Have you ever had cold feet buying a house?

SBS_88

Hi, long time lurker here looking for some advice/input/experiences.

We've bought and sold 3 properties before so I don't think this is FTB nerves but I am starting to get a very unsettled feeling about the house we're buying.

To put it in context, we're a week or so from exchange and there are three houses above us in the chain and one below.

We live in quite a big village and at the moment we live in a semi on what I consider to be the better side of the village. The house we're buying is significantly bigger but on the other side of the village and on a housing development which was built in the 1980's. It's never been my favourite part of the area.

I have 3 preschool children and as such only work a few hours a week so together with my husband's income we can't afford our ideal house here - it's about 50k over our upper limit.

I'm starting to think we should have just gone in to rented and saved more then bought in a year or two.

The reason we untimately settled on the house in question is because it's big enough and close enough to one of the schools in the village but we have made a lot of compromises.

If we do pull out we stand to upset a lot of people.

Has anyone else had this? Did you go ahead or pull out?

LittleMax

Sounds like your children's education is the key issue here. That surely hasn't changed. Accept it for what it is, this is not your 'forever' house, it's the best house for bringing up your young family in, giving them the space they need and access to the school of your choice.

In time your circumstances will change, and maybe you will want to move again. None of us know what the future holds. We can only do what's right for the forseeable.

3mph

Live for now, not for some uncertain future, so best to plan accordingly.

Chanes

I've had a situation where I just fell out of love with a house late in the stages (survey and searches being done and people in the chain waiting) It was just one hurdle after another from TPOs to other restrictive covenants on windows and such. It truly upset everyone else when we withdrew. The house we did buy we loved until we moved in and found a host of work to do!

Anyway, in reflection, the one we walked away from I now have a feeling it would have worked out just fine. But what is done is done, I am happy in my house now.

And the bottom line to your dilemma is as simple as this, are *you* happy? You aren't happy with the place you are moving to and you see it as a less desirable place but could you get over that if you accepted it wasn't your forever home and you would one day move out? Buying a home is also an investment that staying in rental cold never give you.

If you could save up enough in two years of rental to buy where you like the most then that seems like a plan. But so does move into a bigger more convenient house near to schools and sell in a few years to move to a place you like more. You could work out which was the least expensive option as a cold decision maker and take the heart out of the problem?

Davesnave

Many people get cold feet when they reach the stage you're at. Often, the realisation that they're not going into the super home they imagined starts to hit home. However, compromise is the name of the game for most of us.

You haven't said what the compromises are. If they are things you can change, albeit some years down the line, they'll be easier to live with than something you have no control over.

For example, we swore we'd never buy a house with a heavily overlooked garden, but that's exactly what our second house had for some years until we were able to alter that.

SBS_88

Thanks for all the replies, they've really helped bring me back down to earth I think.

The main compromise we're making is that whilst the house is within the area we wanted, it's right on the edge of said place so it is not close to the local park or shops like our house is now. Others are that the development looks a bit unkempt in places compared to the one we're on now. The garden is quite small and has a house behind it which I didn't want at all but can live with.

However, it does ensure our kids go to a good school and it has more than enough space.

amateur_house

Yes, I pulled out of buying a house on the day of exchange/completion (taking place on the same day) 3 weeks ago. I realised I had made a mistake 2 days later and emailed the estate agent to ask if the vendor would still consider going ahead, but they had already found another buyer who was paying more than I had been.

I think that unless you have found the perfect house it is quite common to have doubts, and I have never felt settled in the two houses I have bought in the past.

zagubov

We lived in a very conveniently located semi-detached house that totally charmed us. With a second kid on the way we moved to a bigger house in a good school catchment area. It never charmed us and was far from big shops and train stations.

It was the right choice for getting the kids into a good school, but not for living in. We moved further away many years later to a much nicer more convenient house and drove the kids to school.

We don't remember the house warmly, it was just accommodation in a useful place and living there was for our children's benefit and so it was worth putting up with it. We're now in our forever house I'm happy to say.

ellie27

It sounds like you are buying the house simply to get the kids into a good school? If thats the case, I would rent in the area to get the kids in a good school and then buy when something you really like comes up.

Thats what we did.

I have never bought a house that I didnt really love.

I would pull out of the purchase if I felt the way you do.