Improve or move?
Discussion
We have outgrown our current 3-bed semi, but as the loft is generously proportioned I am looking into getting a conversion to add a bedroom and a shower room up there. Probably put the boiler up there, too, to free up space in a relatively small kitchen.
The cost is going to be roughly 50k, but I am concerned that even once this work is done, we will still be fairly short of space, but it would certainly ease some of the issues we have now for not a huge outlay compared to moving to a bigger house.
However, a generously proportioned 4-bed detached house is on the market with the potential for a deal to be done as it needs some TLC. It is definitely big enough and I can't see us moving for a long time if we were to go for it. Trouble is, to acquire it we would be seriously stretching ourselves - 10 years on the mortgage becomes 20, 55k remaining to pay off becomes about 190k.
We'd have to cut back and live frugally for a while to do it, much like we did when we were saving up for the house we're in now. But it seems worth it for the extra space and to have a good base for the future.
What would you do? Spend less and stay in a smaller house with some improvements, or spend considerably more to get the 'forever' home?
All views welcome, cheers!
The cost is going to be roughly 50k, but I am concerned that even once this work is done, we will still be fairly short of space, but it would certainly ease some of the issues we have now for not a huge outlay compared to moving to a bigger house.
However, a generously proportioned 4-bed detached house is on the market with the potential for a deal to be done as it needs some TLC. It is definitely big enough and I can't see us moving for a long time if we were to go for it. Trouble is, to acquire it we would be seriously stretching ourselves - 10 years on the mortgage becomes 20, 55k remaining to pay off becomes about 190k.
We'd have to cut back and live frugally for a while to do it, much like we did when we were saving up for the house we're in now. But it seems worth it for the extra space and to have a good base for the future.
What would you do? Spend less and stay in a smaller house with some improvements, or spend considerably more to get the 'forever' home?
All views welcome, cheers!
cliffords said:
What are your neighbours like now and what could they become. What are noise levels like . This applies to both options and would be my primary consideration.
Agree with you, the devil you know is often the better option. Op, you say 4 bedrooms may not be enough space but are looking at moving to 4 bedrooms?
With both meaning you will have disruptive work needing doing, the same amount of bedrooms, the costs involved in moving , stamp duty, and a 90k difference in the finances, BEFORE you spend on the work needed on the new house, I would be having a second look at that loft conversion, especially adding a second bathroom the new house probably won't have?
We stretched our selves with last move we did, at one point the mortgage was over 50% of my take home pay and I had less than 12 months left on my contract and my wife was only just going back to work post maternity leave....fun times for financial planning 
.
All that's forgotten now though, the risk for us was well worth it, since we moved in coming up to a decade ago no other houses have come up for sale in the village. I don't think there is such a thing as a 'forever' home, but our current house will be our home for quite a few more decades I suspect.
. All that's forgotten now though, the risk for us was well worth it, since we moved in coming up to a decade ago no other houses have come up for sale in the village. I don't think there is such a thing as a 'forever' home, but our current house will be our home for quite a few more decades I suspect.
Put this another way, way back when I didn't push myself to get a mortgage as big as I could afford, I didn't need the space so didn't do it. Now some 30 years on I would have been a couple of £100k better off. I could have very easily afforded it after 2 years although it would have been difficult at first.
This may well be different in today's world, but sometimes I wish i had pushed myself a bit when I had the enthusiasm to earn well.
Everything is easy in hindsight
This may well be different in today's world, but sometimes I wish i had pushed myself a bit when I had the enthusiasm to earn well.
Everything is easy in hindsight
We extended and went into the loft as we were in a good catchment area. We would've moved then if that hadn't been the case.
10 years later, and like others, we stretched to buy a detached.
One of the best things we ever did, the mere fact that the houses aren't connected certainly gives me a strange feeling of 'freedom'
If I want to turn up the surround sound system for a big film I can, the only people I'm disturbing are in my house. The other factor is the garden is south facing, the drive has enough space for the kids cars etc, etc,.
Not just one big thing - lots of little factors that add up to make something much greater than the sum of the parts
10 years later, and like others, we stretched to buy a detached.
One of the best things we ever did, the mere fact that the houses aren't connected certainly gives me a strange feeling of 'freedom'
If I want to turn up the surround sound system for a big film I can, the only people I'm disturbing are in my house. The other factor is the garden is south facing, the drive has enough space for the kids cars etc, etc,.Not just one big thing - lots of little factors that add up to make something much greater than the sum of the parts
Edited by Ranger 6 on Thursday 23 July 08:49
gangzoom said:
We stretched our selves with last move we did, at one point the mortgage was over 50% of my take home pay and I had less than 12 months left on my contract and my wife was only just going back to work post maternity leave....fun times for financial planning .
We did the same recently and the mortgage % is not dissimilar (South East and I get paid okay!). I have absolutely no regrets. . I've done a lot of work on the new house (which has been back breaking at times) but I look around the garden on a summer's evening and I genuinely love it.
To the OP, I'd do it. The mortgage amount isn't large (in relative terms) and you'll be moving from a semi to a detached house with - I assume - more overall living space.
Just do some maths gymnastics in your head to make it all make sense. For me, I tell myself that the increased mortgage payment is (somewhat) offset by the fact that I can keep all of my cars here and so no longer need to pay for storage costs...
cliffords said:
What are your neighbours like now and what could they become. What are noise levels like . This applies to both options and would be my primary consideration.
Current neighbours are perfect. No hassle, hard of hearing, keep themselves to themselves. However due to their age, I suppose we could get new neighbours either side in the timeline if we were to stay here.The other house barely feels like it has neighbours as it's not overlooked and quite a big plot. The street appears to have a similar lineup of older people living in it, though due to the size of the houses there are some more grown up families down there.
As for noise levels, we live next to a quietish road now. The other house is down a cul-de-sac and even quieter.
E-bmw said:
We are currently down-sizing & it WILL be our last move (said that last time) and I can tell you the "costs to move" are crippling and seriously annoying.
We are liberating about £130k but it is going to cost us close to £20k just to "change address".........
13k on stamp duty will be the biggest hit for us. However, the cost of the loft conversion could easily spiral by that much and more.We are liberating about £130k but it is going to cost us close to £20k just to "change address".........
It's a pain!
borcy said:
How far apart are the two house? Any big increases in commuting, school runs, both areas good to live in?
The new house is a three- to five-minute walk away from where we are now.So the walk to school goes from 15 to 20 mins. Commuting barely changes at all. It's in the same town just a different street. We love it here.
Doesitdrive said:
cliffords said:
What are your neighbours like now and what could they become. What are noise levels like . This applies to both options and would be my primary consideration.
Agree with you, the devil you know is often the better option. Op, you say 4 bedrooms may not be enough space but are looking at moving to 4 bedrooms?
With both meaning you will have disruptive work needing doing, the same amount of bedrooms, the costs involved in moving , stamp duty, and a 90k difference in the finances, BEFORE you spend on the work needed on the new house, I would be having a second look at that loft conversion, especially adding a second bathroom the new house probably won't have?
Current house: 60s build. 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, kitchen. combined lounge and dining room, boarded loft, long single garage. After conversion it'd be 4 bedrooms and an additional toilet/shower room most likely, though one of the bedrooms would be sacrificed to become the office room, so it's more like 3.5 bedrooms.
New house: 90s build. 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, dining room, large entrance hall area with a 'drawing room', conservatory, double garage.
Our current garden is lovely. The new garden would also be lovely.
There's quite a big difference in living space comparing the improved version of where we are now against the new house.
Fuzzarr said:
borcy said:
How far apart are the two house? Any big increases in commuting, school runs, both areas good to live in?
The new house is a three- to five-minute walk away from where we are now.So the walk to school goes from 15 to 20 mins. Commuting barely changes at all. It's in the same town just a different street. We love it here.
ARH said:
Put this another way, way back when I didn't push myself to get a mortgage as big as I could afford, I didn't need the space so didn't do it. Now some 30 years on I would have been a couple of £100k better off. I could have very easily afforded it after 2 years although it would have been difficult at first.
This may well be different in today's world, but sometimes I wish i had pushed myself a bit when I had the enthusiasm to earn well.
Everything is easy in hindsight
I can relate to this. We put a huge deposit down on our current house to get the best mortgage deals buying the house we're in now.This may well be different in today's world, but sometimes I wish i had pushed myself a bit when I had the enthusiasm to earn well.
Everything is easy in hindsight
If i knew then what I know now, we should've taken on more mortgage and bought an even bigger house. However, we didn't even have children at that point (but knew we wanted them) so it would've been overkill for quite a long time. Oh well, we still love the house we're in.
borcy said:
Fuzzarr said:
borcy said:
How far apart are the two house? Any big increases in commuting, school runs, both areas good to live in?
The new house is a three- to five-minute walk away from where we are now.So the walk to school goes from 15 to 20 mins. Commuting barely changes at all. It's in the same town just a different street. We love it here.
We can free up at least £100pm cutting back, and yes holidays can take a back seat, though we don't go crazy with those. Initially I think I'd have to stretch the mortgage over a longer period of time, then hopefully get the timeframe trimmed down with each subsequent fix.
Things will be tight, but I think it might just be worth the pain.
We were in a similar situation about 3 years ago.
We got all the plans drawn up etc for a side extension out of the kitchen, which would have meant completely taking down the wall where the water comes in and the boiler is hung. Realistically it was a "move out for 3 months" type of job.
So we had a look to see what else was available for a similar total cost as the extension.
In the end we decided to move, and have a good bit more space than we would have had with the extension. Budget and scope creep happened, as it always does, but it's worked out for the best for us, but there's a lot to consider.
The neighbours are good at the old and new house, stamp duty was significant but not crippling, but we are having to be slightly more sensible with money now. The house will see us and our teenage kids for plenty of years now, and is big enough for family Christmases if / when grandkids come along.
We will likely downsize when a townhouse is not ideal due to mobility issues, but this is likely 30 years away.
We got all the plans drawn up etc for a side extension out of the kitchen, which would have meant completely taking down the wall where the water comes in and the boiler is hung. Realistically it was a "move out for 3 months" type of job.
So we had a look to see what else was available for a similar total cost as the extension.
In the end we decided to move, and have a good bit more space than we would have had with the extension. Budget and scope creep happened, as it always does, but it's worked out for the best for us, but there's a lot to consider.
The neighbours are good at the old and new house, stamp duty was significant but not crippling, but we are having to be slightly more sensible with money now. The house will see us and our teenage kids for plenty of years now, and is big enough for family Christmases if / when grandkids come along.
We will likely downsize when a townhouse is not ideal due to mobility issues, but this is likely 30 years away.
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