Having major freezing cold feet

Orangey1234

We are due to exchange and complete on Monday and I have had a complete breakdown today. I had been getting low level feelings for a few weeks of not being very comfortable with buying the house we are due to buy. It is smaller than the semi we are in (it’s detached) the rooms are way smaller, it’s in an area we haven’t ever lived in before. It needs full renovation. However it is at a good price. The house we are in is bigger and has been fully renovated, is in an area we are familiar with and is currently being upgraded with 1gb internet which will be useful with working from home and my partners gaming. Lots of restaurants etc nearby, whereas this new house is rural. I really don’t know what to do but we are right now in a hotel as the full house is packed up in storage and I’m having major gut feelings telling me to not do it!

HappyHomeBuyer

I totally empathise with how you’re feeling. How does your partner feel about it? What drew you to the house in the first place? Think about all of these things. Is it possible that you are feeling sad about leaving your old house and you’re being pushed out of your comfort zone? In any event, my advice would be to share how you’re feeling with your partner but I’m guessing that there’s not much you can do to change the course of the sale since you’re settling on Monday.

FTB_Help

Sorry you feel like this, but if your gut is telling you something, listen to it, is what i always go by.

List the reasons for moving  (do you HAVE to move?)

List the reasons againsts the new house/ area.

Having it out on paper in blk and white really helps put it in perspective.

theoretica

You liked the house enough to offer on it and get to this stage - remind yourself why.

oniongirl

What made you offer on the new house to start with? Was it just that it was detached?

We are about to move from a 3-bed mid-terrace with a massive garden to a 4-bed detached with a little garden. Despite it having an extra bedroom and bathroom, or perhaps because of it, it is smaller. Downstairs is smaller; there's an integral garage taking up a quarter of the downstairs.

I cannot WAIT to move.

It has a lounge/diner. Our current house has a separate living room and dining room, and we never use the dining room. It's a waste of space. 

The fourth bedroom in the new house is tiny, probably will only fit a cot and not a single bed. It will be my WFH office. In our current house, I work from the third bedroom that is long and narrow. I work there, all my craft stuff is there, my husband's gaming PC is there. I can't wait to work in the little cosy room with only work stuff in it.

The second bedroom in our current house is big enough for a double, but the boiler is in there, and it's an odd shape so only half of it can have furniture against the wall. The 2nd and 3rd bedrooms in the new house are smaller, but have built in wardrobes and lots of wall space for furniture. 

The new house might be smaller, but it's configured better for our life. Smaller isn't necessarily worse. 

Angela_D_3

Everyone always gets the heebie jebbies before buying a house.  Perfectly normal,  its a huge step but whats the alternative 

NameUnavailable

Well, assuming you haven't exchanged on your old home yet you have until Monday morning to decide what you want to do. If you don't want to do it then don't, but then why are you moving in the first place?

kazwookie

What does your OH think?

You need to talk to them urgently

Orangey1234

kazwookie said:

What does your OH think?

You need to talk to them urgently

I fortunately have the best understanding partner who is happy with whatever I am happy with. He’s trying to help me understand what I’m feeling, feeling so much. 

Rachlou_25

I would say go with your gut but try to remember the reasons you offered in the first place.  It might be smaller but detached is a big plus, you may not know the area but that’s part of the fun in getting to know it.  

It’s pretty normal to have moments of ‘oh my god am i doing the right thing’, talk it through with your partner to come to the right decision for you.  

Davesnave

You have listed the advantages of your current house but said nothing positive about the new one other than it's detached. The info that it's smaller and needing renovation are negatives, while rural and a good price are neutral, as the need for work is, no doubt, reflected there.

On this limited description, the wisdom of the move seems to come down to the value you place on being detached and out of town and the extent to which needing renovation worries you.

'Renovation' is a weasel word often used when people mean decorating and putting in new kitchens and bathrooms, while the real thing might involve a full rewire, replacing the roof and re-plastering walls and ceilings. People here have no idea how old the property is or how much the plot would allow extension, which are important factors governing likely works needed and long term usefulness. We don't even know what 'rural' means, because that can apply a mile or two from a large town, or in a place like I live, where the nearest proper supermarket is 11 miles away.

My wife and I moved from a semi in town where we could walk home from cinemas, restaurants etc to a detached rural property that needed full renovation and extension to realise its potential. It was difficult, even though we knew exactly why we were doing it. The work was more than we expected, it took some years to complete and we're still working on the external elements 11 years later. We believe the life change and the learning involved was worthwhile, because the things we wanted were not achievable in town or on our budget. I think you and your partner need to examine what you want and value when you make the list suggested by  FTB_Help above. It's not all about the bricks and mortar or just how you feel today.