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Purchasing property
I just need to know what you would have done if in my shoes. I live in a 5 bed villa about 6 kms from my work with almost no traffic. Recently I viewed a villa which had a garden 6 times larger than my current house. The house itself though was small with 3 bedrooms and would require extensive renovation. In terms of distance to work, it is approximately 15 kms away and the traffic will not be too pleasant since there is a railway crossing in between. I would need to sell the current house to buy this new one. I would be downgrading in terms of the house itself but would have a garden to die for. And I am in a fix - which option to go for? The plan would be someday in the future to divide the land of the big garden house and give it to the children for them to build something of their own. What are your thoughts?
You can't just "devide your garden" unless it's made up out of separate building plots, which I doubt.
There's nothing to stop you dividing your garden once you have planning permission to do so. Getting it is another matter.
After death the property will have to be divided, certainly, amongst your kids if your spouse is also dead. However, they all have to agree on that division, be it physical or monetary. The council may not be willing to divide it up how they want it to be and someone may object to the property being sold.
Do you see those abandoned properties here and there around Belgium? Some of those are the result of kids not being able to agree.
At least I think I'm right on this, but even so there are other things to consider.
How many years of commuting have you to look forward to? It could get really irritating if you're not good in traffic jams.
Think how much more time out of you life the daily commute would take. It could be an hour a day, maybe more. Do you have a job with a flexible start or is it a school-like institution? If the latter, you'll have to leave even more time to be sure of being on time. My commute went from a 15 minute walk (leave the house at 7.45) to a 45 minute drive (leave the house at 6.45 to avoid the post 7.30 traffic build up). I decided it was worth it - bigger house, bigger garden, fresh air.
You can't control how the kids will want to deal with sharing the property when you die, but you can control your own quality of life. If it's good, then it's good for all around you. If it's not...
Just some thoughts, as you asked for, big decision I know.
Stay put. No garden is worth dying for.
I would definitely stay put. While your vision for your children's living in this divided up property is lovely it may not be a vision they share in the future. It seems unlikely that all of your children and their future spouses will want to live in an area and plot of land that has been pre decided for them. They may be scattered across the globe (or at least across Brussels) by then and even if they are not they may feel under pressure to carry out your vision knowing how much of a sacrifice you made for it. Far better to enjoy your house and invest in your children as you and they see fit in the future.
I would definitely stay put. While your vision for your children's living in this divided up property is lovely it may not be a vision they share in the future. It seems unlikely that all of your children and their future spouses will want to live in an area and plot of land that has been pre decided for them. They may be scattered across the globe (or at least across Brussels) by then and even if they are not they may feel under pressure to carry out your vision knowing how much of a sacrifice you made for it. Far better to enjoy your house and invest in your children as you and they see fit in the future.
if u go crazy over garden, u should get the bigger garden.
if u ve common sense, forget some extra grass. bigger garden is more work to mow ( n then u need gardenhouse to stuff all those garden tools)
n check planning rules as 99% chance that u cant make home out of garden. in normal building grounds, u can never build more than 15 m deep. so only thing worth value is the width of the parcel. if u ve a ground which is 100 m deep, first 15 meter is buiding ground and the rest 85m is for horse to graze
I Would STAY PUT!!!
