Buyers' Remorse not shifting

nzseries1

hedgehopper wrote: »

(don't want to say exactly where it is as I'm scared of identifying myself or offending others who live there!)

I wish I knew where it was just out of curiosity. I'm going for a viewing for a flat in Deptford this weekend (my first ever viewing) which is the same - zone 2 and 10 minutes from the tube.

pinkteapot

I've just had a look at some of your other posts. From what you've posted on the DIY forums, the house does need a lot of work (central heating install, getting rid of smoking smell, dated fittings etc). Having work done is incredibly stressful. Project managing it and having tradesmen in making a mess - it's really hard. I'm not saying this to try and upset you. It's just that if you're suffering from depression and moving brought on that much stress, you will struggle with the house project. Your OH will need to take the lead in organising the work if you stay put because it may well make things worse for you. (On the other hand, getting stuck into a project may be just what you need - what do you think?)

If you decided to sell and then rent you would need to pay off your mortgage, and make up any shortfall yourself. So, for example, on your mortgage you owe £150k. You sell for £140k. The bank wants £150k so you give them all the sale money and hand over £10k cash (in reality more than that because your solicitor will also ask for their fee). I sold in negative equity (what this situation is called) a few years ago and did this. You have to have the full mortgage redemption funds to give the bank on completion day, so you hand the shortfall over to your solicitor a few days in advance.

A week is no time at all though, I would try and give it longer if you can.

hedgehopper_2

pinkteapot wrote: »

Your OH will need to take the lead in organising the work if you stay put because it may well make things worse for you. (On the other hand, getting stuck into a project may be just what you need - what do you think?)

He will not do this; he does not believe it needs the work I know it does and has no interest in home improvement or DIY. It will all come down to me.

For this reason I will have to assume the project will be good for me (and actually it has been the only thing that has lifted me out of the blackness this week)

Astara

hedgehopper wrote: »

Thanks. Yup, our view while we were looking was 'it's in London, it's zone 2 and 10 minutes' to a tube; we'll never have trouble selling it' and I think there is some truth in that. We now realise that actually being further away from the tube would have been more pleasant, but lesson learnt I guess. What surprises me is that there are virtually no local amenities or shops closer than 15 minutes' walk (we don't drive) and tbh I didn't even think that was possible in London which was why I didn't research that too deeply.

It's also NEAR a trendy area and it is actually true that most of our neighbours are recently moved-in and (like us) were priced out of the nice bit. For that reason I do have some hope that the feel of the area will change and already has to some extent - we at least have nice, youngish neighbours who want to help improve the area.

Tbh, this is the main thing making us think we should stick it out a bit longer at the moment - having nice neighbours has been the one thing keeping us sane!


(don't want to say exactly where it is as I'm scared of identifying myself or offending others who live there!)

The fact that it's near a trendy area is good because over time the trendy area will spill over more into your area. That's what happened with my area in London and now even the name of my area has changed to a trendy name would you believe! You have moved in a recession but when things pick up so will your area and the prices will go up. I always say that in London you have always had good and not so good areas next to each other and in time the not so good area becomes better. Also the fact you have got nice neighbours is really good and worth a lot.

I have shops near me but still choose to get on a bus and shop a bit further afield. Again another good thing about being in Zone 2 lots of buses and they're still quite cheap. It is a privilege to live in London and remind me of that when I've moved out of it!

tyllwyd

Maybe its feeling trapped that is getting you down, more than the house itself.

If you try to sell immediately, you probably limit your options because some buyers will have trouble getting a mortgage if the vendor hasn't owned the house for six months.

So why not do what one of the posters above did - concentrate on getting the house to a condition where it can be rented, then rent it out and you move and rent in an area you prefer. That way you can sell when you feel better in yourself and have a bit more perspective on the issue. Or do you not have funds to do that?

Mind you, 15 minutes walk to shops etc doesn't sound so bad to me -we live about that distance to our town center and I've always considred that reasonably close. Do you not even have a corner shop nearer? Have you/your OH considered learning to drive and getting a small car - expensive, but maybe not as bad as moving house!

Bean_Counter

This is similar to the situation that we were in recently. We invested significant funds into the property to replace the kitchen, garden etc and then found ourselves in a position that made living there unbearable. In the end we took the decision to sell, I took on a bigger mortgage and we moved to a nicer house in a nicer area.

I feel life is too short to be constantly ruled by money. I now have a nice family home that we are all happy with. I am saddled with a bigger mortgage for longer in life than I had hoped, but hey ho, at least we are happy!

hedgehopper_2

tyllwyd wrote: »

Maybe its feeling trapped that is getting you down, more than the house itself.

Yup, I think that's a lot of it, just having a mortgage for the first time is probably more than enough to cause those feelings temporarily!

I think I am willing to give it a go - it has enough in its favour to be worth trying and as you say selling immediately isn't ever a great option. I think I was quite spoilt as I rented for a long time and got used to being in the exact areas I liked best with everything on my doorstep. Still really!

seraphina

Sorry to hear this.

Do bear in mind that some mortgage providers will not lend on a house that's been owned by it's current owners for less than a year. I'd try and give it at least 9 months before reevaluating.

mlz1413

hedgehopper wrote: »

He will not do this; he does not believe it needs the work I know it does and has no interest in home improvement or DIY. It will all come down to me.

For this reason I will have to assume the project will be good for me (and actually it has been the only thing that has lifted me out of the blackness this week)

Please get an EA in and ask them what needs doing.

My friend made her partner put a new kitchen in his house before he put it up for sale because she would never buy a house with a rubbish kitchen. The house never did sell and is now rented out. So they could have saved the stress and cost if they had just not bothered.

mlz1413

hedgehopper wrote: »

Of course I'm depressed, but the new start that this should have been would have been enough to jolt me out of it, had we made the right decision on the place! (I know how my own mind works).

It was partly the move itself that made me depressed as I found it so unbearably stressful. So generally speaking I agree with you that I should probably wait until I'm on a more even keel before making any major decisions on this. But I fear that the 'bad decision' has put me in a place were I will simply be unable to beat the depression. I'm going to talk to my doctor about pills on Monday.

My mother was forever moving house and so was her mother, always they couldn't stay where they were due to the house not having X / Y/ Z or being in A or not being in B.

Anyhow neither ever found happiness in a house for more than 5 yrs with 2 yrs being common. So I have experienced the buying / selling / moving / packing / making friends etc endless times (over 20) and that is why I'd ask you to ensure you're moving for the right reasons.

I wouldn't normally suggest this as being a landlord is a major concern but you maybe bettering renting it out for a year and renting somewhere else to ensure long term you make the right decision next.