Miserable first time buyer

JosieMcfeene

Hoploz wrote: »

How long have you been in? It's pretty normal to feel this way in my experience. It will pass and all the things that have been important up to now will settle down and you'll be fine.

When I last moved I absolutely knew it was the right house for us - really our dream house. And we paid a fortune for it. When we moved in we found the drains were all blocked, there was a huge crack in the bathroom toilet meaning the kitchen ceiling suddenly had a brown water stain on it, nothing worked! I had to pick the previous owner's sweet corn out of the bottom of the dishwasher. We were told the owner had lost their hamster in the eaves cupboard on moving day so we had to listen to it scratching away totally inaccessible. We now think it was just mice as the scratching started again the following winter. There was dog mess all over the grass. The garage doors were hanging off so not secure. The boiler went wrong 3 times in the first 6 weeks.

That's all I can remember for now. I was completely overwhelmed and depressed with it all, but I kept reminding myself this was our dream forever home and eventually we got things done in order of emergency level, and now they are all just a distant memory.

Don't worry, you'll pick up soon. Think positive!

:rotfl: Ok this cheered me up

Crashy_Time

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

It is one of the few benefits to renting. You are however stuck with your LL's choice of maintenance quality in terms of materials and craftsmanship.

If the OP is so depressed about the minor inconvenience of a stuck garage door, I wonder how they will cope with any genuine tragedies that life may throw at them?

No, you don`t have to be, you can move easily...... without waiting for a buyer to turn up and get approved for a mortgage or sell their other house first I might add.

freeman3030

This is just a blip - you will get the house in order. It's just not how you'd imagined home ownership would be. Just think though, when you replace things that need fixing YOU get to choose what you replace it with! It's tough, when we bought our 2nd home there was dog poo in the garden, they'd left the sheds full of rubbish, clutter left in the attic... We knew the house needed redecorating and a new bathroom & kitchen fitted, and 18 months down the track were still plodding our way through our list. It all takes much longer and costs much more than you first set out, but that's part of the fun...
As previously said, prioritise the work and do it when you can afford to. Remember, you've done so well for yourself at 24 to be in a position of buying a house, apply that same determination to fixing it up and you'll be golden!

moneyistooshorttomention

Certainly the suggestion of making a list (in order of priority) makes a lot of sense to me and that's what I did with current house (probably a lifetime house).

Whatever step on the housing ladder one is on though - it's best to keep reminding yourself firmly that it's "yours/totally secure basically (as long as you keep paying any mortgage you have on it)/etc" and that that is better than renting. Basically keep your eye on the long-term goal of = a house of your own/as together as you thought the blimmin' place was to start with.

You could also try regarding it as a useful lesson in cynicism - a life lesson about what others deem to be acceptable behaviour one way or another and try and tell yourself that that is a useful lesson for being cautious/checking things out in regard to other aspects of your life imo.

seven-day-weekend

When we bought our first home in 1976 we were told that 'there had been damp and the wallpaper had come off but the vendor had fixed it'. When we moved in we found he had nailed the wallpaper to the wall and done nothing about the damp.:rotfl:

We had this house for nearly 40, years, we only sold it at the end of 2015 And actually, although we left it in good order, I can imagine our buyers saying things about it which are not done the way they would have done it (and one or two minor repairs).

With the bungalow we now live in, we knew it needed work but did not expect to replace all the floors and many of the joists, nor that the garage would need completely demolishing, nor that there was no lintel over the french windows, nor that a supporting wall had been removed and was resting on a kitchen worktop :eek:. We had to almost do a total rebuild! But the upside to that it is now how WE want it and we don't have to live with anyone else's decor or kitchen units or floorcoverings. (One thing that DIDN'T need doing was the boiler ).

Welcome to the world of home ownership .

London_Town

Lots of good advice here, proving that your concerns and the issues with your home are completely normal. Well done for being able (and willing!) to buy at such a young age.

I've been in my "dream home" 6 years now and bringing it up to my own standards has cost far more and taken longer than I ever expected. Also, as others have pointed out, it's all cyclic with bathrooms, kitchens, white goods and boilers needing periodic replacement or repair.

What really matters is that the house is yours and you're making a mortgage payment each month. One day, this house or a future one will be all paid for, allowing you peace of mind in retirement.

Crashy_Time

ReadingTim wrote: »

It's less great when the landlord decides on tennant replacement rather than worry about building/contents repair/replacement though isn't it :rotfl:

Not sure what you are saying, that a landlord would change tenants to a tenant who doesn`t want repairs done from one that does? I don`t think I have ever met a tenant who doesn`t expect repairs/replacements done in a timely fashion. Has a landlord ever done this to you?

Crashy_Time

London_Town wrote: »

Lots of good advice here, proving that your concerns and the issues with your home are completely normal. Well done for being able (and willing!) to buy at such a young age.

I've been in my "dream home" 6 years now and bringing it up to my own standards has cost far more and taken longer than I ever expected. Also, as others have pointed out, it's all cyclic with bathrooms, kitchens, white goods and boilers needing periodic replacement or repair.

What really matters is that the house is yours and you're making a mortgage payment each month. One day, this house or a future one will be all paid for, allowing you peace of mind in retirement.

What happens if interest rates rise between now and retirement?

seven-day-weekend

Crashy_Time wrote: »

What happens if interest rates rise between now and retirement?

You manage. The interest rate on our mortgage went up to 15% just as my husband became a full-time student and we had our son. We just economised on other things. We also got rid of our car and had a lodger. In fact, we continued to pay the same amount of mortgage after the rate went down and paid our mortgage off eight years early.

Crashy_Time

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

You manage. The interest rate on our mortgage went up to 15% just as my husband became a full-time student and we had our son. We just economised on other things. We also got rid of our car and had a lodger. In fact, we continued to pay the same amount of mortgage after the rate went down and paid our mortgage off eight years early.

Yes, but were you paying 500k for an ex-council flat in London back then? Interest rates at 2% will see many people under water now.