Completing soon on house and having serious doubts

robatwork

sarachristie said:

Thanks for replies..taken note of comments.  Just to add we would be able to afford same house if nothing needed done to it as one in good condition is within our budget, the problem is none are for sale, this one is!!

The point is that the same house in good condition would be £30k more and hence not in your budget.

You could consider pulling out of your purchase, but continue with your sale, and move into rented/temporary accommodation while you continue searching. But given your dithering at this late stage this may not be a great idea.

Stop quibbling about an offer you have made and has been accepted. You can manage with 90s wiring for a year, and just take on 1 room at a time.

MFWannabe

sarachristie said:

You say I am buying it because that’s what I can afford but we can afford a lot more.  As mentioned, our problem with finding that house was they were too small for us hence why we went for this one and we are not moving more than 10 mins from where we live.  This house is the biggest one found in the area we want to live but it needs work.

This contradicts no4 Tight budget in your original post? 

It’s the biggest house you’ve found in the area you want to live; aren’t these the most important factors? Yes it needs work but you’ll be doing that work from the beginning in the size house you want 🤷‍♀️ Everyone ends up doing work over time anyway so you’ll be doing it all from the start 

sarachristie

£30k more is within our budget.  This house requires that amount of work and we can manage just.  None have come up for sale that don’t need major work to it.

csgohan4

OP you need to consider, when do you stop looking, If you keep looking you will never stop. Like buying a car, there will always be  better one to come out, at a price of course. 

We bought the best house at the time, we accepted no house will tick ALL your boxes, but it ticked most of them and had to compromise on a small garden which wasn't a biggie for us. 

It too was a doer upper, Finally completed renovations, on year 5 of owning, of the rooms we wanted doing. We couldn't afford to do everything at once. 

if we bought now, it would be far out of our budget as all the houses around us have gone up significantly in price. 

If you have buyer's remorse, then don't look at houses after you buy.

The last question is, is losing this house something you can live with and you think you can find an equal or better house?

warby68

You are risking hacking the vendor off and they know there isn't much for sale and the property got other interest last time.
If you are not stretched on finances why are you haggling on £1k in these circumstances? You knew you were buying a doer-upper, the valuation held up regardless of the work needed and the vendor has offered something - £2k wasn't an insult at all. It might have been had it been undervalued. It wasn't.
Are you trying to make the vendor force your hand and back out, even if subconsciously?

I understand your jitters though after 24y in the same place and taking a project on but that really was something to work out early on and it isn't to do with the price and haggling. Its about other stuff and whether you have the will to do the project. Getting your final £1k off won't change this.

So time to make your mind up. FWIW last minute jitters are common. Get your pen and paper out and list pros and cons to rerun your initial decision. This house now or big uncertainty whether you will be able to move again (given your very specific requirements on location, general uncertainty and not much interest in yours).

sarachristie

Thanks.  Look the money we have will only do so much work.  I’m concerned we will also run out of money before we do what is needed and yes it’s scary taking all this on after living in comfort for so long.  Plus upheaval for our children.  Appreciate the input and further add we aren’t in the habit of !!!!!! people off by haggling

csgohan4

sarachristie said:

Thanks.  Look the money we have will only do so much work.  I’m concerned we will also run out of money before we do what is needed and yes it’s scary taking all this on after living in comfort for so long.  Plus upheaval for our children.  Appreciate the input and further add we aren’t in the habit of !!!!!! people off by haggling

is it essential they need to be All done asap? 

We had a leaking bathroom and didn't fix it for around 6 months, used another bathroom instead. 

We did the painting and decorating ourselves, took a few years doing a room  a year. You learn alot and DIY is essential to learn anyways. You will learn which is the best paint to use and siicone for your own use e.t.c I would rather not pay a few hundred for someone to paint my house, when I can save some money doing it myself and learning on the way too. Wall paper stripping was good fun too. 

JosephK

"Completing soon" - you've been asked, but haven't said, whether you have exchanged contracts. If you have, non-completion could be expensive.

lookstraightahead

sarachristie said:

Thanks.  Look the money we have will only do so much work.  I’m concerned we will also run out of money before we do what is needed and yes it’s scary taking all this on after living in comfort for so long.  Plus upheaval for our children.  Appreciate the input and further add we aren’t in the habit of !!!!!! people off by haggling

Are the children moving schools then? How far are you moving?
Remember, this is just a house. It's a luxurious position to be in to have a choice whether to move or to stay (not being argumentative, but it's not really a huge problem relatively). I know you've been in your present home for 24 years, but if you move and hate it, move again.

Loza2016

I’ve just been through this. Sold my lovely semi detached home.Bought a detached bungalow that’s not been touched much since 1950. Paid £5k over asking price because of it’s location & plot size. They already had a cash offer of asking price so I had to borrow off family and pay cash. We have 80k budget for extension & renovation. It’s scary but I know it will be worth it in the end.