Should I even be thinking about pulling out of a sale?

Emlulo

mi-key said:

You can pull out if you want, but dont moan if you go for the other house and the seller pulls out at the last minute 

Just was after advice on what people thought. 

Emlulo

jj_43 said:

So you would continue with the purchase because you feel bad for the seller and you may waste 1k in fees, but potentially save 80k?

Good point!

misspretenderboat

You didn't say how many children you had. Would the smaller house accommodate your growing needs for the next few years? 

You could go for the dream house as someone said before as you could reap the benefits later if house prices rise and not have to go through all the additional costs and stress to move again if decide to upsize later.
The Estate Agent pushing you to go for the expensive house is only after his/her commission so don't go on that.

You could also consider going for the cheaper home and extending using just a fraction of the £80k you would save on the bigger home. 

The dream home would be great but living debt and stress free especially in such an unstable time financially, is priceless.

Wishing you all the best in your decision making. 

TheJP

The way i look at it is there is a reason why there is £80K difference between these two properties and my concern is that the cheaper house had a sale fall through. Personally i would maybe check the current prices in the area to see if they are comparable with the more expensive house and if they are about right or slightly under you could try to negotiate. As they say buy cheap buy twice. Another thing is to consider the 'gift' towards the deposit, is it one of those repayable gifts we see a lot on this forum?

I would rather stretch and buy the house i will stay in for the foreseeable rather than waste money of fees, SDLT etc for a short term. However its what you feel is best for you.

[Deleted User]

The property you are about to buy is  (as you say) affordable, bigger and due to complete this month. 

The alternative property is cheaper, smaller, you dont plan to stay as long, and its by no means assured that you will secure it. You will have moee disposable income on a monthly basis.

Both are in your prefered area.

To my mind option 1 is the way to go. Considering alternatives is natural  in what is likely the biggest purchase you will make. 

GDB2222

RelievedSheff said:

If you wouldn't stay in the cheaper house for long and would move to something like the more expensive house anyway then I would continue with the more expensive house.

Buying and selling houses is an expensive business. I would opt for just one move over two.

It doesn't sound as though the more expensive house is going to be a stretch to service the bills from what you have said.

There’s also an emotional cost involved in moving house, even if it’s in the same area. Plus, it’s a lot of work!

lookstraightahead

Go with your gut and what you would feel happiest with.

do you feel you can live comfortably if you spend more? Will you realistically have to move twice? 

Does the bigger house / smaller house 'trump' the lifestyle you envisage one way or the other.

I think you have to weigh up both options - maybe write down how you would live in both, and what each one offers you in terms of your life and lifestyle.

Do go and see the other one if you can to get a better idea.

and always remember it's you're choice. You don't have to buy a property just because you're near exchange.

LegallyLandlord

One more thought is you could continue with the house sale and move into rented accommodation. Prices are likely to drop and unless the house you’re planning to buy is truly unique, others will come alone. 

mi-key

Emlulo said:

mi-key said:

You can pull out if you want, but dont moan if you go for the other house and the seller pulls out at the last minute 

Just was after advice on what people thought. 

Yes I got that. Just saying at the moment you have a definite house secured and ready to go. If you pull out and go for the cheaper house there is no saying you will actually get it, all sorts of things can come up ( may be cheap because a survey has shown expensive work needing doing, the neigbours could be horrible etc... the sellers could be best friends with the people whos house you are pulling out of    )

If you pull out now you are back to square one, yes you 'may' get the cheaper house, but you could also end up with no house to buy, then nothing you like comes up for a couple of years, or comes up and costs more than the house you could just have bought

GDB2222

LegallyLandlord said:

One more thought is you could continue with the house sale and move into rented accommodation. Prices are likely to drop and unless the house you’re planning to buy is truly unique, others will come alone. 

You may well be correct about house prices, but there’s an enormous risk in getting off the housing ladder for the average individual.