Finding the right house...

squinz

After months of viewings and a failed offer, im beginning to feel deflated with the whole house search process.

There are a view things that tick the boxes but not really many houses I can get 'excited' about. We have a second viewing on a house that's good enough but not really what I expected to end up with.

Did you love the house you offered on, or was it just good enough? I know you have to imagine it with your stamp on things and changing things around, but I'm not just getting that romantic feeling about any of them yet.

AlexMac

My 1st house was only barely 'just good enough' (to use your words).
Our real problem was that we had so little money, we were viewing wrecks, (some literally, with gaping holes in the roof) but the canny seller of the one we bought had simply painted every internal surface of their unoccupied wreck white- and that in the 1970's; decades before decluttering was invented. That was enough to spoof my wife however, who fell for it....
the new roof, inside toilet, central heating bath and kitchen came later... a hard DIY journey...

So I guess it's about realising that whatever your expectations are (and I accept that expectations have changed) they might not be met at first, but that homes are malleable...

Serendipity plays a big part too. Subsequent houses have often fallen into our lap, on one occasion in the form of a listing which arrived out of the blue (in the pre-internet era) weeks after we'd given up and told all the EAs to de-list us and stop sending offers. We bought it that weekend.

I worry that the internet is no substitute for looking at places; even a drive/walk/ pedal by... I bought one place after cycling round for days looking at literally dozens, if not hundreds of homes; everything on the local agents books... And as they realised I was really trying (in either sense of the word) gave me offers before they hit the windows; brocures for the place \I bought was being sent by other agents weeks after I'd offered as the sellers went multiple agency

Another was in a street well outside our spec and nowhere near our search area (and, we thought, budget), discovered while driving an unfamiliar route to viist friends... We still live there and it's our best home ever.

So you'll get there!

Davesnave

Houses are the easy bit; it's the location which is difficult.

In other words, we found it tricky to find an acceptable house with the outdoor features we wanted, standing in a convenient place.

In the end, we settled for the best outdoor features we could find, altered the house to suit us and accepted compromises as regards the location.

It's not that we live in a dodgy area; far from it, but given the choice, we'd rather be closer than 20-25 miles to urban centres and the motorway.

dirty_magic

I was starting to feel like this but then we found one we both loved! We kept seeing houses we liked but there was something not right with all of them.

Just keep looking every day at the new properties added and something will come up!

Azure11

If you are a FTB then I would say keep looking as you will never be in such a good position to buy again!
I've definitely got the 'feel' for the houses I have ended up buying. Sometimes the house you find that has that feeling may not tick all the boxes so maybe start expanding your search criteria a bit to only include the really essential stuff.

nubbins

Just to cheer you up took me 3 years to find one I was happy with ) Keep plugging away and be patient, something will come up

PasturesNew

I was in dark/dismal rented and so "needed" to buy a house. I found the area I wanted to be in - but there was nothing coming onto the market. Time was marching on and I spoke to my siblings and one just said "buy a house, any house, you need one". So I loaded up RM and saw what was available to buy that day.... found one that ticked some boxes (price, age, basic functionality) and arranged a viewing. It wasn't in the place I'd identified as where I wanted to be. It didn't have some of the basics I'd got on my list... (e.g. no garage, only one allocated space; no en-suite).

I viewed, looked around, then said to the agent "Well, it's here, it's for sale, it's got rooms, walls and windows, I'll have it".

Job done.

It's a house.... nice to just know I can put my feet up in my own home and unpack my boxes.

If you believe Zoopla it's now "worth" £30k more than when I bought it.... so if I'd not just bought it it'd be out of my price range now - and I'd have paid another £10k in rent while I enjoyed the luxury of "looking for a house".

Most people don't have a house they love; they have a house "that's OK".

The trouble with the "perfect house" is the longer you wait for it the bigger the list grows on what you want.

dragonsoup

I've found no matter how big or small your budget is, the perfect house is always £50K more....

All my purchases have been a compromise in one way or another

bouicca21

I bought a flat last year. It wasn't at all what I wanted and I'm not even sure why I viewed it - something to do with the type of property I wanted being increasingly out of my reach because of the London bubble.

I liked it, but no more than that. Roll on a year and I love it. It's not what I wanted but it is actually just what I need. Right space, right location, lovely neighbours (bar one, but he's moving).

jacko74

I think regardless of your requirements you're going to struggle to find a decent 'ordinary' house at the moment, the quality just isn't out there... the only houses that seem to be coming on to the market are shabby houses in undesirable areas.

Davesnave

Azure11 wrote: »

If you are a FTB then I would say keep looking as you will never be in such a good position to buy again!

Yes, get it right and subsequent moves will be that much easier.

AS a FTB I knew exactly where I wanted to buy and put location above everything else. That made looking easier, but waiting harder. Once that mortgage is agreed in principle, it's very easy to be tempted, especially when prices are rising.

To put that in context, it took about 6 months for me to find the right house, but when I sold it again, 10 years on, the increase in prices opver that half year was academic.