favourable terms, unless your income would cover it. I would consider very carefully. It may not turn out to be the dream house if you find yourselves stressed financially with mortgage, reno costs, and bigger bills. Good luck with whatever you decide.