Daft question - how do you know if you are going to like your new home?

[Itshello]

I am looking for a new home to buy (recently sold and now renting) and I have seen a lovely home but I have a few reservations and I can't stop umming and aahing. It's ridiculous.

Today I am thinking go for it and if I don't like it, stay a couple of years then sell up. But what if I can't sell?

I worry about the cost of renting so I think I should get back on the property ladder asap. On the other hand, shouldn't I wait for the 100% right property? But then I am going to have to compromise somewhere and I haven't seen anything else I like. See my thought processes?!

How can you tell what it will be like living somewhere day to day?

[FunSpunge]

Place marking.... I am in exactly the same position with exactly the same thought process

For us, the 5% stamp duty would make it an expensive mistake

Sorry OP my post doesn't really help you does it

[user1484830599]

What are your reservations O/P?

[Toomanycats99]

I have bought two places and with them I definitely knew when I walked in they were the one. With the house I bought with my husband he was happy with several but I knew there was 'the one' out there! Luckily I found them in not too long a time so don't know how long I would have searched for otherwise.

[GolderAndWiser]

I really like my home when I'm in it. But it's just a terraced house with a normal layout so I knew that when did a few jobs and painted a few walls white and got my stuff in it would feel like home.

I rented a house a similar size but the layout wasn't as good and it was colder. I hated that house and I sometimes wonder if it had been MINE would I have liked it more.

[CampervanLady]

Its I don't have any advice but I am currently waiting to exchange contracts so we can move into rented. At what point did you find a property to rent? Did you wait until you exchanged before looking?

We have found somewhere and are tempted to put down a holding fee untilw e exchange but feel it may be too soon. (Due to exchange at anytime but don't want to jinx it at all)

Sorry to go off topic

[Bluntness100]

Well for me basically I'm a Scottish tight arse,so work to deadlines, renting is not for me as I hate wasting money, and I like to think I'm ploughing it into something I own and not someone else owns.

However of the several houses I've lived in this is the only one I have absolutely and utterly fell in love with and it was love at first sight.

Basically you can't over think it, if you keep second guessing yourself you'll never buy anywhere.

[Itshello]

My only reservation is the garden, or lack of it. There is no garden at the front and a tiny one at the back which is not sunny. Now my last house had such a big garden I found it difficult to maintain and I am not green fingered anyway but I enjoy sitting in the sun for an hour or two in the summer, what there is of it anyway.

My current rented home is in a really lovely area but out of my price range to buy.

The house I bought in the past which I absolutely loved had its own problems ie difficult to park, noisy neighbours and people walking past late at night after the pub. None of those things would be an issue with this place.

So what do you compromise on? Do you only really know when you move in?

campervan I looked for somewhere as soon as I knew exchange was imminent but it was harder to find a suitable place than I expected. Some of the places online were not actually available when I rang. Also most would not accept pets (I have a pet) and some would not accept children (I have two!) I have ended up paying over the odds really which is why I want to buy quickly.

[Astro55]

Sounds like it's not the right house!

The right one has you excited about where you'd put things

What you'd change

What color scheme you'd like

If it's not right look for something else as it's expensive to move

Moving costs stamp duty fees etc it adds up!

Fancy showing us?

[Bluntness100]

My current rented home is in a really lovely area but out of my price range to buy

This is an issue and always a bad idea, even if unavoidable, as it usually means a come down when you buy and you're not satisfied. So you need to mentally accept that it will be hard to emulate.

[CampervanLady]

its thank you so much for responding! we have a child and pets too! Nightmare isn't it as lots of properties available will still have tenants in by the time we need to move out. I'm just totally terrified of finding a place to rent and our buyer suddenly changing her mind & pulling out. I don't think exchange is imminent but it's approx 2 weeks away (that's what our buyers solicitor said). so flippin' stressed out at the thought of finding a suitable rental super quickly though.

Definitely won't be signing any tenancy agreements until after exchange though. But will definitely put down a holding fee if we can.

The house you are thinking about doesn't sound like it's right for you though. Have you written down a list of things you want in your new house?

[SternlyVoice]

I've always put together a list of what I'd like in order of priority. So, when looking for this house, 3 bedrooms, garden, parking, and garage were top of our list. And as soon as we viewed this house, we both instinctively knew that we wanted to live here even though it didn't tick all the things on our list. However, it did tick the ones that were top of our list. I had that same instinct when I bought my first flat.

However, in between, I bought a house that I later regretted. At the time, I had sold my flat and was renting. It made me nervous being off the property ladder with house prices increasing. So, I felt under pressure to buy. I ended up buying a house which I had second thoughts about but still went through with it. Although I stayed there for about 10 years, it never really felt like home and I was always sorry that I bought it.

I guess I'm saying that you should trust your instincts and decide what are the "must haves" and what are the "would like to haves". Don't compromise on the must haves because those are the things that will make it feel like home.

[Itshello]

Good idea. My list would be sunny garden, near amenities, popular location and good condition ie doesn't need work.

[RubyRedRuby]

I've thought about this a lot and despite the cliche for us it was always about location, location, location. We moved from a lovely house in an ok location to a less nice house (but we're doing it up so it will be nice) in our perfect location. We must have said a hundred times how much happier we are in our new location - and we're not trying to convince ourselves, dh and I both genuinely feel that way. We're now within walking distance to amenities (where we were, everything was a drive), our children have more freedom, easier for them to get to good schools etc. You can make almost any house into a home but getting the location right would always be top of my list now.

I understand what you say about the garden btw, I wouldn't want a teeny gloomy garden either so I'm not saying to discount aspects of the property but location first! Also, buy with your head not your heart. I LOVED our old house when I first saw it, loved it and I was so happy when we moved into it but over time the problems with the location overcame the loveliness of the house, you don't need to fall in love with a house to buy it. As long as you don't have a dreadful feeling about it or something like that!

HTH.

[SternlyVoice]

RubyRedRuby is absolutely right - location makes a huge difference to your quality of life and indeed, it was the poor location/neighbourhood that made me dislike the second house that I mentioned above.

Good luck!

[Bluntness100]

I'd also agree that location is important. We bought a house on a busy road, beautiful house and more than we would have ever been able to afford at that time if it was located elsewhere, and my husband talked me into it, against my better wishes . To be honest, we never really loved it there because of that road and wouldn't buy on a busy road again. However it was conventions as we could walk to train station or town etc.

Our current house, the one we love, is quite rural, and you can't really walk anywhere, you need to drive to the train station or the pub due to lack of pavements and windy roads. However every house comes with its compromise and that's one we happily accept because in this one we think the location is beautiful, if somewhat inconvenient at times.

The reality was we didn't actually walk into town or to the train station that often in the town house, we are more home bodies, so this was an easy compromise to make.

[Astro55]

I'd agree on location

Our current home the children can walk to school - there are bus stops to town and they have friends locally.

DH would love to live rural, but he wouldn't be prepared to drop the kids to school or drive them tonmeet friends and back again, collect from clubs or whatever - not to mention lack of convenient stores for milk!

It has to be location first

[LizzieMacQueen]

If you have a pet then I think you'll find the lack of garden a real pain.

[Itshello]

I have a cat so he would just roam anyway and the children have grown out of playing in the garden.

I'm thinking of me sitting in the sun with a cup of tea from time to time. Then I think with the weather in this country how often do I do that in a year and could I live without it?

I agree about location but again, how do you know until you actually live there? My last house was in the sticks and I felt isolated and had to drive everywhere but when I lived in a built up area with loads of shops I still drove everywhere.

I do have the excitement about the house, just the reservation about the garden which would be a minor thing for some people.

I suppose if you are not sure, it's not the right house.

[dudsville]

Put this house to one side and draw up a list of everything you want in a house. Then go through and circle must have's. Mark out the rest as bonuses. When you're evaluating any house to it up on your list. Out of maybe 20 viewings and a million rightmove checks we chose the house that came tops in the score board. We couldn't even recall it at the time and had to book a second viewing. We were interested enough to put in an offer but not gripped. From the day we moved in until now we've been in love with the place! It meets all our absolute must have's and several of the other points.

[cheminotte]

Both the houses we loved (our current and previous one), we made an offer after a first viewing. We saw loads before we found the right one though and this time around one thing I used was if there's something you don't like, can you change it? If not, will it get better or worse over time? So traffic / parking problems are only likely to get worse, but distance to primary school is a short term problem.

[Bluntness100]

My last house was in the sticks and I felt isolated and had to drive everywhere but when I lived in a built up area with loads of shops I still drove everywhere

We drove everywhere in the town house also. The dream was we could walk where ever, but the reality was we seldom did, we'd usually drive as we are clearly lazy bastards. I guess the trick for you is to not be too isolated. We have neighbours, and it's a five min drive to th train station, a mile to the pub or shops, but still rural enough that it's kind of hidden away if that makes sense and we don't feel isolated.

[Lapinlapin]

I think having reservations about the garden is quite a big thing. It's not something you can change.
Nor is location or being near amenities.

So from your wish list, I'd say the one to compromise on would be about a house needing work. It's a pain, but at least you can save up and eventually get the work done. So whilst in the short term the house might not be ideal, at least you know it can become what you want. For most other things you're stuck with it.

[Itshello]

Yes really good advice thanks everyone.