Interested in hearing your thoughts about buying a house in my situation

Hi everyone! I'm interested in hearing your thoughts about buying a house in my situation. I've decided to put this in the Living Room as it relates less to my choice of suburb or funding strategy, and more about the type/size of house I am looking at.

My situation:

I'm in my early 30s, single with no dependants. This is unlikely to change medium term as I have no plans to 'settle down' and start a family. Secure employment in pharma and I have a sufficient deposit to buy into where I'm looking at without having to incur LMI. Loan serviceability is not a problem for the amount I am looking at borrowing.

My current PPOR is a fairly nice 2 bed 1 bathroom apartment in Melbourne's CBD, but have long desired a tree change to a freestanding house with more rooms - I'm actually looking at 4 bed 2 bath houses!

In addition to the sense of space and quiet, I'd like the extra space to set up a home music studio, office, as well as have the option to house visiting family for short periods once our borders open up in the future. Apart from the home office I can't do any of the rest in my apartment, and I'm ready to move on from the noise and shortcomings that comes from high density living.

What are your opinions about one person living in a PPOR of such size?

I realise with PPORs the emotional side of things can outweigh financial considerations (higher costs in rates and maintenance, time value of money spent maintaining a larger plot/garden). I have thought about villas/units or smaller houses instead (3 bed 1 bath), but see better capital growth long term in a larger property should I decide to sell.

Together with the lifestyle motivations detailed above, this has made me lean towards purchasing a larger property.

Is there anything else that you think would be worth me taking into consideration? I would appreciate your thoughts

 

I'm all down for 4bed 2 bath single occupant and just rent out a room or two. Going to be doing the same myself once house is built in Melbourne.

 

Thanks for your thoughts, Y-man and Spiralkut. Appreciate you taking the time to respond.

I'm fortunate enough to not have to be overly worried about cash flow, so I'm less driven by the financial side of things and having to get boarders in. One of the reasons I want to move into a house is to not have to worry about living on top of people or vice versa (literally and figuratively).

House hunting over the last few months has led me to realise my preference is for houses that are in good condition without needing much (or any work). As you've pointed out Y-man, I'll obviously have to pay for it in the purchase price and that will impact return (if I end up selling down the track). For my current circumstances I see it as an acceptable cost for having the convenience of avoiding the need for major renovations.

Spiralkut, can I ask how your experience has been with building? I'm assuming it's a new build, is that right?

I've thought about going the land + construction route as I like the prospect of being in a brand new house, but am wary of possible complications such as delays, major defects, builders folding etc. Everyone's heard of anecdotal horror stories but I know it's not reasonable to assume that every new build goes wrong!

 

Hasn't started yet. My land titles in October.

 

We're retiree's and living in the same 4 bedder that we had before the kids moved home. I'm finding I want MORE space. Was looking at bigger houses, but bought another 4 bedder with double garage under same roof. Existing house only has carport & no room to make a garage. Hubby's music studio will probably end up in the garage. Shush....nobody tell him.

 

If your budget allows it and it's important for your lifestyle, I say go for it.. as you mentioned, the growth from house/land will most likely be more than that of a unit/townhouse.

Living on top of someone (literally) can be nice for a short time

 

Contract labs have been the rage over the last decade or so, no need to plunge capital into Property Plant and Equipment when someone else is desperate to maximise utilisation of theirs!

Did I forget to mention that I intend to use some of the garden for cultivating... plants?

 

I hear garage bands are making a come back if that will help you sell the message

 

Great idea. This is an example of livin' the dream. As you are in the position to be able to comfortably afford exactly what you want, then Go For It.

There is no ned to build a brand new home, I did that once and it was quite stressful. I personally would suggest finding a recently completed home that you can move straight into, no waiting around worrying about delays. ENJOY

 

My wife and I don't have children. We used to live in a small 3 bedroom house, 1960's era. Horrible house it was barely enough room for the 2 people. Be bought it because it was on a large affordable block in a good location.

A few years ago we knocked the house down and built a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 LUG house. Massive living area, the kitchen bench is 5.4m. This place could accommodate a family of 5. There's so much room it almost feels empty.

Then we get a pandemic...

Now my wife and I have a bedroom upstairs each as an office. Between each room there's a sliding door so we can open it up if we want to, or close it if we need privacy.

There landing upstairs is now a 'sitting area' with another couch and TV. It's great if we want to watch different things.

We're eating on the big kitchen bench. The dinning table has been turned into a craft area. Right now it's covered in Lego. I've also got my own workshop where I exercise in the morning and often tinker in the evenings or weekends.

Overall the big living area allows us to be together with plenty of space. We've also got our own spaces to ourselves when we need it. The huge house has been great because it allows flexibility for us to be together and apart when we need it. The big house has been a godsend.

PS. One objection my Mum had to the big house was that it would take forever to clean. It's been the opposite! We've got plenty of storage space so it never feels cluttered. A little robot does most of the vacuuming. The rest is easy to keep on top of.

 

Buy a house instead, forget about townhouse or villa. Assuming you are serious about the usage of the studio.

Apart from that, it is the kind of suburb you want to live in. More trees and parks? Or seaside? Or in the hills? Close to train station and transport if you have to go to the CBD daily? A more balanced neighbourhood or a focus on particular demography?

Then it would be choosing a house which is more ready to take on boarders/lodgers, eg., with a granny flat or separate toilet/kitchen? etc.

Good luck, and enjoy the cleaning, mowing and maintenance comes with it

 

You don't mean he is manufacturing something for the street?

 

Thank you Peter and Spoon for your perspectives!

A big part of the appeal of a bigger house for me is having more indoor space to utilise. My folks (retirees based overseas) have visited regularly over the years, and are likely to do so well into the future (which I'm quite perfectly fine with). It gets a bit tight in the apartment when they are here, so having our own spaces under one roof will actually be a huge plus! A granny flat would be great, but as I've learnt on PropertChat, Victoria has draconian rules over permits for this.

I'm pretty serious about the music studio, spoon I toot a few horns but can't practice at home in the apartment out of consideration for the neighbours

I'm not looking too far out of Melbourne's CBD actually. My search zone is 30 to 45 kms out of the Hoddle grid towards the green wedge in the North East (from Research towards St Andrews), and preference is to stay on the East side of the city where most of my social circle is.

Terrible as COVID is, this has led to the certainty of some work from home permanency so a longer commute to work is more acceptable now that it won't be on a daily basis. That said, I did a Melbourne to Gippsland commute by car twice weekly for 2 years and found that quite bearable, so maybe that's helped

 

We are a couple living in a big 4 bed 2 bath 2 living areas house, kids all flown.
No intention of downsizing, we love the space.

 

The only thing I'd add is being able to shut off area's of the house that you are not using (heating/cooling area's you are not using)
Often open plan homes don't allow for this and you end up heating a long hallway or second living space just because there isn't a door between, or the living and kitchen is at one end while the master bed is at the other.....
So I would be looking for something with the master near the living that can be shut off from the other spaces when not needed