First House Regret or Not?

Oceanic815__

I bought my first home with my wife, of which we agreed would be our long term home. It is a new build home, detached, 1405Square feet, has a integral large garage, two parking spaces block paving, a front and side garden, and a wide but short back garden with a bricked wall on one side and a fence adjoining my neighbour who has a detached home (ours is a corner plot). We are backed by a woodland park and farm land to the front and a main motorway running alongside the property however we are a street away from this. We bought it brand new with a £5000 deposit contribution, full flooring included, turfed and kitchen upgrade, it was £290,000 in North East England. It is a 4 bed home with an ensuite, it has a lovely long landing, a nice hallway, 3 big bedrooms (doubles) with one single, a decent sized lounge, bay window and has an open plan kitchen which is long and wide, double french doors and a utility, downstairs loo. It has an EPC rating B and has all appliance including washing machine included. 2 year home owner warranty and 10 year NHBCMy regrets and/or wishes are;I would of liked a bigger back garden I would of liked an old fashioned long driveway that is private I would of liked more parking, like for 3 cars instead of 2Is this normal or have I made a mistake?In terms of payments/affordability:We are paying £1000 a month for 35 years (4.37% interest currently) we owe the bank 220,000We have worked out we can overpay a bit and cut down the years of the mortgage to 27 yearsWe are both 29 years old. Full time workers, public/government backed work and so no immediate threat of redundancy, and increases to be had with salary over the years.Our combined monthly wage is £3800 -£4000I believe this is our ceiling of what we can afford.I suppose my concern is have we gotten value for money? Should I have gotten a 2nd hand home that was less or the same price with the larger parking area and larger gardenThe estate we live on is quiet, it's kind of out the way, it is quite large, about 400 homes.The surrounding area is not too bad (70% good area)Great transport links and is in the middle of rural areas and towns (kind of semi rural)We live alone, we don't have any kids "yet". Looking to have 2Schools aren't too bad, not brilliantWhat are people's thoughts? My wife has no regrets or anxiety, I'm not sure if I am just struggling to accept the debt we are in with the bank, or if I am thinking the grass is greener and maybe should of gotten a cheaper home, moved again, and moved slowly up the ladder, or if i should of gotten a fixer upper - an older home without the premium price of new build homes and fixed it up through the years, of which usually comes with a larger garden and more driveway privacyMy only ideas are; Block pave more of the front to provide additional parking. Include the side garden by moving the brick wall fence to the edge of the boundary Plant thick hedge bushes to the side and front of my garden to provide that little bit of privacy(separation from paths and my land).Not sure on cost but probably looking at about £10000-15000 for this work.Also, in terms of future value, if I were to sell the house in 5-10 years or even longer, would I make a profit?And if so, do people take into account the cost of improvements throughout the years, including the deposit they put down when factoring in the profit they have made (the appreciation) in the home?Sorry for the long post.

400ixl

Breaking that into paragraphs will help. A big blog of text is very hard to read.

oldernonethewiser

That is hard work reading that.

Lots of people regret their purchases but you should get over it.

Will you make a profit when/if you sell?

Maybe, maybe not.

Once you have been in the house for a while you might decide you want to change it or move.

EssexHebridean

There is a lot to be said for going straight for size and style of home you want to end up in right from the start if you can afford it. It’s a privilege to be able to do so as well of course - not something that is achievable across the country for sure - where I live the house you describe would be more than double what you paid! 

Moving is expensive - so if you can get away without doing it again, that is a saving on its own.  Buying a new build too, so long as you have a good one, that is a good few years before you will need to start thinking about sprucing up kitchen and bathroom, whereas with an older home it might be that those are areas you need to look at soon after moving in. Again though, that is an individual taste thing - some folk love them, some wouldn’t touch them. The way you’re describing your home though gives the impression you are one of the first type. 

Try not to get freaked out by the mortgage amount - instead come up with a practical and achievable plan to reduce it as soon as possible. You’re already talking about overpaying, so make sure that happens, the sooner you start the bigger the impact. Have a look through your household budget - are there any expenditures you can reduce? If so, throw that extra at the mortgage. Do you pay your council tax over 10 months? If you do then that is two months of the year without that payment going out - so pick up that saved money and send it to the mortgage. At the end of the month:can you shuffle just a little extra over there to round any off pounds and pence off the end of the outstanding figure? Just keep an eye to make sure that you are allowed to overpay in the way you are - particularly once you get a few years in you may need to watch out for breaching any overpayment limits.

Oceanic815__

EssexHebridean said:

There is a lot to be said for going straight for size and style of home you want to end up in right from the start if you can afford it. It’s a privilege to be able to do so as well of course - not something that is achievable across the country for sure - where I live the house you describe would be more than double what you paid! 

Moving is expensive - so if you can get away without doing it again, that is a saving on its own.  Buying a new build too, so long as you have a good one, that is a good few years before you will need to start thinking about sprucing up kitchen and bathroom, whereas with an older home it might be that those are areas you need to look at soon after moving in. Again though, that is an individual taste thing - some folk love them, some wouldn’t touch them. The way you’re describing your home though gives the impression you are one of the first type. 

Try not to get freaked out by the mortgage amount - instead come up with a practical and achievable plan to reduce it as soon as possible. You’re already talking about overpaying, so make sure that happens, the sooner you start the bigger the impact. Have a look through your household budget - are there any expenditures you can reduce? If so, throw that extra at the mortgage. Do you pay your council tax over 10 months? If you do then that is two months of the year without that payment going out - so pick up that saved money and send it to the mortgage. At the end of the month:can you shuffle just a little extra over there to round any off pounds and pence off the end of the outstanding figure? Just keep an eye to make sure that you are allowed to overpay in the way you are - particularly once you get a few years in you may need to watch out for breaching any overpayment limits.

Thank you this is reassuring:)

Oceanic815__

400ixl said:

Breaking that into paragraphs will help. A big blog of text is very hard to read.

Didn't think about this, can't seem to edit it, but thank you anyway 

mlz1413

You have a have with everything you need. 

It sounds like you can change stuff to what you prefer in time, so it definitely wasn't a 'wrong buy'.

You could have bought something old that needed doing up, but now you can enjoy getting home and relaxing with your wife, instead of getting home and having to do 2 - 3 hours DIY plus missing out of every weekend over the next year or 2 whilst you do up the cheaper buy.

Yes you have a mortgage,  yes you need to pay it off. But you would need to pay for any home that you live in, owned or rented. If you want a space to live in as a couple you will have to pay for that privilege. 

As you have now moved I would say take a year to just make it your home and stop comparing what might have been.
If in a years time you are not 'at home' in the house then put together a pros and cons list so you can decide on a way forward. But mainly try and stop worrying and enjoy!

powerspowers

Your home sounds lovely! I think it is normal to have some things that are a bit of a compromise and to be honest, a bigger garden and a longer driveway sound fairly minor in the grand scheme of things. 

In terms of improvements, stick to what will make it feel more homely rather than chasing additional value. Put the extra funds towards the mortgage or saving to start your family. Moving is expensive and you’ll also have stamp duty to pay when you buy again. Focus on the positives of where you live. 

Bigphil1474

Your first home is a 4 bed semi in a nice enough area which you can comfortably afford, and you aren't happy? My first home was a back to back 2 bed terrace in a not so nice part of town. Took us 30 years to trade up to a nice 4 bed semi in a nice enough part of town. I think you need to take a leaf out of your wife's book.

The mortgage may seem a lot now, but in 10 years time it will seem a lot smaller. It's currently 25% of your take home pay - in 5 years time, your wages will be higher, but your mortgage might not be. 

Typically, new builds have a 'new' premium. Basically, they'll probably go down in value in the first year to two, or at best just maintain that value. It might take 5 years before you see any real gain, but medium to long term, most houses go up in value. If you sold in 10 years, all other things being equal, you'd make a tidy profit. If you have to sell in the next 6 months, you might make a slight loss. But it's your home - why think of it just as an investment? If you rented a similar house you might still be paying £1k a month and get to live there, you move out, and you have nothing to show for it. At least paying a mortgage, you are actually getting that money back in equity. In our last house, the mortgage payment we made reduced the mortgage, and the increase in property value was more than the interest we paid, so we basically lived in the house for free, which we owned outright in the end and sold for somewhere better. Winner winner.

FlorayG

I think a lot of people worry this way on their first purchase because they don't know if they did the 'right thing'. If the 'wishes' you mention were that important to you then you wouldn't have bought this house. No house is perfect.

RelievedSheff

Don't worry, most people go through this period of regret with any house purchase, not just the first one.