Anyone regretted buying a house?

[IMayBeSomeTime]

And did you come round in the end or did you always hate it?

We have just exchanged contracts and I think we have made a terrible mistake. Didn't love the house but thought it was probably the best we could do on our budget. Having seen a few things that have come up subsequently I'm no longer sure that is true.

Bitterly regretting it at the moment, but have lived in our current place for a long time and not great with change, so wondering whether it's all part of the process.

V grateful for any experiences.

[MrsApplepants]

Yes, we bought a house I didn't love, or even like. It ticked boxes in terms of our requirements and was just about the only thing we could get with our budget in this area, but I never got excited about it unlike some of the other houses I have lived in. Have never felt at home here and can't wait to move. I will never make that mistake again.

[IMayBeSomeTime]

Oh dear that was what I was afraid of. A couple of days ago I came across another house a few streets away on the market for only marginally more than we paid for this one which needs lots of work but which I definitely feel we could love, which has made me realise how little I like the one we have bought. It is absolutely gutting. Unfortunately I think we have overpaid for this one as well. At this point I would do anything to be able to turn the clock back a few months and start again.

[MrsApplepants]

You have my sympathies but you never know, it may grow on you when you've been there a while and you've decorated etc

[IMayBeSomeTime]

Thank you. It's actually quite comforting to know that I'm not the only one.

[confusedperson]

I hated, but it has grown on me (sort of). Everyone who comes visit me, likes my house. I woudn't buy it again if I had a chance, but I am OK with it now. It helps that when I tried to look for other properties with the same space within the same budget, I don't find anything as spacious, so this was a reasonable compromise, I think.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

I got cold feet about ours at about the same point. On paper it ticks every box.

Once we moved in I hated it. We redecorated where we could (top of our budget so no cash for kitchens and .bbathrooms) but it hasn't made any difference to how I feel.

We have been here for 5 years now. We had it up for sale for 18 months at a good loss but no interest so I resigned to being stuck here now.

[Gravenwithdiamonds]

Out of interest, what do you dislike about your houses? We are trying to move but can't find any suitable places to buy so I'm trying to think what we can compromise on. I think I shouldn't compromise on:

-location
-lots of space

Not sure whether I should compromise on
-age of house - have just always wanted an old house with (some) original features
-parking - we don't use the car much, am always amazed when parking for eg, 9 cars, is seen as a real USP - but maybe that's beause we're n London and don't drive much. OSP for one car is useful I guess.

Happy to compromise on

-detached/semi-detached
-decor
-size of garden
-aspect eg, north/south-facing - it really depends on the house

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

I couldn't put a finger on what I don't like about it as in theory it ticked every box but decor which we changed anyway. It just doesn't feel like home. I can't really explain it.

[fussychica]

My only regret about buying the house we lived in in Spain (and which is sold subject to contract - horaah!) is that we bought when the market was strong and it has now collapsed. This has meant loosing a shed load of money on our return to the UK. Just hope it goes through now so we can move on with our lives.

[ValentineWiggins]

Yep we stuck with our last house for 4 years...put in new kitchen which was fab but just couldn't make the layout of the house work for us. Too much upstairs not enough living space. I think if we had bitten the bullet and done the full side return/knocking down walls/moving stuff into basement it might have worked for us...but even then maybe not! I don't think I realized how much indeed some child free living space! But this was the house we chose in a weekend of seeing all the properties available in the area as we had a sale we couldn't lose...I think it's easy to make mistakes when under that sort of pressure.

Moved (actually at a profit) and now love the house we are in.

However OP given that you have exchanged you need to work out how to make the best of it rather than kicking yourself. Live there for a while and try to make it yours - you may find once all your things are there it does work. Good luck!

[Autumn12]

I am about to move in a couple of weeks and am having the same worries! We loved the flat we are buying when we viewed but since our offer was accepted I have developed very cold feet.

My journey to work is going to become a bit of a pain, as I face a 10 minute walk to the station, 2 trains and then 2 tube lines followed by anther short walk. Currently I get to work in 10 mins on just 1 tube line and I still struggle to be on time

We bought it as somewhere that we can just move into and do nothing. However, I'm realising that there's more work to be done than I anticipated to get it how we would like it.

I'm just really hoping that once we have moved in I will forget all of my reservations, maybe you will too?

[IMayBeSomeTime]

Thank you everyone. I'm cheered not to be alone in this, but depressed that my intuitions were probably correct judging by the way it's gone for everybody else.

My reservations are a combination of Autumn12's and fanoftheinvisibleman's. Partly it's that we are having to move away from the area we currently living with all the uprooting of friends and school and longer commute that this entails, but I think I've sort of come to terms with that. What for some reason I'm having a hard time coming to terms with is all the utterly trivial stuff like the fact that I really really hate the windows (all casement with fat ugly pvc frames) and realise now that there is no way we will be able to afford to replace them, at least within the next 10 years, and I don't think we will last that long. And I think the windows are standing for something bigger in my mind too that I can't quite put my finger on.

Anyway, having read all these replies my advice to graven is this: if you see a house that sort of ticks all your boxes, but you get a sort of depressed feeling in the pit of your stomach when you think about moving in, don't feel you've got to ignore that feeling in the name of being all grown up about it.

Of course we might move in and love it but it's not looking good based on this thread. I'll report back in three months.

Would love to hear from anyone who had grave doubts which melted away once they were in...

[noisytoys]

I love my flat but I regret buying a flat. We have high service charges, but the freeholder has done nothing with the money since we have moved in (4 years ago). It feels like we have a mortgage but it isn't really ours because we still have a 'landlord'

[greyvix]

I think your feelings are normal. That's why we have never moved- we always got cold feet and pulled out.
Sometimes you have to just do things though, and things will work out. I now regret that we didn't move, as we have been in the same house for 20 plus years, and have no incentive to do anything. Think what is the worst thing that could happen? If it isn't the house of your dreams, that's fine; you can sell it in a couple of years.
I think you are brave to have made the decision.

[GreenBeer]

Another one here who regretted buying their house! DH had said that it was time we bought a house but I wasn't ready to really commit to such a big thing, but we got pregnant and I blame the pregnancy hormones

But, almost two years on and I am happy enough with my home. We painted it (by we I mean DH) and just generally made it more 'us' but I think also watching DD grow up here has helped.

We are in London (not in a great area and tiny house!) but I tell myself how lucky we are to be able to afford this. However, we will sell in the next 18 months and I will be glad to do so.

You just have to keep looking for the positives. We moved from a tiny tiny flat in a hectic area of London so now I love my little house and the fact that my road is quiet and not backing onto the tube.

[mylovelymonster]

I couldn't pass this one by and not add my experience
This house ticked lots of boxes. I had my eye on it for at least 18 months. Nothing I saw in that time for similar asking even came close, so we negotiated hard on it. I felt physically sick when our offer was accepted. I had sleepless nights wondering if we were doing the right thing, and almost pulled out on the eve of completion. I couldn't decide whether it was a gut reaction that I should be listening too or if I was just finding it very difficult to leave our little house where we'd been so happy and taken our babies home too. The major jitters/anxiety lasted for a few months after moving in and discovering all the extra work that needed doing that lurked under the surface. We were nervous wrecks, wondering what the hell had we done, and what were we to find next.
The thing that really made the difference was - we had the extra space we desperately needed. The children loved that & the bigger garden. We are now in the stix, but have found civilisation on our doorstep much more easily than we had thought. We have been able to do a few jobs now six months in which are improving the place and making it ours. Our longer commute is actually enjoyable, down pretty country lanes for the first part, which leaves me more mellow in the mornings. We have met & been warmly welcomed by the other inhabitants of the hamlet/village who are really lovely people. My eldest has settled in well to school now, after a rocky patch, and is making friends who's mums are now happily becoming my new friends - and they are lovely too.

So, we have bought a house - and yes, I hate our UPVC windows too!! - but we love it, for all it's foibles - and no house is ever without issues/expense. It is now our home - a functioning cosy home, where we are happy, and I don't think we would go back now at all.

I think it is perfectly normal to feel high levels of anxiety when buying a house/moving, but you will make it your home, and a bit of UPVC won't spoil that.
The internet is a real spoiler as you can look at every alternative house that comes to the market and never have a moment's peace. Leave the internet alone and get on with your lives!!
Much love and happiness in your new home, which I'm sure will be wonderful.
MLM x

[IMayBeSomeTime]

Thank you so much, mylovelymonster. That is exactly what I wanted to hear

[IMayBeSomeTime]

and congratulations on making yours into such a happy home for you all (despite the uPVC)!

[IMayBeSomeTime]

Thank you greyvix for saying we are brave. I must admit I am full of regrets for not buying sooner - we have been renting for many years (with an unusually low rent, hence the inertia) and would be in a very different position now if we had only taken the plunge even 5 years ago. Do you own the house you have been in for 20 years?

[addictedtojaffacakes]

Wow! this has really put me off buying a house! Hope things work out for you!

[midseasonsale]

I grew to love mine despite hating it at first.

[IMayBeSomeTime]

What did you hate, midseason? And what do you love now?