How do you know if the house is THE ONE?

bigolsausage

We've been looking for a house for about 3 months, and it's only this week that we've found one that could be a potential for us. 

We went to view it on Saturday and while I wasn't too keen on the outside or the fact it's in a new build development, the house itself is beautiful. 

I have two reservations about it: It's 3 bedrooms but one of the rooms is really small. We live far away from our friends and family so they come and stay with us sometimes and we wanted space for a) a room for ourselves, an office/chill out room and a spare bedroom. We can squeeze these things in and make it work, but it won't be roomy. That's one of the reasons we didn't want a newly built house (this house is about 4 years old). 

The second issue is the driveway, there's barely any parking on the roads (as it's a new build and squished in!) but the driveway is long, it could fit 3/4 cars easily. It's at the back of the house (with the garden at the side, it's a corner house) so you would have to drive in along the back of the house with a brick wall on one side and the neighbours fence on the other. I'm wondering if this would be annoying? It would mean we'd always enter by the back door (which is the utility room so I guess not too bad of a place to leave coats/shoes) and never use the front door! 

I'm not sure I got the feeling that this is our house, the feeling that everyone keeps asking if I got it or not. I don't know if I'll ever get that feeling since I can't afford the house I actually do want. 

The location is perfect and likely to increase in value (it's about 20 mins from Edinburgh), it has a mix of countryside and a new town which suits myself and my partner really well. Over the road is a country park. It's a great location for commuting to either Glasgow/Edinburgh/Stirling which is where all the jobs in Scotland are (mainly!). 

Do you choose the house that's nearly perfect or wait for a unicorn? What is 'that feeling' that everyone's talking about? How did you know if the house was for you? 

mebu60

I always found I knew the houses that weren't for me! 

Sounds like this could be a practical move at this stage of your life. You say the location is perfect. There is a tv property programme fronted by a certain couple that prioritises that criterion in its title! 

MultiFuelBurner

Location first for us then feelings..it has served us well.

swingaloo

Ask yourself, if the house says 'Sold' to someone else tomorrow will you be really disappointed?

This house is not for you.
 If it was you would have listed all that is good about it and then added the 'but'. 
Reading your post its all 'we could probably make this work' but that's not good.  Any negatives you see now will triple if you move in.

Keep looking and suddenly you will look at one and you will know its for you. 

theartfullodger

How?  When you've been there 35 years and are still content.  Any other view is just a guess.

bigolsausage

swingaloo said:

Ask yourself, if the house says 'Sold' to someone else tomorrow will you be really disappointed?

This house is not for you.
 If it was you would have listed all that is good about it and then added the 'but'. 
Reading your post its all 'we could probably make this work' but that's not good.  Any negatives you see now will triple if you move in.

Keep looking and suddenly you will look at one and you will know its for you. 

Thanks. The problem is, a lot of the problems are problems we would have with any house. We can't afford a nice traditional house in a nice area, so it will have to be a new build development since the other alternative is an ex-council in a dodgy area. 

Every 3 bed house we've seen has had a tiny box room, that seems to be just how they're made. 

Unfortunately, we can't afford to be that fussy. So if we pass on this, that is essentially all good except those two annoying things, will we regret it when we find other houses that also have issues but maybe not in as great an area? 

I think I would be disappointed if it sold. I'm just worried there won't be anything else comparable. 

lika_86

Why can't the box room be all three of the things you mention? We have a spare bedroom that's about 2.3m x 2.6m and it fits in a desk and sofa bed that pulls out into a full double bed. We replaced the door with a pocket door to maximise floor space and when the bed is out there isn't a lot of spare room, but there's enough. Work computer monitors can be plugged into laptops to watch TV on. It's very doable even with a tiny room.

elsien

If you can’t afford the perfect house, there seems to be little point hanging on and waiting for it to arrive.
When I bought, it wasn’t what I wanted, but it was the least worst of all the available options and there were unlikely to be many better options coming along in the future.
Sometimes you have to lower your expectations and really think about which priorities are important to you,

It seems to me that your options seem to be bigger house versus better area. if that choice isn’t going to change, then, which of those is most important to you?

sheramber

Having lived in 7 houses , only one was the one I knew was for me.

The others served the purpose.

The 6 th house, as soon as stepped in  the door, I felt completely at home. The fact that  it gave us the setting we loved and more  space than we wanted all contributed,  but the house itself felt  just right.

After viewing, I mentioned this to my husband who said that  he had felt exactly the same.

We went back the next day and felt exactly the same and the dream hose was ours for 14 years

bigolsausage

lika_86 said:

Why can't the box room be all three of the things you mention? We have a spare bedroom that's about 2.3m x 2.6m and it fits in a desk and sofa bed that pulls out into a full double bed. We replaced the door with a pocket door to maximise floor space and when the bed is out there isn't a lot of spare room, but there's enough. Work computer monitors can be plugged into laptops to watch TV on. It's very doable even with a tiny room.

Yes, I have found a way to make it work. I think that issue has now been resolved. It's not perfect but it will do for us. 

The small room is 3.15 x 2.26. We do have a daybed but it's huge when it's pulled out so might need to get a smaller sofa bed and see if that will work. 

bigolsausage

elsien said:

If you can’t afford the perfect house, this seems to be a little point hanging on and waiting for it to arrive.
When I bought, it wasn’t what I wanted, but it was the least worst of all the available options and there were unlikely to be many better options coming off in the future.
sometimes you have to lower your expectations and really think about which priorities are important to you,

it seems to me that your options seem to be bigger house versus better area. if that choice isn’t going to change, then, which of those is most important to you?

Yes, this is exactly what I need to weigh up. Since we know this won't be our forever home, it seems a good idea to choose location over bigger house since we will more likely be able to make our money back (and then some) when we come to sell. 

We are only 2 people and therefore don't necessarily need a bigger house, it would just be nice to be somewhere a bit more spacious but it really isn't the end of the world. I think I quite like a smaller, cosier house - which this one seems to be.