A place that ticks the boxes but you just don't 'feel' it?

Suseka97

Has definitely been a different experience for us this time around, given we were viewing during a national lockdown!  We only had a short period of time allowed inside, so our 'feel' for the house came very much from the outside.  Standing in the back garden and driveway, looking at the surroundings (street appeal, as has been said) and imagining living there.   We were not able to do any 2nd viewings due to the fact we lived 300+ miles away and only had a short window of opportunity to view a list of houses over one long weekend (and we did pack them in).  So we did the visual walkthrough in our minds, helped by the fact a few of the listings had those video walkthroughs, so our decision was made in a more detached way - if that makes sense.  

With our current home, pretty much as soon as we moved in we felt we had made the wrong decision.  It just didn't feel 'right' for a long time.  But as we redecorated and renovated some of the living spaces we grew to love it.  Now, some 16+ years later I'm finding it quite an emotional wrench to leave .

I'm with lookstraighahead here - that it should be about how you want to live your life now, but if the house was a total fixer upper then you do need to consider other things, such as how long you plan to live there.

NameUnavailable

lookstraightahead said:

if it gives you 'the life you want now' including what's going on outside of the actual building, then that's a good start. 

Thanks for the comments it does help to hear other opinions. The point about what can be fixed to make it more appealing is a good one and I like the comment above which is very valid in this case as location wise it's nearly perfect.

I turned up for the viewing and waited for the agent. And waited....... I had a call to say that they didn't have the keys! Very annoying as it was a 90min round trip.Still I had another look around outside and noticed a few things I hadn't picked up on before. I did warm to it a little today even so.

Trying to rationalise what the issues are for me I guess it's a 60's built GF flat which is lacking in character (my last place was a Victorian conversion), there's no central heating just a couple of old storage heaters and no gas although upstairs has had GCH fitted so presumably it wouldn't be too difficult for me to fit gas as well. Also there are a couple of built in cupboards in the lounge and bedroom which might be useful storage but kind of get it the way of where I'd ideally want to place furniture, which is one of the things I wanted to look at again today and make sure the 2nd bedroom could work as a guest room/office (it's a slightly odd shape so the measurements on paper can't be relied on).

I guess I would ideally like a 2 bed house, probably victorian but somewhere with enough parking (I know that isn't always easy) but I just can't afford that unless I move further out, which comes back to the point above about what's best for now.....

Difficult.

Skiddaw1

Probably not much help, but when I saw your post I immediately thought of a house Mr S and I viewed when we were house hunting, which on the face of it ticked all our wishlist boxes as well as being in our price range but somehow or other left us cold. We went back for a second look but exactly the same thing happened so we walked away. No idea why it didn't do it for us- there really was nothing we could put our fingers on. I think at times like that it really is best to go with your gut feeling.

amandacat

The house I recently sold I bought with my head. It ticked all the boxes but I didn’t feel it. I lived there for over 10 years and no matter what I did to it, I never loved my home. Doesn’t mean you’ll feel the same if you can do work to do it but that was my own personal experience. This time when buying I narrowed it down to two houses, one my head told me was the better option, it had bigger bedrooms and living room, an en-suite. The other had slightly smaller rooms and no en-suite but I just had such a nice feel about it, I could imagine living there and loving it. The lounge felt cosier, the garden more like I’d enjoy sitting out in it. 

From my experience I wouldn’t buy a house again unless I got excited about living there. 

Crashy_Time

Sounds like the too high asking price is spooking you (and other buyers) a bit?

NameUnavailable

Crashy_Time said:

Sounds like the too high asking price is spooking you (and other buyers) a bit?

The price for the area is OK if it was all good to go but it needs heating in all rooms which it doesn't have at present and decor was updated. Another issue is a piece of waste ground adjacent with some derelict garages which I know someone else owns and which will no doubt become another small block of flats or a few houses at some point.

Crashy_Time

NameUnavailable said:

Crashy_Time said:

Sounds like the too high asking price is spooking you (and other buyers) a bit?

The price for the area is OK if it was all good to go but it needs heating in all rooms which it doesn't have at present and decor was updated. Another issue is a piece of waste ground adjacent with some derelict garages which I know someone else owns and which will no doubt become another small block of flats or a few houses at some point.

So they are obviously asking too much?

NameUnavailable

Crashy_Time said:

NameUnavailable said:

Crashy_Time said:

Sounds like the too high asking price is spooking you (and other buyers) a bit?

The price for the area is OK if it was all good to go but it needs heating in all rooms which it doesn't have at present and decor was updated. Another issue is a piece of waste ground adjacent with some derelict garages which I know someone else owns and which will no doubt become another small block of flats or a few houses at some point.

So they are obviously asking too much?

I think so, yes, so I would be offering what I think it's worth. However I do want to see it again (inside) before deciding to offer!

fishfingerbutties

Place I live in right now is exactly as you described. It ticked all the major boxes, but I've never been that in love with the house. Originally it was really garish and overpriced, but I got it for a more sensible price after it had been on a while - I actually first viewed it over 6 months before I finally put in an offer once vendor had come back down to earth.

After a bit of painting and new carpets and making my mark, it felt more homely but it's never been a dream home. But it's really quiet and not overlooked at all, which were really important to me. Not really had any regrets, but then it was never supposed to be long term. Will be putting it back on the market shortly as I'm moving, nothing to do with this house, just moving out of the area. 

phoebe1989seb

We've only ever bought 'project' houses - four of which were empty at the time of viewing - so no real feeling of homeliness about them. Another was a huge place divided into four flats that we intended to convert back to a single family home as originally built. They were all period properties (aka money pits, lol!), the newest being Victorian.

With the exception of our current home - a repossessed four hundred year old cottage - DH and I both had *that feeling* almost immediately upon entering the ones we ended up buying, although with a couple of them we bought with our hearts as they turned out to not be in the best location....for example, the Georgian thatched house on a busy rural A road 🙄

Our current place was a massive downsize and - having sold what should have been our dream home - was always going to have a tough time following those that preceded it.

It just left me feeling utterly cold. DH liked it a little more but agreed it didn't have that feeling, despite being a not unattractive building on the outside at least. Internally, all the character and guts had been stripped out.

Our decision to purchase was based purely on the location and the price which was incredibly low 😉

Three years on and we've reconfigured the entire inside space, moving walls, relocating rooms etc and plan to build an extension this year as it's just not big enough for our needs. It's filled with our maximalist stuff (!!!) and we've added appropriate character features such as panelling and reclaimed fireplaces. Most people would no doubt think we have an amazing home.

DH now completely loves the house, but despite throwing £80k at it I'm still not feeling the connection. Unlike other homes we've sympathetically renovated, imho it didn't have the bones of a good property internally to start with, having originally been built as a small mill not intended for residential use, then converted for tenants of the estate to which it belonged in Victorian times. Sadly the Victorians messed about with any character it had and by the time we purchased it, the cottage felt like a new build inside a stone shell.

We'll more than likely stay here for the foreseeable future - can't turn back the clock - but never again would I buy somewhere that didn't feel right on the first time of entering....