How long did it take you to find your home to buy?

badger09

youth_leader said:

Five months for me, I sold in May. I wanted a fresh start as I am widowed, I have viewed about 20 properties in total.  I live in Northumberland and travelled down to Margate/Broadstairs/Ramsgate, then Exmouth in Devon.  Out of the two I had hoped to move to Devon, but my budget is too small and I didn't want to live in a terrace or a flat.  I have decided to stay in Northumberland and brave it out, I'm hopefully purchasing a bungalow in my popular tourist village here,  and will have some money left over.  Fingers crossed the seller continues with the sale, she said she'd miss it a lot about three times during the viewing.

When we tried to sell in 2017 we intended moving from Shropshire to Exmouth area where my older sister had moved when she was widowed. We didn't sell and sadly she died in 2018. When we went back on the market in July we still intended to sell up and rent in Exmouth area with a view to buying. However, the reality of moving to a new area in our 70s, in the middle of a global pandemic was too daunting, so we're staying fairly local.

Hope it goes smoothly and you'll be happy in your bungalow.

Davesnave

badger09 said:

youth_leader said:

Five months for me, I sold in May. I wanted a fresh start as I am widowed, I have viewed about 20 properties in total.  I live in Northumberland and travelled down to Margate/Broadstairs/Ramsgate, then Exmouth in Devon.  Out of the two I had hoped to move to Devon, but my budget is too small and I didn't want to live in a terrace or a flat.  I have decided to stay in Northumberland and brave it out, I'm hopefully purchasing a bungalow in my popular tourist village here,  and will have some money left over.  Fingers crossed the seller continues with the sale, she said she'd miss it a lot about three times during the viewing.

When we tried to sell in 2017 we intended moving from Shropshire to Exmouth area where my older sister had moved when she was widowed. We didn't sell and sadly she died in 2018. When we went back on the market in July we still intended to sell up and rent in Exmouth area with a view to buying. However, the reality of moving to a new area in our 70s, in the middle of a global pandemic was too daunting, so we're staying fairly local.

Hope it goes smoothly and you'll be happy in your bungalow.

As I said earlier in the thread, we spent 3 years getting to know West Wales, but then we bought in Devon, close to where we both had roots. Better the devil you know.....and I speak the language!

Exmouth has warmer winters than Salop, but I can't think of many other advantages, unless you're a beach person. The south coast area is relatively crowded and you don't get much bang for your buck there.

badger09

Davesnave said:

badger09 said:

youth_leader said:

Five months for me, I sold in May. I wanted a fresh start as I am widowed, I have viewed about 20 properties in total.  I live in Northumberland and travelled down to Margate/Broadstairs/Ramsgate, then Exmouth in Devon.  Out of the two I had hoped to move to Devon, but my budget is too small and I didn't want to live in a terrace or a flat.  I have decided to stay in Northumberland and brave it out, I'm hopefully purchasing a bungalow in my popular tourist village here,  and will have some money left over.  Fingers crossed the seller continues with the sale, she said she'd miss it a lot about three times during the viewing.

When we tried to sell in 2017 we intended moving from Shropshire to Exmouth area where my older sister had moved when she was widowed. We didn't sell and sadly she died in 2018. When we went back on the market in July we still intended to sell up and rent in Exmouth area with a view to buying. However, the reality of moving to a new area in our 70s, in the middle of a global pandemic was too daunting, so we're staying fairly local.

Hope it goes smoothly and you'll be happy in your bungalow.

As I said earlier in the thread, we spent 3 years getting to know West Wales, but then we bought in Devon, close to where we both had roots. Better the devil you know.....and I speak the language!

Exmouth has warmer winters than Salop, but I can't think of many other advantages, unless you're a beach person. The south coast area is relatively crowded and you don't get much bang for your buck there.

Its been a long held dream of mine to move nearer the coast as that's where I was born & grew up (North West). Husband has so many 'not moving there' criteria that there were few options left. I've just about given up on that dream now, but if & when I can travel again, I intend to spend more time near a coast  - alone for a few weeks at a time if necessary

WiseOwl00

About a week, both times. We had been viewing houses on Rightmove for a few months whilst we were saving our deposit up, so we had a good idea of what we wanted and what we could realistically get for our budget. We had a few must-have criteria set - 3 bedrooms, bathroom with a bath + shower, decent size garden and drive. When we were ready to view, we went through every house on Rightmove for the areas we were looking into and made a list of ones we liked enough to view. We ended up viewing 6/7 the first time (July 2020), then 6/7 the second time (October 2020). Our first house fell through the first time due to the vendors not being able to find a house they liked, funnily enough.

We wanted to stay in our current town/city, but were quite open with location. We looked at houses within a 5-mile radius of where we live now, but also excluded certain villages we knew we didn't want to live in. We were open-minded when we went to view houses. We didn't have a perfect property in mind, we just went to see the houses and got a feel for them. We weren't overly picky, but definitely were pickier than people I know. For example, I got put off of a house because the drive was on a slope and you had to bring the bins through the garage to get them to the street. So it wasn't like we just settled for anything. We either left houses wanting to put an offer in, or knowing straight away it wasn't for us. Some of the houses we left wanting to offer, but after some time away from the property talked ourselves out of it. We found one house both times we loved, and got offers accepted on both. 

We are FTBs though, so our main goal was to get onto the property ladder with a home we'd feel comfortable in for at least a few years.

v_rouge

I spent around a year searching whilst I was still saving for a deposit for my first place. I viewed one apartment and then looked at the apartment next door which I ended up buying. 
For my second place, I again spent 9 months looking on Rightmove during lockdown/selling my apartment, then the day before my partner's house went on sale (we were selling both our properties to buy together) a house came up for sale which ticked all the boxes. We viewed it once and are now in the process of buying it.  
I love doing the research so that when the right place popped up we booked in to see it straight away. Sometimes you just know. 

Neil49

Beeboo23 said:

I’ve viewed in excess of 30 houses over around 10 months. For 5 months of that I had my offer accepted on a house but after the sale not progressing due to probate I pulled out and found something else. Definitely had enough of viewing houses for at least a decade. You’ll find something eventually. Good luck!

I feel your pain! We had a similar experience 2 years ago. The problem is, it one thing finding the ideal house but it's another big hurdle to actually buy it. There are so many things that can go wrong, particularly if you are in a long chain, and nothing is certain until everyone has exchanged contracts (and even then problems can occur).

We ended up moving into rented accommodation for a couple of months so that the chain didn't collapse. Next time we shall seriously consider selling first, moving into rented and becoming cash buyers.