Purchased the wrong house...

shaunhouse

We had been looking for a house for nearly 2 years. We’d backed out on a house purchase in that time because it had subscidence.

Our previous, first house as a couple was fully paid up and we used the sale to fund the purchase of the new house.

We were getting fairly desperate in our search and we put together letters which we posted in the local area. We got a few replies but then 6 months later a beautiful house that would have been way over our budget had it gone on the market, got in touch.

We knew full well that the current owner had purchased the house for 410k in 2012 and even with no work it would be worth around 500k with how the market has gone. The owner had spent around 75k on the house. Full rewire, high end appliances, decorated in farrow and ball with granite bathroom, fitted wardrobes, expensive fireplace with living flame fire etc...

Regardless of this my wife had reservations, although the house is set back from the main road by about 400 meters, it still sits facing a main road and what I’ve learned is, although you get used to it, it will always be there.

I was blown away by the house, knowing full well that a semi detached house just up the road had fetched £410k just recently. I managed to get £420k accepted. which I was very surprised I got accepted, it later turned out the owners husband had died suddenly and she just wanted a quick sale.

So... great, we’ve got the house we want but 1 and abit years on, I think we’ve made the wrong decision.

We put down a 50% deposit and fixed for 5 years. So we fully committed to it but despite everything i just don’t think it’s the house for us.

I can try and draw positives but it feels like such a big thing to have got wrong. We also have the difficult scenario where if we were to move we would have to sell this house to then purchase another.

[Deleted User]

I had these thoughts as I read your post.

You mentioned the road.., is there anything else you don't like about the house.

List them.

Can you do anything about any of these things?

How does your partner feel about the house?

Would any renovations be worth doing (given the stamp duty you'd have to pay plus various legal, moving and EA fees)?

shaunhouse

We’ve already made a change with the windows by putting in acoustic glass which has pretty much stopped any outside noise inside the house.

The 2 other things we don’t like are:

- At present my wife has to park on the side road (not the main road) as the driveway can only accommodate one car.

- the back garden needs landscaping in order to sit out and have bbqs etc...

That’s it really.

Davesnave

shaunhouse wrote: »

.....my wife had reservations, although the house is set back from the main road by about 400 meters, it still sits facing a main road and what I’ve learned is, although you get used to it, it will always be there.

I was blown away by the house......

OK, it's not a 'forever' house, (and I don't think it's 400m from the main road either!) but so what? Most of us don't buy houses to stay in forever; they're what I'd call 'stepping stone' properties.

Even 'forever' houses aren't usually forever in a literal sense. Mine has getting on for 6 acres out the back, which are fine, while I'm fit.....

Reading between the lines, it seems you might be getting flak from your wife who was the one with reservations, while you were 'blown away' with the value. The answer to that is that your wife is equally responsible for the decision you both made. She can be equally responsible for whatever financial penalty you incur if you decide to move early.

And yes, you will need to offer value compared with non-main road houses when the time comes to sell, but don't imagine no one will consider the house a good buy, or the location unacceptable. Millions of people live close to main roads and many think nothing of it.

shaunhouse

I think we’ve both learnt a lot about what is important to us, the big grand house was a goal that we were working towards for many years but now we’ve got it, I think we would be equally happy with a nice semi detached house on a quiet street with a good garden.

Correct about the 400m, proberly more like 50m

Gers

Can your wife not park on the drive instead of you?

Is the main road a motorway? Hearing car noise from 400m away sounds extreme.

Those two points are probably the kinds of compromises which are made normally. I'm not sure that the perfect house for everyone exist, there's always something which could be better. For instance, I live in my near perfect place, love everything I've got except it lacks mains gas so heating is expensive. It's the price I pay.

Perhaps look to the positives and know that you've got a bargain house which will enable you to move up the ladder when you're ready to move.

shaunhouse

Both the garden and driveway can be changed.

The only thing that would remain is the main road, which we can’t do anything about. No it’s not a motorway, it’s a fairly busy main road though.

Doozergirl

shaunhouse wrote: »

We’ve already made a change with the windows by putting in acoustic glass which has pretty much stopped any outside noise inside the house.

The 2 other things we don’t like are:

- At present my wife has to park on the side road (not the main road) as the driveway can only accommodate one car.

- the back garden needs landscaping in order to sit out and have bbqs etc...

That’s it really.

So fix the problems. Any house is going to come with compromise and I don't think moving to something smaller (and attached when you have noise sensitivity issues) is actually going to have either of you jumping for joy when you go and view them.

Clearly the garden can be altered.

Can the driveway? Most detached houses are wider than one car's width.

I live set back from a main road. Yes, there's noise, which as a constant doesn't bother me, but I prefer the privacy of our facing neighbours being something like 60 metres away. Everything comes with its own pros and cons.

We're moving to a house we're building oursleves. It will be a little quiter, but we won't have the same level of privacy. But hey, it's bigger, warmer, will be cheaper and we've designed the entire space to suit us.

There is always a level of compromise if your budget isn't unlimited. Even if it is unlimited, you might have to buy two houses to get everything that you want - loads of land, but access to the big city lights, for example.

We have to settle and make the best of what we have and given your list of two and a half things, I don't think you're doing too badly.

That said, people move house. If it was that hard, people wouldn't do it. The mortgage can be ported. The cost of moving would probably be better spent making the house as perfect as it can be, though.

People spend way too much time focussing on the little things that are 'wrong' instead of on the myriad of things that are absolutely wonderful. You and I are blessed, constantly, every day so far with just breathing. Starting from there and working up makes a back garden that needs a bit of work into what it really is. Trivial.

shaunhouse

Yes agree, always a compromise. With this house it’s the road, with the one we backed out on it was the garden.

I think we are going to make the changes anyway and see how we feel after that. We got the house about 20 percent less than what you would expect to pay so we have some buffer.

elsien

You could move to your nice semi and end up somewhere with with very noisy neighbours/loud arguments/screaming kids etc.
There's a family backing onto me where the kids aren't deliberately being naughty but their high pitched squealing and screaming drives me out of the garden on occasion.

Every property will have its downside. Yours seem minor to me but clearly aren't to you and your wife. So you need to work out realistically what you can live with and what you can't, to assess the impact before any next move.

iammumtoone

The road would not bother me but the parking situation would, can this be changed? I would get this done first parking is one thing that seems to get most people annoyed.


Can you re-design the house so your living room and bedroom are at the back of house away from the road.


List all the positives of the house and start to think of those instead.