Avoid my mistake: never sweat the small stuff!

dgerrard

Wife and I have been trying to buy a house since January.

I've done something terrible yet educational this week: I've been going back through houses we saw and rejected for one reason or another, and beating myself up over not taking them.

In hindsight, I can't believe how picky I was being.

Three-bed end of terrace, gorgeous condition: ahhhh, garden too small, area kind of rough.

Three bed mid terrace, £25k less than our budget, amazing condition: ahhhh, downstairs bathroom, couldn't possibly deal with that.

There have been about 5 that in hindsight, if they came up now we'd buy in a split second.

I have a mantra in my professional life: never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Yet that's exactly what I've done in my home buying. Instead of taking great houses with minor issues, I've waited until I got something perfect, and now I have nothing.

All of these were discovered by my wife as well, I really just need to trust her judgement. She sees the good in everything, and I need to learn to do the same. If I were her, I wouldn't be so understanding with my dithering.

So to anyone else out there dithering: just do it! Otherwise in six months time you'll end up like me, wishing you'd taken the plunge instead of standing on the diving board.

hazyjo

I don't think that's being picky. I'd also discount a downstairs bathroom and a rough area. Not sure what the other reasons are, but I have loads of absolute nos (including shared drives, parking issues, main roads, and things nearby that would put people off like pubs, car parks, pylons, schools (if on doorstep), etc.


If you can't find what you want, it's probably because your budget isn't big enough for what you want. Can you change areas slightly, or add another into the mix, or up the budget at all? Mind you, saying that, I don't think 4-5 months is a massive length of time to find somewhere.


If you need to sell, you really should get a buyer before offering on anywhere or you may find you're even more disappointed if you end up losing it!

pinkteapot

Agree with hazyjo - rough area and downstairs bathroom (assuming that's the only bathroom) would rule them out for me too!

I sympathise though - we've been trawling the market for about the same length of time and are so over it. Our problem isn't budget - it's that VERY little comes on the market up here. We're probably being too picky, given that fact, and it's looking like we'll have to settle for something. But then you think "What if something better comes up next week?!".

SensibleSarah

I'm the other extreme - bought my current and first house nearly 10 years ago and my main criteria was finding a house in my (small) budget that I didn't hate (after seeing many that I did hate). All these years on, I've massively regretted not holding out for something better and am finally in a position (or will be in the next few months) where I can look to sell and find something that suits me better.

tealady

Hi dgerrard. I think you are overthinking this.
When I bought my house I had 3 lists :
1) must haves. This included off road parking, good transport links and on a quiet street and in a decent area
2) nice to haves. Semi with min 2 bedrooms
3) the "not on your nellies". On a main road, in a rough area, no parking, or on a "rat run".
Got my must haves and avoided everything on list 3. Looked at loads of house details, didn't get my 1st 2 choices. Had to compromise on living in a terraced house.
Sounds as if you are wavering over some things on list 3. Dont or you will regret it.

dgerrard

Thank you for your responses.

It's funny, I kept saying how we were so unlucky that nothing was coming up, so unlucky...

And now looking back I'm like damn, we WERE really lucky, we just didn't realise! Because now everything that's available is like £20-50k more, and has much greater issues than no downstairs bath.

Bah, just feeling a bit woe is me. I'm sure something else will come along, and THAT time we'll snap it up.

Slinky

Tell yourself OP that they probably weren't that nice in the flesh, if you didn't actually go and look at them. We viewed a number that on paper/screen looked real possibles but just didn't live up to it when we saw them.


And be thankful it only took a few months for the penny to drop.

getmore4less

anything changed since this thread where the recommendation was up your budget

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5881725/paralyzed-by-choice

I see one of the houses you looked at was

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75772684#Comment_75772684


https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60197583.html


With £80k+ income and £40k savings £400k was well within reach.

hazyjo

getmore4less wrote: »

anything changed since this thread where the recommendation was up your budget

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5881725/paralyzed-by-choice

Ah, yep. Remember that one.


OP, sorry, but even if you found a perfect house for £50k under your budget, I still don't think you'd buy. Some people are just [STRIKE]too[/STRIKE] cautious.


I stand by what I said. Up your budget.