Mental Health

Connoisseurus_Rex

Genuinely curious what people's strategies and advice are for coping as a FTB.

I'm not even particularly emotional about houses, but it's just draining to feel like you don't stand a chance. View a house that's at the top end of your budget? 15 viewings on the same day and you'll be outbid by £20k. Go the cheap route and find something that hasn't been taken care of in years, a developer/landlord will be there before you've even picked up the phone and will offer cash.

There are plenty of people out there who have it far worse than me, I'm well aware of how fortunate I am to even be in this position. But when you just want to get it done and move on with your life, I feel like it's really starting to affect my mental health.

jaelato1

I completely understand how you are feeling, even though i am not a FTB but moving home. It has been a stressful journey and i almost gave up but the house that is meant to be your will come. 

SavingPennies_2

If houses are always going above (lets say 20k as in your example), and you are always viewing houses at the top of your budget, then you're always going to get knocked back... you are inadvertently setting yourself up for punishment! An option then is to view houses that are not at the top of your budget (not meaning something that hasn't been taken care of/ is in a state just something cheaper than your actual budget because it's smaller/ different area etc). So go for places priced 20K less than your budget then you have room to overbid too (obviously within reason as the valuation may come back lower and you don't want to overpay anyway). I guess I'm saying: if your top budget is, for example 200k, but everything at 200K goes for 220k, then your top budget isn't really 200k.

Easier said than done but try to separate buying a house from "your life" so you aren't putting your life on hold, even when you secure a sale you will still have months ahead of stress/ to-ing and fro-ing etc so you don't want to put your life on hold for what could be another 6-12 months. It is stressful buying no matter what, but especially so at the moment, good luck.

simon_or

Fully with you. I bought my first home in a frenzied east London market where a notice on the door would attract a frenzy of eager buyers. And this was before the landlord tax reforms, so there was a lot more landlord competition than today.

It was a matter of slogging away with making myself as proceedable a buyer as you can, knowing clearly what the very maximum of my borrowing was and bidding what it takes for the right property. A good mortgage broker really helps in this.

As long as you plan to live in it for a good few years, there's no point obessessing over whether you may have overpaid by a bit or not. If you've vastly over-offered that will almost certainly get picked up in the mortgage valuation and gives you a chance to reassess.

And then it's a matter of time, don't give up!

Zerforax

Just widen your search and keep looking. There will be a seller somewhere who is keen to sell to a chain free buyer.

Ksw3

I completely understand. We have been looking for 18 months. We started looking 15 miles outside of our city which given I don't drive was a big compromise.

We have finally found somewhere where we wanted but it has been hard work. Outbid on at least 6 properties, fighting investors from London and finding it hard to even get viewings whilst trying to work full time. In the end we said if we don't get this house we will take a break from looking as it was overwhelming but our last bid was successful.

Connoisseurus_Rex

SavingPennies_2 said:

If houses are always going above (lets say 20k as in your example), and you are always viewing houses at the top of your budget, then you're always going to get knocked back... you are inadvertently setting yourself up for punishment! An option then is to view houses that are not at the top of your budget (not meaning something that hasn't been taken care of/ is in a state just something cheaper than your actual budget because it's smaller/ different area etc). So go for places priced 20K less than your budget then you have room to overbid too (obviously within reason as the valuation may come back lower and you don't want to overpay anyway). I guess I'm saying: if your top budget is, for example 200k, but everything at 200K goes for 220k, then your top budget isn't really 200k.

Easier said than done but try to separate buying a house from "your life" so you aren't putting your life on hold, even when you secure a sale you will still have months ahead of stress/ to-ing and fro-ing etc so you don't want to put your life on hold for what could be another 6-12 months. It is stressful buying no matter what, but especially so at the moment, good luck.

Solid advice. I can't help but feel a little bit like the "in the middle" houses tend to be very disappointing, nowhere near as nice as the top end of my budget, and with none of the potential to improve like the lower end.

DE_612183

maybe the solution is to look at new builds - most in our area operate a waiting list - when you are at the top the next house is yours ( no gazumping! ).

boxer234

It took me two years to find a place.  I got fed up of driving to viewings every weekend but you will get there.  

movilogo

Few tips, which some other posters also touched upon.

Don't view houses which are top your budget. Keep some leeway.

Compromise on size, location, condition as applicable.

Have patience, often successful house hunting takes 12-24 months.

Be optimistic, housing market is cooling down. Things should be better in few months time.

Carry on with your life what you want to do, irrespective of if you can buy a house or not.
Don't lose hope.

Richiem1987

I suffer from MH issues. I put aside a bit more money for a Property Management Company to handle the purchase and deal with the EA, solicitors etc. They keep me up to date and do all the running around so that I can conentrate on my day job without distractions. They were worth theeir weight in gold when bidding on my behalf while I was hard at work. I just pay them a lump sum at completion via the Solicitor.