Do you need to fall in love with a house to buy it

avenida

Serendipitious wrote: »

Could you rent for a bit while making your mind up? Take the pressure off the decision for a bit?

My question for the longterm would be: if you knew you had to live there for the rest of your life, would you want to?

I would love to live in that street for the rest of my life, I grew up round there and its lovely.

Renting might be an option but in my head I worry about not being able to find a property when renting

phoebe1989seb

I've fallen in love with definitely one and possibly two houses over the past twenty years since buying our first property. The first was our *forever* home (the fourth home DH and I bought) and originally I fell in love with the house next door that was for sale first. There were only three built to this design in the area in the 1880s with an amazing grand hallway that blew me away as soon as we stepped through the door. It was a renovation project and a good price, but unfortunately we lost out to a friend who turned it into a nursery school.

A year later we had the chance to buy next door privately - it was in a far worse state, having been divided into four flats - but it was even cheaper than the other one We never even viewed the downstairs flat as the then tenant refused us and his landlord entry, but we just knew it was the one. We were both totally smitten and didn't care what the downstairs was like as we could see how amazing it could be with a whole load of work

The day we sold up (having spent a fortune restoring it over ten years) I thought my love affair with the house was over - DS had just left home to start uni and the two of us didn't need a rambling six bed house. Moreover we thought we'd fallen in love with another house......a very picturesque period place, but that turned into a total nightmare in many ways. Whereas the first was the complete package - gorgeous house, brimming with potential in a very good location with every amenity you could wish for, the other was just a picture-perfect house, but everything else let it down

It's made me think twice about letting my heart rule my head and when we sold that and bought our current house - another major project - we did far more research and didn't let ourselves get swayed by a pretty exterior

Better_Days

Some houses have a nice 'feel' to them. We have looked at a lot of properties and one sticks in my mind - it was empty, previously rented, and tired inside but it felt right. Unfortunately it also had a tiny garden which backed onto a small meadow owned by the pub on the main (but not busy road - it was in a small village). There were a couple of tatty caravans already on the meadow and a sign saying 'campers welcome', so we didn't offer. Felt sorry for the vendors - they had paid £280k for it at the peak, it was marketed at £250k and I think they would have been lucky to get £230k.

We did have an offers accepted on two other properties that ticked our boxes and felt right, but both fell through. We are now buying somewhere that is OK but no more.

OP - go for a second viewing and cost up realistically what you will need to spend on the property. Then if you still like it you can make an offer based on those figures. How long do you intend staying? Two weeks isn't long to be looking for a house, how long did it take for you to find a buyer?

moneyistooshorttomention

PasturesNew wrote: »

It depends why you want a house. If it's a house and you've a plan to move on at some point, then no.

If you've reached "a certain age" and are looking at sliding into retirement and enjoying your house, then it's crucial for mental well-being.

Absolutely true:T

Certainly also very true that once retirement is imminent (or has arrived) then the house you are living in becomes a LOT more important. That is the point at which if it doesn't "serve its purpose" and clearly simply isn't capable of doing so then it has to go...rather than face the thought of 20-30 years feeling uncomfortable in the place at a time of life when you will probably be spending more time there.

There are other times in life too when the home has higher "importance", eg times of ill-health or unemployment. I know I was thoroughly glad (when I had a couple of lengthy spells of unemployment) that I had at least managed to get out of grotty bedsits into my public sector housing I had for a while. A period of unemployment living in bedsitland would have been ghastly.

Prothet_of_Doom

Watch re-runs of Phil, the Secret agent, and how fickle potential buyers are.

There is only one question when you view a house, well 2 actually.

Does it have the potential to meet my needs, and does the price allow me to fulfil the potential.

I'd rather a blank canvas, which needed a new kitchen, than pay an extra £10K because it's all perfect but to someone elses taste.

I'm quite clinical about house buying.

easilydistracted

We're first time buyers who are not having a lot of luck at the moment. All the houses we 'feel in love with' led to a bidding war where we lost out.

We then found a house at such a good price we were happy to offer full asking, almost a dream house. Then it turned out to be underpinned and we got gazumped anyway.

The house we are buying (fingers crossed) was one we'd seen briefly previously, made a low offer on then ignored for nearly a week in a really bouyant market. We got it within half a day of the 'dream house' falling through, but only just. Now it's the house we're buying, we see all the potential and are slowly falling for it. Everyone says it's a much better option, it just needed more work but has tonnes of potential and a better layout and location. The 'dream house' is back on the market as our gazumper never went ahead. So I would say I would say try and learn to fall for the ones with potential.

moneyshoe

NervousHomeowner wrote: »

My partner and I fell in love with a property when we were buying. It was everything we wanted and we had our hearts totally set on it. Then we found out we wouldn't be able to get a mortgage for it. None of the other properties we saw even came close to it, it was so disappointing. We found a property that needed a lot of work, was more expensive than the previous property but had potential. We ended up buying it and now we've started doing it up, I know we totally made the right choice. Although I didn't fall in love with it immediately, I absolutely love it now.

It can be difficult because I think you always want to buy a house you fall in love with. It just feels wrong to be spending so much money and buying something you're not totally enamoured with! I think the thing to do though is to make sure that even if you don't love it, you at least know it's a good buy. As long as the location is good, the house has a good layout and the price is right, everything else can be changed to suit you.

The only thing I would caution against is buying a house that has potential but that is at the top of your budget. If you don't love the house because of the decor, there'll be nothing worse than having to live with it like that for 6 months until you can save up enough to do the required work!

We are doing exactly what you have advised against! I fell in love with the house we are buying. It's a big Georgian house in a village I love. The d!cor is terrible but it has amazing period features. I know we're going to have to live with a lot of the old d!cor until we can afford to do things to it but I can put up with it because I love the feel of the house, the period features, the size of the garden and the location.

I have never been 'in love' with my previous properties. I've always just bought the best I could afford that looked like good investments. This is my first 'in love' purchase. My husband is not as romantic as me, he likes the house but also thinks it has good potential and we will enjoy living there. I don't think you need to be in love to buy a house. I would definitely view the place you describe again.

NervousHomeowner

moneyshoe wrote: »

We are doing exactly what you have advised against! I fell in love with the house we are buying. It's a big Georgian house in a village I love. The d!cor is terrible but it has amazing period features. I know we're going to have to live with a lot of the old d!cor until we can afford to do things to it but I can put up with it because I love the feel of the house, the period features, the size of the garden and the location.

I guess the difference is that you love the property despite it's bad decor whereas the OP seems to not be that keen the potential house and it needs a lot of work while still being quite expensive. I think there are some things that you can live with if you really love the property but if you aren't keen to start with and then you have to live with terrible decor for the foreseeable future, I think it can take it out of you a bit!

To be fair though, I went against my own advice too We only had enough to do the bathroom and the electrics so the very old 80s kitchen is on hold until we've saved up enough to gut it and get it sorted out properly. Your house sounds like it will be lovely, though. Period features are one thing I would definitely compromise for!

avenida

NervousHomeowner wrote: »

I guess the difference is that you love the property despite it's bad decor whereas the OP seems to not be that keen the potential house and it needs a lot of work while still being quite expensive. I think there are some things that you can live with if you really love the property but if you aren't keen to start with and then you have to live with terrible decor for the foreseeable future, I think it can take it out of you a bit!

Yep you have hit the nail on the head. Just chatted to hubby abt it and we are just not happy with the layout of the place. So it just comes down now to waiting on something new coming on the market.

We sold our house even before it went onto the market so was quick

I_have_spoken

No. I buy with head, does the property meet all my musts, many of the shoulds and ideally some of the nice to haves.

But I do act when there's the chance. I bought last year in a new area, after fully expecting to rent. But I got lucky in a house was for sale that ticked enough of the boxes that I jumped.