Dee_dee

Hi peeps,

For those of you who migrated chiefly to get a much bigger home than you had in the uk, was it worth it in retrospect?

Whether you love your adopted country or hate it with a passion, are you still enjoying the big house that you always dreamed about, or do you wish you'd opted for something smaller?

I didn't sell my house in the UK, so I had fairly limited funds for this house here , so chose a 2 bed 2 bath 3 storey town house (there's only me)..on a gated community, the drawback is that I have a postage size garden, and my house is semi detached. I wish now that I'd bought something with a little more land.

Enormous houses are not the norm in Spain, in fact the opposite applies really, families of 6 or more crammed into a tiny finca . The bigger houses here were mainly built for the newcomers who have disposable incomes and are beyond the financial reach of most local Spanish.

...sooooo do you love you're big house ?

northernbird

I can't understand why people want massive houses. I have a very small 4 bedroom 2 bathroom home. Why people feel the need to have theatre rooms, games rooms, al friggin fresco rooms. I just don't understand the attraction, its more stuff to clean!

Mummy in the foothills

We have what is considered a small house (only 1370 sqft) here in US, 3 bed 2 bath standard looking ranch style, my moms house in UK is actually bigger with two reception rooms.
But we have an acre of land and it's nice and quiet.
One of the promises Dh made when we moved back to US after we did the ping pong thing was, we'd be less materialistic, so we went smaller and more functional. That way if we decide to ping back (or pong) we don't have a lot, nothing worth too much, so shipping costs are down.
I don't think I'd want three bathrooms cause I'd have to clean them. and heating/cooling a 2000 sqft monster would break the bank for us.

Dee_dee

Ooooh I'd have one in a heartbeat ....if...I could afford a couple of cleaners

#mummy, my house is just a little smaller than yours at 95 square metres, just wish I had your land

northernbird

Why though, you can't use all the space at once. When we bought our house we looked at lots of houses. We could have afforded a swanky new house with huge floorplan. They didn't feel like homes. They felt like showhouses for the Wisteria Lane brigade with their fancy flooring with fancy names and big double entrance doors. Horrible.

leith

Apart from the obviously higher property taxes and maintenance, big houses in Canada have a significant drawback - heating costs in this climate can be substantial and are only going to increase as the prices of natural gas, heating oil and electricity continue to rise. We have a modest sized, very well designed and insulated bungalow with a fully developed basement, an energy efficient wood-burning stove, and about half an acre of land where we grow a lot of our own food. Land is worth having. Big houses aren't.

ann m

The average suburban home here is probably about 1700 - 1800 sq ft. I bought one of about 2000 sq ft - but bought it cos it had the biggest patch of garden I could find (they don't really "do" huge gardens here).

We came from 2300 sq ft in the UK and three-quarters of an acre (not bragging, by the way, just setting the scene ).

One large chunk of our house remains unfurnished - you just can't rush out and buy everything all at once - so it sits forlornly and is invariably covered in toys

I am no domestic goddess (and not likely to be any time soon - life it too short.) It's occasionally a pain to clean - but don't you always really like your house when it's gleaming in preparation for visitors?! A cleaner would be wonderful, but let's get real.

We know many Brits who have bought huge houses here - because they could - and we know others that have bought a modest home, either because of finances, or because they were being sensible! However, it is very tempting to move way up the housing scale if it's within reach. I think it's a British thing - always striving for bigger and better, at the expense of common sense or finances sometimes Does anyone really examine the potential bills and taxes when they buy big?

I guess as long as you can afford it, can furnish it (eventually) and pay the bills, it's worth it. As long at it feels like home, whether 1200 sq feet, or 3000 sq feet - it's worth it. That lovely house in the UK I mentioned? It was a huge mortgage millstone around our necks and the garden was just too much work. We loved the house but never enjoyed living in it. So I think we've got it just right this time, for us. No plans to go anywhere, anytime soon

Cheetah7

You know we have just put in an offer for a house? Well for the money we are paying - $340,000 (it is alot to us) we could have gone to another area and got a far bigger property for the money.

The house we have chosen is a very small 3 bedroom one bathroom home, yes another toilet would be nice as we have got used to that but I like this house as it has character, it is in dire need of painting as the colours are revolting but we shall save up and do it up slowly.

It will be easier to clean but most importantly as you mentioned NB, it feels like a home.

I can't wait till it is all finalised and we are settled in there and I am sure it will be worth it. I never lived in my families pockets in the UK and didn't envy them all being homeowners.

But now we are about to become a homeowner for the first time, I feel proud that we made the move and how things have turned out. It is a high price to pay for those you love, but we have to make the best of our lives in the way that we see fit.

A spa/pool would be nice and the land that comes with the garden is more than big enough but it would be too costly for us to do and to maintain so I am just happy with a house of my own.

Margaret3

I'd love ANY house , if we could afford to buy here, more chance of flying to the moon than that happening for us in melbourne

Cheetah7

Things are sure going to be tight for us but I think with us it is a case of now or never.

Will you buy once you get back to Scotland?

Oh Mags, forgot to tell you - we are going to be getting a little dog

islandergirl

Can't say I moved here for that, I married an Aussie.

I did get a bit caught up in the bigger is better way of life eventually though and had a really big house for a while.

I used my formal lounge and dining about 3 times the whole time we lived there, what a waste of space as was the third living area. But I loved my automatic garage door and maginificent staircase and walk through wardrobes, and having 3 bathrooms was awesome when we had visitors though I can't say they made me happy.

When I return to the UK I will hopefully be happy in a 2 bedroom cottage as long as it is nice and has good storage, have found that "stuff" has become a lot less important to me. Esp considering that the more stuff you have the bigger house you need to store it.

I am over the big house thing would rather be comfortable in a well insulated, heated/cooled/nicely decorated small house with a fab kitchen - in the UK of course.

Grayling

We have a house here, in Brisbane, that is only half the size of our last house in the UK........but is twice as expensive

G

backagen

Personally I live alone at present so I have no interest in a BIG house. I do however like to live in a modern, contemporary style house and I do at the moment.

I am worried that these are very few and far between in UK but I suppose my best bet will be to try to find an apartment, because it would be big enough and there are plenty of nice modern apartments in UK now.

Margaret3

R U living in aus now or still half in aus, half in uk

Grayling

Australia.....for now

We shall see what the future holds..... although I will still be spending a fair amount of time in the UK.

G