House regret???

Elsie89

Hi all

As a first time buyer, I’ve recently reserved a new build house with my husband. Looking round the show home, it felt “right” and I was excited. It’s a great quality house with some really positive points.  It was the first house we’d actually looked round. And I felt with the stamp duty holiday, I should be taking advantage of the market etc.  Perhaps caught up in the rush of things. 

Since then however, I’ve felt sick whenever I think about this house and whether I’ve done the right thing. In fact, I’ve become quite distressed by being unsure of whether to proceed. I’m regularly in tears over various concerns. Spending the entire day going over the pros and cons list. Every single evening is taken with research on house prices, pollution etc. 

My main reservations 

1. Poor location.  It’s a worse location to my current house (rented) and is not within walking distance of anything, yet on a main road. 

2 cost. I can’t shake off my feeling that’s the house is over priced.  It’s a lot of money. In fact, it’s the most expensive house on the estate and yet it looks the smallest/least impressive as the developer has managed to squash it between two houses. This isn’t like the other builds/show homes so only recently seen. 

3. This rest of my concerns- unadopted road, small garden, smallish rooms are all relative and I feel they are a compromise for how lovely to house standard is. 


I suppose my question to you is- is it normal to have this level of doubt with a property purchase? 
Yes I will lose money if I pull out now but I’d don’t want te be unhappy with where I live or lose more money later done the line

thank you all 

p00hsticks

Elsie89 said:

Hi all

It was the first house we’d actually looked round.

My advice - go and look round some other properties, as this might give you some perspective on whether your fears have an actual basis or not.

What does you husband think - you mention that you are buying with him in your first sentence, but after that it's all 'I' and 'my', not 'we' and 'our'. Have you discussed it with him at all ?

MalMonroe

I agree with p00sticks about chatting to your husband. This is something you are doing together. You are suffering from buyer's remorse, which is quite common. However, the things you point out appear to be really worrying you. Location is very important, as is the point about you thinking it's overpriced. 

If you are going to pull out, it would be better to do it now - even if you lose money - than to continue and end up living in a house you are not happy with. I did that years ago when I bought a house with my ex-husband and regretted carrying on with the purchase when I knew the place just wasn't right for us. 

Buying a house is a major purchase and I think it's wise to be sure. As you say, you don't want to be unhappy or lose money later.

hazyjo

Make sure you definitely haven't exchanged. If you have, is there a long stop date?

Nerves are obviously to be expected, but you really don't sound keen on this one.

tink_1983

Take a step back and look at others.
Aslong as you haven't exchanged you can change your mind.

New builds are more money as everything is new and has a warranty. 
But the gardens and rooms are small.
There will be site fees for unadopted roads which adds more money.

Overall you are worried so stop and talk to hubby and really assess your criteria for your new home 

comeandgo

tink_1983 said:

Take a step back and look at others.
Aslong as you haven't exchanged you can change your mind.

New builds are more money as everything is new and has a warranty. 
But the gardens and rooms are small.
There will be site fees for unadopted roads which adds more money.

Overall you are worried so stop and talk to hubby and really assess your criteria for your new home 

I have never lived on adopted roads and never had any site fees or other fees for them. 

RelievedSheff

comeandgo said:

tink_1983 said:

Take a step back and look at others.
Aslong as you haven't exchanged you can change your mind.

New builds are more money as everything is new and has a warranty. 
But the gardens and rooms are small.
There will be site fees for unadopted roads which adds more money.

Overall you are worried so stop and talk to hubby and really assess your criteria for your new home 

I have never lived on adopted roads and never had any site fees or other fees for them. 

On new build estates any non adopted areas are managed by a management company. There will be a management charge if the road or shared driveway are not adopted. This ensures that every one pays their fair share towards the maintenance of the shared driveway/ unadopted roads and that the roads and driveways are maintained to a reasonable standard.

lisyloo

RelievedSheff said:

comeandgo said:

tink_1983 said:

Take a step back and look at others.
Aslong as you haven't exchanged you can change your mind.

New builds are more money as everything is new and has a warranty. 
But the gardens and rooms are small.
There will be site fees for unadopted roads which adds more money.

Overall you are worried so stop and talk to hubby and really assess your criteria for your new home 

I have never lived on adopted roads and never had any site fees or other fees for them. 

On new build estates any non adopted areas are managed by a management company. There will be a management charge if the road or shared driveway are not adopted. This ensures that every one pays their fair share towards the maintenance of the shared driveway/ unadopted roads and that the roads and driveways are maintained to a reasonable standard.

I'm on my second new build and not had a management company in either case. 
Is this a new thing for new builds?

AdrianC

lisyloo said:

RelievedSheff said:

comeandgo said:

tink_1983 said:

Take a step back and look at others.
Aslong as you haven't exchanged you can change your mind.

New builds are more money as everything is new and has a warranty. 
But the gardens and rooms are small.
There will be site fees for unadopted roads which adds more money.

Overall you are worried so stop and talk to hubby and really assess your criteria for your new home 

I have never lived on adopted roads and never had any site fees or other fees for them. 

On new build estates any non adopted areas are managed by a management company. There will be a management charge if the road or shared driveway are not adopted. This ensures that every one pays their fair share towards the maintenance of the shared driveway/ unadopted roads and that the roads and driveways are maintained to a reasonable standard.

I'm on my second new build and not had a management company in either case. 
Is this a new thing for new builds?

It's a thing for properties on developments with common areas and unadopted roads. Because who else is maintaining those? Not the local authority...

Makes no difference whether somebody lived in that property before you or not.

ElizabethRose

You need to speak to your husband and quickly before things go too far and you exchange contracts or spend money. From experience I'd say location is one of the most important things as you can have a lovely house but if you feel cut off you'll be unhappy. I'm able to walk to a number of supermarkets, bars, cafes etc from my house and I love that as I'd hate to have to drive to get anywhere but that's my personal preference. Please speak to your husband and good luck in what you decide to do.

pinkshoes

Elsie89 said:

Hi all

As a first time buyer, I’ve recently reserved a new build house with my husband. Looking round the show home, it felt “right” and I was excited. It’s a great quality house with some really positive points.  It was the first house we’d actually looked round. And I felt with the stamp duty holiday, I should be taking advantage of the market etc.  Perhaps caught up in the rush of things. 

Since then however, I’ve felt sick whenever I think about this house and whether I’ve done the right thing. In fact, I’ve become quite distressed by being unsure of whether to proceed. I’m regularly in tears over various concerns. Spending the entire day going over the pros and cons list. Every single evening is taken with research on house prices, pollution etc. 

My main reservations 

1. Poor location.  It’s a worse location to my current house (rented) and is not within walking distance of anything, yet on a main road. 

2 cost. I can’t shake off my feeling that’s the house is over priced.  It’s a lot of money. In fact, it’s the most expensive house on the estate and yet it looks the smallest/least impressive as the developer has managed to squash it between two houses. This isn’t like the other builds/show homes so only recently seen. 

3. This rest of my concerns- unadopted road, small garden, smallish rooms are all relative and I feel they are a compromise for how lovely to house standard is. 


I suppose my question to you is- is it normal to have this level of doubt with a property purchase? 
Yes I will lose money if I pull out now but I’d don’t want te be unhappy with where I live or lose more money later done the line

thank you all 

1 - This would be a no for me. It will also limit your future sale market.

2 - How does it compare to other properties that are not new build?

3 - apart from the unadopted road (do you have a yearly fee? Is it a leasehold house??) the rest would put me off. Small rooms are annoying. How does the room size compare to older builds in the area?


How much have you spent so far? Survey cost? Did you pay for any extras on the newbuild? I'm assuming you haven't exchanged.

Go and look at some more houses, old and new, different areas. Decide what you actually WANT in a house. My priorities were off-road parking for 3 cars (previously lived in Oxford and hated the fight for  parking space), in a town/village where I could walk to shops and facilities (lived in a village with nothing in walking distance and hated it), and plenty of downstairs living space (which has now come in handy with working from home and Covid!).