How do you decide which house?

fairy_lights

How do you decide which house to buy?
Why, you post the links on the forum and lets the members decide, of course!

BelfastFTB

There's nothing quite like 'the feeling'. I had put offers in for three houses, each of them falling through, and each of them I see now I would have regretted buying. The search took 18 months, during which time I saved a bigger deposit, and landed my dream home. I cried with relief, happiness and emotion on the first viewing and loved it with my practical head on during the second inspection and post-survey. It was finished beautifully internally, and the work on the back garden will start in a couple of weeks. I moved in back in October and the time's flown.

ETA I agree with the suggestion you may not have found your dream home, though!

phoebe1989seb

We've had that initial 'heart sing, love within moments of entering' feeling at our last three houses - despite all three being in varying stages of dereliction, lol!

I confess they are all pretty quirky/different - a thatch, a tudor and arts and crafts - and would therefore probably be considered 'marmite' properties to many.

Despite that feeling we'd found 'the one', with each we quickly fell out of love - mainly due to the location being not exactly as perfect as the house itself, although DH still misses the thatch that was on a busy rural A road in an AONB and shook throughout its three storeys each time a juggernaut thundered past

As soon as we'd rebuilt it - it was crumbling and considered unmortgageable when we purchased - we sold and despite our sympathetic restoration we made a very small profit.

Our current house is stunningly beautiful imho, but will be sold soon. The house and its garden are perfect, but the noise of (nearish) neighbours and distance from the sea is killing it for me.

Otoh, the one truly perfect house we ever bought - size, style and location - we sold when it became too large to maintain and for two to rattle around in. We both regret that sale but couldn't afford to ever buy it back as we moved to a less expensive part of the country in order to become mortgage-free ten years ago.

In fact in twenty-odd years we only ever bought one house we felt no love for and indeed hated from the get-go. We stayed five years and again restored it to its former glory, but I can honestly say I was thoroughly miserable every day we were there.......

Feeling the love is important for some, but location trumps everything!

penguingirl

We picked our current house based on location, affordability and noise. It was the only 3 bed we saw in a fast moving market that we could afford that wasn't right next to the dual carriageway and was still within a mile of the station. We don't love it, but it will do for now and I think we will sell it easily as 3 beds here don't hang around. I loved our previous house more, but we had nicer neighbours and it was our first home so had sentimental attachment. But the location stopped working for us and I wouldn't have wanted to raise a family in the area.

Op- I wouldn't go for a house with a bedroom off another if you plan to resell at any point- it would be a major no for a lot of people (myself included)

mishkanorman

Thank you everyone !

I think I came to the realisation that we only really want the one we love and we are trying to make the other 2 fit rather than them being stronger contenders.

So, now we have the task of getting them to accept a low ball offer �� wish me luck !

teddysmum

A possible concern with the one you love is any other hidden expenses. Is it a late 20th century house that just needs updating with a kitchen ,bathroom and some paint or is it older with the possibility of a need for something like a complete rewire or roof re-tile ?

Crashy_Time

mishkanorman wrote: »

Thank you everyone !

I think I came to the realisation that we only really want the one we love and we are trying to make the other 2 fit rather than them being stronger contenders.

So, now we have the task of getting them to accept a low ball offer �� wish me luck !

What % off is a "low ball offer"?

mishkanorman

It's on the market at 300k - we offered 275 which was indicated to be too low so we have upped to 280, should here in the next couple of days

mishkanorman

Just thought I'd update the thread,

I went for a 2nd viewing on the property and was advised there were another interested party who also went in low and also upped their offer - vendor asked for best and final offers.

We went in at 285,250.00 - which was accepted !!

I have a feeling we were bidding against ourselves but we've secured it at a price we can afford (hopefully)

Davesnave

Congratulations.

We were in our current house for 5 years before we did anything major to sort out its huge failings, but we both survived the experience.

A long period of planning and research wasn't wasted time for us. If you have to save before tackling the kitchen or bathroom, you can make the time count. Despite being very careful and doing our best, there are still many things we see now which could have been done better, or more cheaply.

Have fun!