Having doubts after offer accepted

Crashy_Time

danlightbulb wrote: »

Crashy Time, I fully agree with your sentiment around the housing market. Problem is, what choice do I have? Financially speaking, if I don't buy soon I may forever be priced out by virtue of rising prices and a shortening mortgage term due to my age. Of course I wish prices were more reasonable but its a pipe dream to think anything is going to materially change. I wish I didn't have to feed the housing machine with my hard earned money but like most of us I have no choice or I most likely end up in a council flat at retirement when my pension doesn't cover my rent.

Do I think this house is overpriced? Yes of course I do. I think all houses are overpriced. This house doesn't appear overpriced relative to what is for sale or has been sold in the area.

It is precisely because I have an aversion to houses that are not value for money though, that I find myself in this predicament. Compared to what else is for sale right now, and what else I have seen for sale in the past year, this house does have many positives. At the same time, it does not fit my stereotype of what sort of house I originally wanted, and it has some negatives.

So I am conflicted.

Everyone is saying this is a good house. I also believe it is a good house. The issue is whether I should accept its downsides. Is that a reasonable compromise to make, or not. Like I said in previous thread, all I NEED is a roof and food. I could live in a cave in a forest with a fire and survive. Anything above this is wants. It is for this reason I can't decide whether or not to hold out for what I want, or not.

Perhaps if I was buying with a partner, or my children lived with me, then I would have more focus and direction to make a decision.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-7943741/House-prices-174-years-70-year-period-got-cheaper.html

First line is all you need to know really IMO. Events in China also show how quickly things can turn on unexpected events, and China is already fragile..

https://speculatorsanonymous.com/articles/trouble-chinas-credit-markets/

...and it isn`t a big leap of imagination to see all this having an effect in credit markets soon,,,,so if you want to believe that house prices will just keep ticking up you better buy something fast, but IMO making a decision now based on maybe being in a council flat in 30 years is not great, that is typical fear thinking that keeps people buying new-builds and other unsuitable property at inflated prices then wondering why they can`t sell when they decide they want to move.

Crashy_Time

https://www.plumplot.co.uk/Wolverhampton-property-transactions.html

Not sure if a 11% drop in transactions in your area is a "material change", but it sure ain`t "Up Up and away Forever" for your local housing market?
IMO the seller of that bungalow should be more than happy with 150k.

danlightbulb

Crashy Time I am very wary of buying in at the ceiling, believe me. But as I said to you before, what other choice is there? As much as I hate it too, the prices are the prices and driven by what people will pay. I agree, people shouldn't be paying so much, and everyone will suffer for it eventually if it crashes.

Would I feel more comfortable if I was paying less, yeah I guess a little. The difference in mortgage if I got it for £150k would be £54 per month, so its not that that's the problem here. It would have to be closer to probably £140k to start making a worthwhile dent in the budget.

My issue with pricing as things currently stand is not so much the absolute numbers but the relative numbers. If a detached is £170k, then a semi should be around £140k. The difference between a house with a drive and one without should be about £10k. Large garden vs small garden, I think thats worth an easy £20-30k.

Instead what we see is semis the same price as detached, small garden houses the same price or higher than large garden houses. Its all messed up. This makes it difficult to compromise, because the value judgement is not there. Why would you compromise on a feature of a house if on the face of it it doesn't appear to come with a lower price tag?

What I'd really want to see when buying houses, is a far more linear correlation between features and price, then it would be far easier to determine where I wanted/was able to sit within that scale.

Getting_greyer

Far too many variables for that to happen.
Eg property close to schools. Couple with kids think great. Singleton who works from home hates his life during playtime. That's before rooms or property type taken into account.

danlightbulb

Ive been browsing sold listings on rightmove. Every single one that has sold in this area, in my price range, has parking on the front and is not elevated up from the road.

I am confused why everyone is saying this isnt a problem, but the evidence suggests its what people will buy.

There are a mix of bungalow sales. All the ones sold look to be flat to the ground. Its a real concern.

WV14 8td within 1 mile.

I am also now concerned I am paying too much. I have seen detached 2 storey houses, with parking albeit smaller gardens, for similar money.

oldernonethewiser

It is obviously not the house you want.

No matter that many other people on here would be happy to buy it, you aren't.


Walk away and stop p!!!ing about.

danlightbulb

I dont know what i do want

1. Future financial security
2. Potential to add value
3. Not to skint myself out day to day
4. Something resellable quickly - i.e generally desirable to most
5. Good value for money
6. Not too odd or unusual in layout, links to 4
7. Decent mature garden
8. Parking?
9. 3 bedrooms?
10. 2 reception rooms?
11. reasonable sized kitchen
12. garage or workshop
13. close to my family/friends
14. on a reasonably nice road

Its the first few on that list im struggling with, and it was the same issues with the last house i offered on and pulled out of.

The previous house was £22k more, and further away, and needed a lot of work. So with that one my issues were numbers 3 and 13.

With this one, my issues are 2, 4, 6 and 8. The reason I liked the house was mostly 1, 7, 10, 12 and 13.

KBNewby

The only thing you need to be thinking is do YOU want to live in it? Buying a property that is at the lower end of your budget but needs work doing is a good bet as there is less chance of paying a large mortgage on something in negative equity as you do it up. However, it does need work doing to it and you need to like living in it ultimately!

RelievedSheff

danlightbulb wrote: »

I dont know what i do want

1. Future financial security
2. Potential to add value
3. Not to skint myself out day to day
4. Something resellable quickly - i.e generally desirable to most
5. Good value for money
6. Not too odd or unusual in layout, links to 4
7. Decent mature garden
8. Parking?
9. 3 bedrooms?
10. 2 reception rooms?
11. reasonable sized kitchen
12. garage or workshop
13. close to my family/friends
14. on a reasonably nice road

Its the first few on that list im struggling with, and it was the same issues with the last house i offered on and pulled out of.

The previous house was £22k more, and further away, and needed a lot of work. So with that one my issues were numbers 3 and 13.

With this one, my issues are 2, 4, 6 and 8. The reason I liked the house was mostly 1, 7, 10, 12 and 13.

All houses are a compromise. There is no such thing as the perfect house.

You need to decide if this property will work for you and if not then sooner rather then later you need to withdraw your offer as you are just leading the vendors up the garden path at the minute and wasting their time and money as well as your own.

In future do not offer on something unless you are sure it is right for you. This will be twice you have misled people now which is unfair to them.

danlightbulb

KBNewby wrote: »

The only thing you need to be thinking is do YOU want to live in it? Buying a property that is at the lower end of your budget but needs work doing is a good bet as there is less chance of paying a large mortgage on something in negative equity as you do it up. However, it does need work doing to it and you need to like living in it ultimately!

The property isn't at the lower end of my budget, its still at the higher end. I don't like anything that is coming up for sale for much cheaper.

So to compensate for this, I have to consider do-er-upers. And I am obviously looking for a house that does have potential for future growth in value, once improved to modern standards. To achieve growth in value I need to be confident that the limitations that the house has will not be so severe as to unduly influence its potential.

*Parking
*Bungalow up some steps
*Internal bathroom and dark rear bedroom
*1 reception & 3 beds, or 2 reception and 2 beds
*The extent of modernisation required

Those are the issues this place has. Can I live with them, sure I could. If I rented the place, and was used to parking on road, it wouldn't matter at all. Should I BUY a place that has these limitations? That's what I'm struggling with.

Im in a complete mess of indecision.

RelievedSheff wrote: »

All houses are a compromise. There is no such thing as the perfect house.

You need to decide if this property will work for you and if not then sooner rather then later you need to withdraw your offer as you are just leading the vendors up the garden path at the minute and wasting their time and money as well as your own.

In future do not offer on something unless you are sure it is right for you. This will be twice you have misled people now which is unfair to them.

I totally agree and I will feel terrible if I pull out. I seem to be having a problem whereby it is not until I offer and have to proceed, that the truth/risks of the situation becomes apparent to me. And as I have said previously, whilst I have been considering a property it has then sold, so I also feel pressured to act quickly.