everyone telling us its a terrible decision.

You need somewhere suitable to live. If it will make a comfortable home for you when you need one, that's what a house should be.

The rest is immaterial.

It's hard to tell,but as a general rule it's not a great idea giving over asking price for a place that needs a lot of work.

This is only relevant if you plan to sell it now. Which I’m assuming you aren’t. So a moot point. Nothing to do with anyone else at the end of the day, no matter how ‘well intentioned’ they think they’re being.

You paid what you could afford and what it was worth to you to get the location and space you need.

Houses are homes, places to live your life,

Money well spent.

You paid slightly over the odds to secure the house you wanted . Haven't your people ever heard of Location, Location, Location? While the structure of the house and need to renovate might seem expensive to them , it's where it is that mattered to you .
Good luck with TTC and hope there will be a baby to occupy your lovely home soon.

Why only 7 years for your ideal house in your ideal location? I'd do it up and stay for at least 11, until your post child is through primary school. Maybe just stay forever.

Incidentally, over time, the precise amount spent on a house becomes insignificant. You paid what you can afford to secure the house you want. Not only that, you get to update it in your own time frame and to your own taste. Win win. Worth every penny in my view.

I just looked up the property details for my house when we bought it, and it's just over 100 sq m. It has a two storey extension which has made it into a good sized jouse. Prior to that it was probably closer to the sq footage you said, which although small is liveable. If yours has potential to extend in the future then I don't think it's a bad decision. There have been properties that sold in the last 6 months in my road without the extension for around the £300k mark.
We are doing work on our house, and have an extension planned for the future. If we were to sell we probably wouldn't make the money back, but we will have a good quality of life whilst we are here, so it is worth it in our eyes.

I think many of use would struggle to sell for what we paid plus renovations in the current market and two if you were renting you would spend £25k in a couple of years on rent with no return. You’re not planning on moving soon so it’ll all be fine. Enjoy the house

You like it, you are happy in it and it meets your current and future needs.

It’s no one else’s business.

If it wasn't worth what you paid the mortgage company/surveyor would've said so and you wouldn't have secured the mortgage you needed on it. You've bought it to live in not to flip. Enjoy it.

This expresses it perfectly! The only money down the drain is renting.

Enjoy your home. Houses are for living in - it’s somewhat insane the extent to which they’re treated as an investment when in monetary terms they’re an asset which, without expenditure at least on maintainance, really should depreciate rather than magically gaining value. Most people don’t do up and flip.

Maybe the people trying to pour cold water on you are a wee bit jealous.

No such thing as 'paying over' really. You wanted that house and got it, and it's working for you. Presumably you wouldn't have got it for a lower price. Property values are all over the place at the moment and unlikely to stabilise soon.
Good luck with the next stage.

They are making no sense, you’ve not bought it as an property to flip, but as a home, with the space you need for a family, you’ve simply paid for a home.

i don’t get people who onky say is it worth the ceiling price when I do it up. Thay only matters if you intend to flip, not if you intend to live in for five or more years,

You sound like you're happy with the home and the area, so that's worth a lot. It sounds like you've done the right thing to me. Property is about home, not just profit, and it sounds like you have a home you love now.

Why are they telling you it's money down the drain. You need somewhere to live and you have found somewhere you can afford in an area you like.and you have made it comfortable .
If you don't plan to sell in the near future it doesn't matter what the house is worth now. It's your home

But the entire point of all this is that you’re not trying to flip houses (and doing it really badly), you’re buying into a future and a lifestyle. Sometimes you can’t put a price on that.

We had the same thing when we moved with folk giving their (unsolicited) opinions. When folk said they thought it was the wrong move for me buying the house I’m in, I genuinely couldn't give a fuck. Why give them so much headspace 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ours is worth less now than when we bought it ( 2022) despite doing it up . But we love it and don't regret buying it .
When my mum was alive every time we moved( 3 times ) she said you silly fool you will regret that you will never afford to live in it . We never regretted any of them and yes we afforded them too

It's done now anyway so why on earth are people telling you it was a mistake? Even if it were the biggest mistake ever it can't be undone, what are they hoping to achieve other than make you feel miserable and less happy about your home?

🤣

Why 7 years?

I got a bit worried about doing work and it not adding value. My husband pointed out we aren’t property developers and we will live in the house, and enjoy it. I’ve never regretted the money we put in.