House Move Dilemma

midlifecrisis

I think now is a good time to upgrade, ie before you have kids and you are young enough. we did the same , late 30s moved to a bigger detached house which tbh was a bit out of our league but managed to keep paying the mortgage for about 12 years, then things got tight.  In our early 50s we sold the house, had quite a lot of equity, moved a bit further out into hertfordshire into what was in effect a bigger house but much cheaper. The equity on the sold house covered the cost of the new house with a bit left over so now we are mortgage free. Even though on paper it looks like a downgrade , we have a better standard of life, less stress and more living space. The downside is that we wont have as much value to pass on to the kids but i still feel more privileged than many.   What im trying to say is that even though we were forced by circumstances to "downsize", by having the more expensive house it opened up options.

57Deluxe

now this is what I call a dilemma...

http://linapps.s3.amazonaws.com/linapps/photomojo/wavy.com/photos/2016/06/g41956-beach-house-on-the-move-/707189-beach-house-on-the-move-60c79.jpg

Rocker

Someone posted that Bristol is commuting distance from London. Train journey is 1 hour 48 minutes, equates to almost 20 hours per week stuck in a train. Life has to be worth more than that. 

BRISTOL86

Rocker said:

Someone posted that Bristol is commuting distance from London. Train journey is 1 hour 48 minutes, equates to almost 20 hours per week stuck in a train. Life has to be worth more than that. 

Plus the hour extra hanging around on or getting to and from stations. I wouldn’t commute to Bristol from Bath let alone London!!

Iamnobody

Go for it. I’ve taken two largish risks in the housing market and it’s paid off each time - nothing ventured nothing gained.

shuikit

We are in a very similar position but have literally just moved a few days ago!  I think our main difference is that we have a healthier ltv.  The main thing that I would add to what's already been said is that we found the process of trying to sell our house absolutely horrible.  Firstly, the 'decluttering' made the house not quite feel right or like ours. That great feeling of 'it's my house I can do what I want' is lost somewhat.  With both of us working normal office hours ish getting home and getting the house ready for viewings a bit if a nightmare which tied up weekends and evenings.  We had so many tyre kickers and it's actually really demoralising.  Our estate agent was also really bad to deal with, pushy when it came to us doing viewings and useless with simple tasks, like not replying to all on emails.

Not trying to put you off, honest! Just sharing a bit of our experience. We were on the market for under 2 months, had 20 or so viewings, had enough of it and was about to take it off the market. 

meltedbuzzbox

I'd move in a heartbeat...

But I've never lived anywhere more than 5 years all my life. I just keep moving. It drives the misses mad but it pays off

grungebob

Move. 
Most people would be overjoyed to have 50% monthly salaries left as genuine disposable income. 
My frst house cost me 60k, stayed three years sold it for 90k, the next cost me 160 and sold six years later for £200k.  My new house maxed me out but it’s also my retirement fund as I can downsize when I need to.

Caveat  being where I live £160k buys a nice 4 bed detached in a decent location ( well decent location for round here)