Offer accepted....ok to keep looking?

[Willowwood45]

Be gentle with me. I'm not in the best place. We have been looking to move for over a year. We have lost out on a number of houses to unsuccessful best and final offers, cash buyers and we were also gazumped.

We have buyers now for our house for the third time. They gave offered pretty close to asking price which is amazing in the current climate and they have no chain. We feel very pressured to find something. Our whole lives feel like they are on hold and we are also conscious that we need to move our children's primary school and want to do it sooner rather than later to make it less stressful for them.

We put an offer in on a house two weeks ago. It was officially ssc on Sat. But an estate agent who has been keeping us up to date with things coming up has told us he valued a house that sounds promising. It isn't on yet but he said possibly soon.

Is it morally wrong to keep looking but keep this house going as a very solid back up? It's a lovely house. A probate house. Lovely location but the garden is so far away from what I wanted. After several weeks of thinking and keeping an eye to see if anything else came on, we agreed to put an offer in and it was accepted. It is a probate house...not sure if that makes any difference. There is nothing else at the moment. And the market is drying up. Although I know vaguely of two from this estate agent that sound like they might be better houses.

If we back out and nothing comes of this other house or we lose out, we will kick ourselves I think. But, equally, we so hoped to find a forever home. The house could be but I'm worried the garden will always feel like a compromise. I don't feel very excited about it but I don't know if that is more because I am so stressed by the whole process of trying to move.

[porkandbeans]

I wouldn't. The place I am buying was back on the market after the vendors found out their original buyer was still looking. If you look elsewhere it shows you are not serious

[minipie]

It’s not morally wrong IMO especially as it’s a probate house (so nobody is depending on the sale for their own move, I presume). However be aware that local estate agents talk to each other. So if the EA who is selling the house you’ve been accepted on (the back up house) gets wind of the fact you are looking at other houses, they may tell the back up house sellers, who will then regard you as less serious about going through with it. They might require you to book in a survey or incur solicitors’ fees or something to show commitment, or they may even put the house back on the market.

[minipie]

Or what porkandbeans said much more succinctly 😂

[GingerFigs]

Could you rent for a few months to give you some breathing space to find a house you really want and avoid losing your buyers?

[Willowwood45]

Renting terrifies me. I don't know why...maybe because of the kids, the upheaval, the risk. Rent is more expensive than our mortgage would be.

[waterthedog]

I would view it. You're spending £££ you want to know you've chosen the right house. The UK system really frustrates me, I've moved overseas and I much prefer the system here. Banks will give bridging mortgages and its common to rent in between. There is usually no or very short chains and the sales process is quick. The UK does many things better but not buying and selling houses!

[senua]

What is wrong with the garden?

[Willowwood45]

It's wide but shallow. Not overlooked at all which is a bonus but out of proportion with the actual house in my opinion. There is lovely countryside within walking distance which is how we came to a point where the compromise was one we would be happy to make. But it is still bothering me. The house is lovely...one of my favourites of the many, many houses we have seen.

Also slightly concerned we are over paying. We found out after our offer was accepted that a house on the same road which has two extra reception rooms added on as an extension sold for quite a bit less in the summer. Although that must have gone on pre covid and pre stamp duty madness. Hubby thinks he is happy to pay the extra for no chain and just to get it done. It is actually the cheapest of all the houses we have tried to buy. And the space inside is probably the best. It's just this garden. I kind of hoped with our budget we would be able to get a house with a longer garden. I think its probably about 8m deep and maybe 15m wide. That's a guess!

[Willowwood45]

Actually less. Maybe 7m from the back of the house to the back fence. And then maybe 12m wide. Not a bad size at all but just the wrong way round in some ways

[Peridot1]

I’d would normally say no to keeping looking but to be honest in your shoes I would. As you say it is a probate house so it’s not as if there are people living in it buying another house therefore you are in a chain.

Could you ask the agent if there is anyway you can view the other potential house before it goes in the market? That way you know straight away if it’s a possibility.

We showed our house through the agent before we were officially on the market. And I know with the house we are buying it was shown before being officially on too.

[CeibaTree]

@minipie

It’s not morally wrong IMO especially as it’s a probate house (so nobody is depending on the sale for their own move, I presume). However be aware that local estate agents talk to each other. So if the EA who is selling the house you’ve been accepted on (the back up house) gets wind of the fact you are looking at other houses, they may tell the back up house sellers, who will then regard you as less serious about going through with it. They might require you to book in a survey or incur solicitors’ fees or something to show commitment, or they may even put the house back on the market.

Do local estate agents really discuss buyers amongst themselves - surely this would be a breach of GDPR? And aren't they all in competition with each other so why would they be sharing this level of intel between them?

[NewHouseNewMe]

I wouldn't..
You're soon starting to build up costs for surveys, solicitors and searches. All that mounts up fast and is specific to the house you are buying. Equally the seller - whether probate or not - is paying a solicitor already.
If that was your buyer still looking for better properties, you would be pretty upset to have wasted time and money.
So either pull out of the sale entirely and keep looking, or commit to buying this house.

[DespairingHomeower]

I think the fact you are still looking shows you are unhappy with the house

The question is: can you get a house you are much happier with at your budget? Look at what is on STC in your area to work that out

[DoYouWannaBeInMyQuiche]

OP, the only thing I would say is that there is no such thing as the perfect house. They all come with compromises. You have to decide what you're willing to compromise on, and make your decision based on the whole 'package deal'. I wouldn't compromise on location, for example, but would (and have done) made other compromises with every house purchase I've ever made.

You always think you've overpaid for a house, too. But then you sell it to someone else who thinks they've overpaid in due course, so it all works out in the end.

I, too, wouldn't rent in your position.

[Martinisarebetterdirty]

I want to put the other side across to just a probate house. The people selling this house have suffered a death (generally in the family) and are grieving. They may not depend on a sale to move home but life certainly isn’t a bed of roses for them and you shouldn’t mess them around. You wouldn’t like it if they were still accepting viewings. You should do what is right for you, but the fact it’s a probate house shouldn’t mean you can be more cavalier with the vendors.

[sunshinesupermum]

I agree with your DH!

[Londongent]

I'd view it. It's rubbish for the vendors if you pull out, however you don't buy a house just to keep the vendors happy. If something better comes up that would make you happier then you would kick yourself if you hadn't at least viewed it.
But be prepared that you may lose the house you have offered on and that all houses come with some compromise

[msgloria]

I think you might have an issue as well that it sounds like neither of these potential houses are certain to go on the market - it's common for agents to value places and then nothing come of it.

I'm also in the process of buying a house where the garden is a compromise. Also there's no garage, when for the price of the house most people would want one! But the house is lovely and spacious and the location is great.

One thing that's helped me is dropping the "forever home" idea. I'm expecting the new place to suit us for 10-15 years. By then, we'll have paid off a good chunk of the mortgage and we can look for a sideways move or maybe even a downsize at that point.

But if you've got serious reservations about the house you've offered on then listen to what that's telling you. Is it just understandable nerves and emotions, or do you actually not want to buy this house?

[Willowwood45]

I think this silly ideal of the forever home is also something that has made this process harder. We found one in the whole time of looking that ticked almost every box. That one went to best and final offers and we didn't get it and we were both gutted. Maybe I need to look at this more as a next phase house. And it would be lovely as a next phase house. And then maybe we can do a side move or move into a bigger house in ten years or so.

I'm very conscious of the vendors and certainly don't want to add to their distress. Interestingly, we have also suffered a bereavement this year and I am still very much grieving and I think it is part of the reason why I am so all over the place and have lost the ability to trust what on earth in going on in my head.

[Willowwood45]

The other frustrating thing is that forever style houses do come up in our area within our budget. But they're not being put on the market. How long do we wait? And even when they do come up, there is nothing to say we would get it. The best and final offer house and the house we were gazumped on proved that to us.

Maybe I need to stick with this one, enjoy the wonderful things about it, make the best of the compromises and remind myself that nothing is forever.

[DoYouWannaBeInMyQuiche]

Sounds sensible, OP.

Plus it may be that if one of the 'forever style' houses came up in your area, it would turn out not to be so good once you actually saw the inside of it, had it surveyed, etc, etc... Sometimes a house that's less perfect on the face of it can turn out to be a better buy.

And I also know that if you have a nice family life, your home will always feel good, even if it's not perfect. (I have, unfortunately, experienced the opposite of this).

[DespairingHomeower]

@Willowwood45: I agree with @DoYouWannaBeInMyQuiche and @msgloria

I’m struggling with having to compromise, & was exactly the same when buying my flat 10 years ago, it took 4 years, I looked at 40 properties in person (100s online), and this was the 3rd I bid on

I’m happy with my choice: but taking a big hit now I’m selling as no garden (couldn’t have predicted a pandemic / lockdown all those years ago)

It’s good to consider/get the best value for your money, but at a certain point working within a timeframe comes into the decision: knowing I need to pick a house SOON is helping me watch my perfection seeking tendencies!

It’s also normal to think ‘if I’d waited I’d have got THAT house instead’: loads of my friends have said this when topic comes up!

[NancyJoan]

Have you had a survey done yet? They will give you a good idea of whether you are paying too much.

[yearinyearout]

Do local estate agents really discuss buyers amongst themselves - surely this would be a breach of GDPR? And aren't they all in competition with each other so why would they be sharing this level of intel between them?

They certainly shouldn't be, and I never did when I worked in the business.

[daisyphase]

Crikey, we must have viewed 50 more houses in the 6 months after we’d put our offer in and were trying to progress a purchase. We did finally buy it, but viewing others seemed the right thing to do so that we didn’t get too emotionally attached while all the survey and solicitor stuff was ongoing.