**This is a collaborative post

Remember those dreamy days when you and your partner bought your first home together? You spent hours trawling through magazines for inspiration, decorated the spare room in an on-trend colour and relished the freedom and independence it gave you.

But now the spare rooms are filled with kids (you wouldn’t change this for the world, though!) and your house is bursting at the seams with clutter.

So is it time to upgrade your current living arrangements?

Here are some of the signs that you and your family are ready for your second, third, fourth or fifth home!

You’re Running Out of Space

At first, your home was a lovely spacious and inviting place, but now you’ve got more storage boxes than you care to count and you’re finding yourselves on top of each other and putting off visitors due to the lack of space.

You’re in a Better Financial Position

Compared to when you bought your last home, you’re in a more stable financial position now. Your income may be higher so you’re more likely to be able to increase your mortgage and put down a larger deposit so you can bag a bigger home.

Your Family is Growing

Your family is expanding beyond the four walls you currently have and even though your first home was adequate with one small child, more are on the way or they’re growing up to need more space. Maybe you need another bedroom for the new arrival, a playroom for all the kids’ toys or a garden for them to let off some steam in?

You Have New Priorities

That fifteenth-floor flat in the middle of town was a blast when you were younger and could spend night after night painting the town red but now being in the heart of the action no longer has the same appeal. Perhaps it’s time to get more for your money and escape city life for a bigger home in a more rural (and far less expensive) area?

You Need to Be in a Different Location

As you get older, your location requirements and what you view as most important may change. Perhaps being near the train station for the daily commute was important before but now the kids are about to go to school, getting into a good catchment area is imperative. For us we wanted to be nearer to our family so that was why we relocated two years ago.

Do some or all of these points sound familiar, then it may be time to put your house on the market (there’s some more information on selling your home on this website).  

However, you could also investigate the idea of expanding your current property, weighing up the pros and cons (and costs) of moving home.

Take some time to consider your options and have a look around at what’s for sale. Moving may seem like the obvious choice to start with but there may be more options available to you.