u/LoudOutside4288

My wife and I (both 37) are looking for a bit of a sanity check on our house-buying plans before we relocate back to the UK. We are both first time buyers.

We’ve spent the last 10 years teaching at good international schools in China and Singapore, and are planning to return to the West Midlands within the next year or two. We have two children under the age of 3 and are looking to buy what we hope will be our long-term family home rather than a stepping stone.

By the time we return, we expect to have around £300,000 of our own savings, made up of approximately:

£100k in stocks/index funds
£30k in Bitcoin
The remainder in cash held in UK bank accounts
We also have about £45k in a Vanguard pension fund (not included in the £300k) but I’m not sure I can (or want to) even touch that

I’ve been sending money back to the UK every month for years (initially through my employer, and more recently using Wise). The majority of our investments were all made while we were living in Singapore. We have lived there for over 5 years, so I don’t have any concerns about UK capital gains.

We’ve also been very fortunate that our parents have offered us a £200,000 gift, taking our total available funds to roughly £500,000.

Before we knew about the gift, I’d worked out that a house in the £550k-650k range looked affordable. Even now, my instinct is to keep our budget around £650k rather than stretching to £800k just because we technically could. I’d much rather have a smaller mortgage, lower monthly repayments, and more financial flexibility than simply buy a bigger house.

In terms of income, we’ll both be returning to state teaching. Based on our experience, I’m hoping we’ll be appointed on M6 (£46,937), although I’m preparing for that not to happen. Realistically, I expect our combined household income to be somewhere in the £80k-90k range before pension contributions. We’ll both be contributing to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

A few questions I’d really appreciate advice on:

Does this overall plan seem sensible, or am I missing something obvious?

If you were in our position, would you put the full £500k into the house, or keep more invested and take on a larger mortgage?

Roughly how much am I going to be looking at in ‘extras’ (stamp duty, legal fees, surveying, etc)? I’d like a ball park figure to help estimate a budget. I’ll also need a rough idea of how much it’ll cost to furnish a home (4 bedroom). I’m guessing around £30,000 for the ‘essentials’.

Are there any pitfalls when returning to the UK after a decade abroad that I should be aware of (mortgages, proof of income, credit history, etc.)?

Is there anything I should be doing now, before we relocate, that will make the mortgage or house-buying process smoother?

I know there are a lot of unknowns (our exact jobs, childcare costs, monthly spending, etc.), but I’d really appreciate any thoughts from people who’ve been through something similar or who work in mortgages or finance.

Thanks in advance!