We currently live in a 3 bed semi. We'd like to move for to a larger 3 bed detached. Our house is worth ~400k and the next place would be ~650k. We're fortunate enough to have saved enough money to be mortgage free in our current house and we'd have a decent chunk to go down on a deposit for the next one, so the mortgage would be larger than what we have now but fairly manageable (although things would start getting a bit tight if rates go much higher). Our current outgoings are relatively low so we're managing to save a fair chunk of cash each month too which is helping.
The main drivers for wanting to move are:
- Bigger garden
- Larger rooms for the kids
- Bigger living area
- Separate room for a home office (I work from home)
- Attached garage for storage
This isn't a question of "Should we move?", it's a question of "When should we move?" as we know we don't want to stay here forever.
Whether it's a good time to move depends on what house prices are going to do over the next year or two, so I guess there's 3 options:
1) If house prices were to drop over the next 1-2 years, then it would be good for us (assuming both properties decrease by similar %) as the reduction in house prices will result in a lower mortgage, as well as having saved a few more £££ over the coming months.
2) If house prices stagnate for the next 1-2 years, then this would be good for us as well as we'd still be saving and increasing our deposit amount whilst the house price doesn't increase.
3) If house prices increase by more than what we are saving each month, then this is where we lose out.
There's plenty of forecasts in the news that are predicting options 1 or 2, with 3 being unlikely. Having said that, that doesn't seem to be having an effect around here. Houses are still coming onto market and being snapped up quickly, presumably for the asking price or over considering how quick they're shifting. We live in the South and have a very specific set of criteria for where we'd move too. There's not many of those types of houses that come onto the market, so whilst option 1 and 2 would save us money, I don't want to miss the opportunity to go for a house that might only come up once in a blue moon.
I appreciate no one knows what's going to happen to house prices, but would appreciate any thoughts if people are in/have been in a similar situation.
The main drivers for wanting to move are:
- Bigger garden
- Larger rooms for the kids
- Bigger living area
- Separate room for a home office (I work from home)
- Attached garage for storage
This isn't a question of "Should we move?", it's a question of "When should we move?" as we know we don't want to stay here forever.
Whether it's a good time to move depends on what house prices are going to do over the next year or two, so I guess there's 3 options:
1) If house prices were to drop over the next 1-2 years, then it would be good for us (assuming both properties decrease by similar %) as the reduction in house prices will result in a lower mortgage, as well as having saved a few more £££ over the coming months.
2) If house prices stagnate for the next 1-2 years, then this would be good for us as well as we'd still be saving and increasing our deposit amount whilst the house price doesn't increase.
3) If house prices increase by more than what we are saving each month, then this is where we lose out.
There's plenty of forecasts in the news that are predicting options 1 or 2, with 3 being unlikely. Having said that, that doesn't seem to be having an effect around here. Houses are still coming onto market and being snapped up quickly, presumably for the asking price or over considering how quick they're shifting. We live in the South and have a very specific set of criteria for where we'd move too. There's not many of those types of houses that come onto the market, so whilst option 1 and 2 would save us money, I don't want to miss the opportunity to go for a house that might only come up once in a blue moon.
I appreciate no one knows what's going to happen to house prices, but would appreciate any thoughts if people are in/have been in a similar situation.
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