Is it time to upsize your home?
Has your property seemed smaller recently, does it feel cramped rather than compact? Is an extra bedroom, a bigger garden or a second bathroom starting to become more important to you as you grow older? It might be the right time to upsize.
With time, homeowners’ lives will change and so will their housing needs and you may decide the time is right to move to a larger home. Whether you want to move to start a family or children have already entered the picture, perhaps you’ve just decided the time is right to get a family dog, upsizing is a big and important decision in your life.
While this is an exciting period, this change isn’t always straightforward. Upsizing can get difficult as you need to be a proceedable buyer to buy another property, and very often people need the funds of their current home in order to buy the next.
Failure to be in this position as well as the issues of the unpredictable property chain, where you’re relying on countless other buyers and sellers, could grind your upsizing dream to a halt. So, if you’ve decided it’s time to bigger and better things, read our upsizing guide for more information on this life-changing moment:
Why are you upsizing?
This may seem a simple question but when it comes to choosing the right home, having a clear idea in your head of what’s needed, rather than what you want is crucial. Take time to define.
What it is that your current property is lacking and what features does your new home need to have? It can be easy to be enamoured by the look of new properties especially if they’re at a good price, but what was the core reason for your move?
Rather than being swayed by smaller factors that catch your eye, concentrate on the bigger issues, such as the number of bedrooms the house has.
The financial impact of upsizing
When you’re looking to upsize into a larger home, as well as moving your mortgage to the new property it’s likely that you’ll need to apply for a bigger mortgage. Your current income, expenses and whether you plan to start a family will be considered by your lender among other factors, to make sure that loan is right for you.
The next step would be to decide whether you can afford the new mortgage and the costs that come with a larger property. It may be worth thinking about refinancing; this can be done for a number of reasons, the main one being to lower your payments. Shop around to see whether sticking with your current mortgage structure suits you or if it may be time for a change.
If your application for a larger mortgage is successful you’re likely to be required to make larger mortgage repayments than you were previously. Having a clear idea of how much you can afford to pay monthly will give you a good picture of what payments are realistic for your particular financial situation.
Understanding what factors you should focus on when choosing a home to upsize into, and what costs you’re likely to incur will help you make the right decision when moving into a family home.