Finding the right house...

Kynthia

There's an element of truth that your dream property is always £30-£50k more than your budget. However if you upped your budget the same would be true.

The thing you need to decide is whether you aren't finding what you want because what you can't afford it and it doesn't exist within your budget, or because you just need to keep looking and something that meets most of your criteria will come along at some point.

If the former then you need to modify your expectations and expect less or change the location you are looking at to a cheaper one (or up your budget but that is rarely an option for people). If the later then persevere and try to get you know a few estate agents so eventually they'll call you before properties appear on rightmove. However you'll still need to compromise as a property that ticks every box and gives you that special feeling is rare.

When I was looking for my first property I never expected to buy a flat above a commercial premises that had no parking or outside space! However it was 3 minutes from a station and amenities, and was a cute place with high ceilings and windows in every room (including the bathroom and kitchen which is rare in a flat) and lovely views from the back.

My most recent purchase needed compromises even though my budget was so much greater than my first flat. Prices rocketed and I had to up my budget by £30k and be further away from a station as I couldn't afford what I wanted anymore. Even then I got a mid-terrace instead of a semi and the road isn't as quiet as I'd like. However we're in the town I wanted and inside the house and garden tick all my boxes. So I think it's rare or impossible to not have to compromise on something but you'll love it once you make it your own as long as you don't hate the location.

GoldenShadow

I love my house, but to me it's an ugly duckling in a nice location.

I love the floor plan, stairs in middle, kitchen to left, lounge to right and conservatory at the back so good sized rooms. But it's definitely quirky. All houses on the road have Windows to the side of the master bedroom which face into the neighbour's master bedroom! That put me off at first as did the ugly outside, but in the end I sort of settled for it as location is great and, whilst not perfect, I can do a lot to improve it.

Now we live here I love it more and more. To start with I was not as convinced but we had missed out on a couple of others, it was mid August and nothing was coming on. I am so grateful we got our house because the market round here has had nothing decent come on for so long. Ours only came back up because the buyer's funds fell through week before exchange, it was origally advertised in March and sold in April.

Do you have a list of requirements? We did one in priority order. 1) parking 2) garden 3) separate lounge etc. this house ticked all except criteria 5) which my was ideally 3 bed not 2. But that wasn't a must and was worth the sacrifice. Helped us to decide how we felt about it rather quickly...

Marvel1

My 1st house (also current) I bought in 2007 at peak of the price before crash. Not my ideal home but did it due to cost, being single and earning under £20,000 (still am), I had to t be careful and borrow the right amount (not max I could have had) in terms of mortgage repayments. So the right price came up, viewed it, didn't need major repairs, so put offer in.

I will add as well as the price, the location had to be within walking distance of my works bus route (cheaper than taking my car).

Not ideal as same street as parents, but I knew the street, also advantage niece and nephew at my parents I just nip down.

Would love to move on, but just cannot be bothered with remortgage and stuff (unless won a good lump on lottery), I'm saving up for a trip to America (never been materialisic, sorry wrong spellng), with that I always think I made right choice.

racing_blue

I like the following approach:

1. Sort the finance (mortgage offer in principle, or whatever)
2. Get your criteria lined up.
3. Try to buy the first house that ticks those boxes.
4. Don't look at houses which don't.
5. Location is paramount.
6. Anything else is a bonus.
7. Consider offering the full asking price if everything is right.

The quickest I found a house was about 24 hours. We knocked on the door but there was no-one home so we slipped a letter through the door offering the asking price. Later that evening a phone call and we had bought a house.

If I ever buy another house, I will try to decouple the selling and buying process but this takes a certain amount of free capital and would not have been possible for my family eariier.

Edit to add: IMHO a house is just a machine for living in, a pile of construction materials. What you live in is less important than where and how you live, I have always felt.

Good luck OP