How do people make such quick decisions?

Zorillo

We had a relatively small budget for our area, and wanted a family-sized house with a garden.

We looked at dozens of houses over dozens of months and none of them felt right. We did nearly talk ourselves into making an offer on a house that would've been very nice but had significant flaws, including the weirdest flying freehold I've ever seen, but in taking our time to think it through and arrange a third viewing we lost out.

And then we found a house that was newly on the market and available for viewing from 11am on the Saturday. We were first to view it, it ticked nearly all of our boxes and it just felt right, we made an offer to the EA there and then. The homeowner was present, and we later found out that he told the next people to view that they were too late . That was four years ago and we are very happy here, I'd be surprised if we ever move.

I was deeply sceptical of property ever 'feeling right', but actually sometimes it just does.

datlex

For me, I did a lot of looking on line before deciding to even look at this place. I looked at a three other places (all were houses), two of which I knew straight away they were a no. Another was nice, but had an open plan downstairs. I did put in a low offer- below my budget- which was understandably rejected. Location wise it was perfect and I knew several of the neighbours. I procrastinated about whether to put in a higher offer. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure about the open plan. I'd seen my current place on line but not really considered it as I had been looking at houses, this is a bungalow. The place I had made an offer on previously had an offer accepted from a different person, so that was no longer an option. I decided to ask the estate agent to arrange a viewing, when I did I knew it felt like a place I could make my home. I've lived in a bungalow before, so it reminded me of that. On the plus side as well, I actually paid less than the lower offer that was rejected on the other place.

Begsey

My wife was having a driving lesson, her instructor mentioned her mum and dad were thinking of selling their house.
Called them within half an hour of the lesson ending, and viewed that evening. They told us how much they wanted, and we said we would buy, subject to valuation.
They had second thoughts about selling (they were thinking about a self build) but a week later, another one came up across the street.
They seen us viewing it, and called us to say they would sell.
If you know what you want, you don't let the grass grow. We're still here 18 years later.

ginger_chocolate

You look around dozens of houses. Most are no hopers, the rest merely depressing. Finally you find one that ticks a bare majority of the boxes. So not wanting to view another house ever again you immediately make an offer.

This is by far the most relatable thing here!

smartpicture

I'm an IT-logical-no-gut-feelings kind of person. I do loads of research and make lists in Excel of features & pros & cons for everything and sort by points I've allocated for various things.

And yet - both of the last 2 houses I've bought met less than half of my 'essential' features and were nowhere near the top of my list. They just felt right, and that was that.

konark

Not all houses are snapped up in a few days; some linger on the market for months if not years. I'm not saying they are the ones you should be buying though as there's usually a reason no-one wants them, usually because they're overpriced.


The English system means anyone can make an offer and pull out without much consequence so it's no wonder some people are quick to offer as it does not bind them to buying. they can then retract it a week or two later when they find something better.

Melanie_12

I have spent the last two years househunting but only actually viewed one property which is the one we're in the process of buying. I've been in the saving slog ready for the big purchase so have been looking almost daily at what's on the market. This helped me (well us) figure out what we wanted and what was important to us.

I knew before viewing that the house was going to be ours and viewing was just a tick box exercise. We where in the house for 20 minutes before driving home chatting about it and putting in an offer. Offer was accepted shortly after.

It's the research beforehand which is important, we knew the area well, knew what we wanted, know our finance limitations.

No house will be perfect but look for the potential in it.

Davesnave

Making a decision on a city property was relatively easy for us, and when I originally bought on my own, back in 1977, I knew I'd be having the house before I viewed, if I could beat all the others off successfully!

Choosing a country property with some land was a whole different ball-game. Like another poster, we viewed loads, but either the house was wrong, the land was wrong, or both were abysmal. Long story, but years passed!

Consequently, we found ourselves renting with a shed load of money in the bank, which was all very well with interest @ 6.5%, but the Crash was so scary, it didn't feel comfortable having one's assets in mere pixels on a screen. We wanted a substantial part back in bricks and mortar, pronto.

This ugly 70s bungalow showed-up at a bad moment when DW was not available, so I borrowed our younger daughter for the first viewing, knowing she'd be more honest and critical than either of us. She'd surely write it off in one visit!

Amazingly, she didn't hate it.

A further viewing later and my OH didn't hate it either, but I did. Its location was somewhere I didn't want to be, having 'previous' nearby as a teenager.

So we drove away, with me reeling off all the reasons why it was no good. I was saying things like: "If this was in Wales, would you even give it a second glance?"

"Ah," replied DW, "but it's not in Wales." (Wales at that time had much, much further to fall due to the Crash.)

So, [STRIKE]we[/STRIKE] I decided not to buy, told the agent it was too much money and work, and that was it.....for a week.

It kept calling.....gut feeling? I don't know.

A third viewing followed and we decided to buy. Because of a c0ck-up, we actually missed our dream property in Wales whist embroiled with this one, and I was so p*ssed-off, I really didn't care any more. It was cheap and we'd get our money back in a few years if I still hated it. Meanwhile, we could learn about land management; after all it had been neglected for over 10 years.

Another story short, the land was managed, the property was gutted/reconfigured and we're almost ten years older & wiser. There's rarely a week goes by when I don't praise some aspect of the place. It's very hard work, but as a result, I'm still reasonably fit....

....And I still keep half an eye on the Welsh market, just in case! :rotfl:


Edit: I meant to add that looking back at all our houses, two things stand out: aspect and the potential to adapt/improve. Get those right and you're a long way towards compatibility. Dream properties are all very well, but making something 'yours' is a vital part of the bonding process, I think.

ThePants999

I knew I wanted our current house just from the Rightmove ad. And since we were only allowed to view at an open day that was a week away from when we first found it, by the time we did the viewing we'd already extensively researched everything we could and visited three times to check out the area. The viewing was a formality.

hazyjo

You need to be really honest about why you're discounting things. I bet it's just fear of it not being the right one, or something better being out there, or just 'need a bit of hand-holding'. You need to define 'better' if that's the reason, and make sure it's on your must haves list.


If you're coming out saying 'don't like the bathroom off the kitchen, or 'don't like the kitchen at the front' or 'no garden' or 'don't like ground floor, would buy it if on top' then STOP VIEWING ONES YOU KNOW YOU DON'T WANT lol Be more selective rather than viewing things you don't want. If you're coming out going 'it was really nice, every box was ticked, we both love it...' then you really have to work out what it is stopping you. Because even the perfect property will make you just as indecisive.


Take someone experienced with you who you trust. Or apply to be on Location Location Location!