FTB - Freaking out... plus opinion on houses sought

[Deleted User]

I was a FTB back in May of last year.
I wasn't prepared for the following:

1. How obsessed I was going to get with the whole process. I thought about it constantly for months & my purchase was relatively simple!
2. Get a survey done, I was lucky because my seller was moving after 18 months she just showed me her survey. But the survey will give you peace of mind which is invaluable. But obviously, got to budget for this.
3. What I found most helpful was finding the EA in the area with the most property, telling them my must have's and budget & letting them show me places. When i found the flat I bought, I saw 6 properties with him that day & it made me really sure that my flat was the one, I hadn't felt that feeling everyone talks about before that and I looked for a year.
4. Most importantly don't let people saying things like 'You should be so proud of yourself/happy right now' get to you. I know it sounds silly but the change in circumstances really hit me when I moved, I didn't feel happy and it made me feel broken when they kept saying those things to me. I know they're nice things, but I was contending with buyers remorse & loneliness & it made me think I'd made the biggest mistake & I was trapped.
I'm so happy now, so it subsided for me!

Good luck with everything and take care of yourself while it all goes on.

NewShadow

Deleted_User wrote: »

I was a FTB back in May of last year.
I wasn't prepared for the following:

1. How obsessed I was going to get with the whole process. I thought about it constantly for months & my purchase was relatively simple!
2. Get a survey done, I was lucky because my seller was moving after 18 months she just showed me her survey. But the survey will give you peace of mind which is invaluable. But obviously, got to budget for this.
3. What I found most helpful was finding the EA in the area with the most property, telling them my must have's and budget & letting them show me places. When i found the flat I bought, I saw 6 properties with him that day & it made me really sure that my flat was the one, I hadn't felt that feeling everyone talks about before that and I looked for a year.
4. Most importantly don't let people saying things like 'You should be so proud of yourself/happy right now' get to you. I know it sounds silly but the change in circumstances really hit me when I moved, I didn't feel happy and it made me feel broken when they kept saying those things to me. I know they're nice things, but I was contending with buyers remorse & loneliness & it made me think I'd made the biggest mistake & I was trapped.
I'm so happy now, so it subsided for me!

Good luck with everything and take care of yourself while it all goes on.

Thanks

I'm already realising your first point is definitely a 'thing'... and I can see I'll have to watch out for number 4 given I'm moving my job, therefore away from all the colleagues I know.

I'm viewing 5 properties next Thursday/Friday, and I've made arrangements to travel up for more viewings/any second viewings around the 4th Feb - It seemed a sensible gap to allow me to get any quotes, have a real think, ask you lovely people to comment on the photos...

Really not looking forward to the next 6 months, but hope the by the end of summer/my birthday in September I'll be in a new space that's starting to feel like a 'home'...

PasturesNew

One of my criteria has always been: "If I lost my job, car was off the road and I only had £5 in my pocket and wasn't feeling too well .... can I walk to a shop with a good range of food where prices aren't high". e.g. not just a corner shop, but an actual Lidl/Aldi or large national supermarket.

My current criteria is: "OK, so where are you going when you close the door behind you?" I want to walk to somewhere that is a "destination", not just walk the streets. e.g. my current location gives me an option of beaches, towns, or "parks". I figure: You go to town when you want something, you can't plod round town and enjoy it. A park, with somebody, might be nice once, but really won't get me out walking with nothing to do. Therefore, for me, having a beach to wander to and stare out to sea would genuinely be something I could actually muster up the energy to do.

In short: Alone, where are you going out to? Chips are down/no money, how do you get fed?

PasturesNew

NewShadow wrote: »

...
I can move anytime, but it would be easiest, work wise, for me to move over the Summer, so I'm trying to work back and guess that means I need to make an offer somewhere by April/May to move June or later?

Too little time.

First you have to actually find one you like.
Once the offer's in you should really be thinking "minimum 3, possibly 4 months" to get the keys.

I just sold. Offer accepted 1 May, handed over keys 1 October. 5 months. Mine was a chain of 3 of us, problem was bottom of the chain going through 4 mortgage applications to get one accepted.

markin

NewShadow wrote: »

Thanks

I'm already realising your first point is definitely a 'thing'... and I can see I'll have to watch out for number 4 given I'm moving my job, therefore away from all the colleagues I know.

I'm viewing 5 properties next Thursday/Friday, and I've made arrangements to travel up for more viewings/any second viewings around the 4th Feb - It seemed a sensible gap to allow me to get any quotes, have a real think, ask you lovely people to comment on the photos...

Really not looking forward to the next 6 months, but hope the by the end of summer/my birthday in September I'll be in a new space that's starting to feel like a 'home'...

That seems far to big a gap unless the market is totally dead, If its any good it could be gone! Unless your planning to put an offer in after just 1 viewing?

NewShadow

markin wrote: »

That seems far to big a gap unless the market is totally dead, If its any good it could be gone! Unless your planning to put an offer in after just 1 viewing?

If I really like it I could do a second viewing the next day but otherwise it's the soonest I can make it back up there - and it's not the fastest market... my currently preferred house has been up since the beginning of August.

And - if it goes, then it goes - I won't say I wouldn't be disappointed, but that's life.

BTW - is this a good guide for second viewings?
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/money-made-easy/how-to-make-maximum-use-of-your-second-viewing/

NewShadow

PasturesNew wrote: »

Too little time.

First you have to actually find one you like.
Once the offer's in you should really be thinking "minimum 3, possibly 4 months" to get the keys.

I just sold. Offer accepted 1 May, handed over keys 1 October. 5 months. Mine was a chain of 3 of us, problem was bottom of the chain going through 4 mortgage applications to get one accepted.

I think I'm not too worried about finding something because I'm not really that fussy - my main criteria is that it's close to the office and I'm fairly relaxed about the rest of my 'list' - I think that's an advantage of living more than half my life to date in rentals...

Given I'm looking in a fairly small area, there's only ever a half dozen properties on the market within my budget - I keep talking on the assumption my currently preferred house will be 'the house' :rotfl: but... it's vacant, and I'm a FTB, so no chain.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons I'm freaking out is because that might mean I'm moving in April/at Easter and year end is always busy!

Even October wouldn't be that bad - it's conference season so most of the planning/office work would have had to be done in advance and the bulk of the remaining work is turning up on-time on the day and long hours smiling at lots of people while franticly trying to remember their names

markin

With the election over and brexit back on track everyone seems to think things will pick back up, you could find yourself in a different market building up to March/April.

NewShadow

markin wrote: »

With the election over and brexit back on track everyone seems to think things will pick back up, you could find yourself in a different market building up to March/April.

Could be.

Equally, more people could be put off as they anticipate the forecast economic crash/recession - exciting times, eh?

PasturesNew wrote: »

One of my criteria has always been: "If I lost my job, car was off the road and I only had £5 in my pocket and wasn't feeling too well .... can I walk to a shop with a good range of food where prices aren't high". e.g. not just a corner shop, but an actual Lidl/Aldi or large national supermarket.

My current criteria is: "OK, so where are you going when you close the door behind you?" I want to walk to somewhere that is a "destination", not just walk the streets. e.g. my current location gives me an option of beaches, towns, or "parks". I figure: You go to town when you want something, you can't plod round town and enjoy it. A park, with somebody, might be nice once, but really won't get me out walking with nothing to do. Therefore, for me, having a beach to wander to and stare out to sea would genuinely be something I could actually muster up the energy to do.

In short: Alone, where are you going out to? Chips are down/no money, how do you get fed?

It's always interesting to see how other people 'tick'.

First things that's probably worth knowing is that I'm moving much closer to family. I'm currently 4-5 hours away - or 12 on a coach - from my relatives. In the new house I'll be about an hour if they're driving and about 1-2 for me on a train. My dad's not well and the distance is currently being a real PITA.

Re food: I go the other way - I went through three redundancies basically back to back so mentally compensated by always having at least three months worth of food in the house... and that three months of food is for a family of four! I'm talking staples like tins and dry stocks that get boring after a while but I know I can cope like that/cook because I had to between each of my previous redundancies and as a student.

I completely agree with the wanting a destination rather than aimless wandering - that's why, when I close the door, I want to be on the inside... not the outside. I don't really like 'being outside' or 'where there are people'. It's one of the reasons I'm factoring in having different areas for different moods and activities.

The work I do/will be doing is very sociable/busy - where I have to always be 'on', smiling and friendly. I need to be able to come home and mentally relax... my ideal isn't two weeks a year in the sun - it's two weeks when I don't have to leave the house or speak to anyone other than the odd delivery person.

All in all - I'm not an impulsive person.

I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about what I need and what's actually important to me before moving into this.

I'm a planner and an *over*thinker - it's the main reason I'm freaking out looking at houses now. I planned to look from Easter so this is really out of character for me.

I just think this particular house has real potential to be 'right' for me and think it would be stupid to not go look for the sake of an arbitrary timetable in an arbitrary plan...

Smodlet

Hi NewShadow. I just wanted to let you know I would put money on all four of the properties in your first post being non-standard construction (and I despise gambling)

I believe these are more common in Wales than in other parts of the UK so the mortgage issue may be less important but I would urge you to look for standard (brick) properties as they should present far fewer problems in the future than non-standard ones.

There are plenty of threads on here about the disadvantages of non-standard (concrete) houses. Please consider well before committing yourself.

Good hunting.